Some bald eagles raising fine families in suburbia

From a nearby perch, a bald eagle keeps her yellow eyes trained on her nest. Two 5-week-old chicks waddle and stretch their wings on a platform the size of a dinette table.

About 300 feet away, another mother cares for her young. Amy Dickson looks after her 6-week-old son, Edmund, in her Patriots Plantation home.

"We're doing the same thing," Dickson said.

The discovery of the James Island eagles' nest came about eight years ago, when construction began on the subdivision on one side of the nest, and a soccer complex on the other.

Now, in the northern reaches of West Ashley, another nest is turning suburban.

Carolina Bay at Essex, a development off Glenn McConnell Parkway, boasts an eagle nest 660 feet into the thick pine trees surrounding the subdivision.

About 20 nests statewide are in the same position, said S.C. Department of Natural Resources biologist Charlotte Hope.

Suburban eagles seem to reproduce as well as their rural counterparts, Hope said. But when the young fly the nest, or "fledge," they may face dangers not found in their natural habitat.

A fledgling perished two years ago when it was electrocuted by a power line near the Department of Natural Resources' Marine Resources Division on Fort Johnson Road.

DNR checks every one of the state's nests every year. So far this year, only 217 nests show signs of eagles. "That number will go up after the next set of flights," Hope said.

During the past decade, the pair of eagles near Glenn McConnell Parkway has successfully mated and reared one or two chicks annually, according to DNR surveys.

But when DNR flew over in January, only one adult and no offspring were seen at the nest. With another survey scheduled in March, it's too early to draw conclusions, Hope said.

Once eagles establish a territory, their reign can last for decades. Eagles live about 15 years, but if a mate dies, the survivor will return to the nest and recruit another mate. That handoff can go on indefinitely, Hope said.

"Our main concern is that if one dies, will the other be able to recruit a mate into this sort of habitat," she said.

Eagles and people are attracted to the same real estate. The ever-watchful raptor likes to be on the edge of a forest, overlooking a marsh or a field. Their main staples are fish and waterfowl.

A Florida study published in 2004 reported that suburban and rural eagles had comparable survival rates for their chicks. But after the chicks fledged, mortality of suburban birds increased.

One year after fledging, 65 percent to 72 percent of suburban birds survived, compared to 89 percent for their rural counterparts. Survival for the two groups returned to a similar rate, between 84 percent to 90 percent, after the first year out of the nest.

The Patriots Plantation pair has produced two chicks nearly every year since the neighborhood and soccer complex were built.

The bald eagles' recovery led to the bird being dropped from the endangered species list in 2007, reducing the required buffer zone around a nest by half, from 660 feet to 330 feet.

A secondary buffer zone, where construction is allowed but must cease during the October to May nesting season, was also halved from 1,320 feet to 660 feet. During that period, if a structure is under construction in the 330 foot to 660 foot zone, work can only be done inside the buildings.

Currently, the buffer around the Carolina Bay nest is 660 feet. Hope said, "We've worked with this developer from the beginning of planning, and he's done everything we've asked."

Centex Homes declined to comment on the eagles, but the sales office of Carolina Bay at Essex offers brochures on bald eagle conservation.

For now, the eagles' grip remains strong. The James Island female spends her days atop her perch. Her talons, the size of human hands, clutch the worn treetop.

When a small creature catches her eye, she swoops for the kill. And as a leaf-blower revs up, she tears her prey to blood-red strips and drops them in her chicks' mouths.

Reach Jill Coley at 937-5719 or jcoley@postandcourier.com.