Nature Done Wright

By Jim Wright

This young golden eagle flew over Alpine in 2021. Photo credit: Joe Koscielny

By Jim Wright
Special to The Record | USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY

   Do you have a nemesis bird –  a species that you’ve always wanted to see but has somehow evaded your eyeballs?

   The talon in my side is an enormous raptor, the golden eagle. To my way of thinking, this makes it the holy grail of all nemesis birds. Why squint in search of a dinky red-breasted nuthatch when you can scan the skies for a rare raptor with a seven-foot wing span?

   Most Americans love the golden eagle’s more famous cousin, the bald eagle, which is one of the great conservation success stories. During the mid-20th century, when DDT ravaged several raptors, our nation’s symbol nearly went extinct. Since then, bald eagles have rebounded resoundingly to the point where they nest in several places in northern New Jersey.

   Golden eagles, on the other hand, are still infrequent fliers in these parts – mostly because they nest farther north and tend to fly along the Appalachian Mountains when they migrate.  

    It’s not as though I’ve been a slouch when it comes to keeping a watchful eye for the bald eagles’ lesser-known cousin. Although I can’t tell you what they sound like, I know that they’re huge and typically dark brown, and that the younger ones have white wing patches.

   Twenty autumns ago, I spent a few weeks at Pennsylvania’s Hawk Mountain,  a great place to see golden eagles. The sanctuary averages more than 125 sightings of these eagles annually. In 2012, 174 flew past. Maybe I was there too early in the season, but I would have thought I’d see at least one of these big boys fly overhead when I spent hours sitting on the cold rocks at North Lookout. Nope.

    Similarly, I’ve logged more than 100 hours as a raptor counter on the Hudson River Palisades in recent years. Although golden eagles are a much rarer sight there, they occasionally fly past during migration.  Last month, I had to skip one of my afternoon shifts because of a family event. That’s when a golden eagle decided to fly past, no doubt to remind me why it’s my nemesis bird. 

   The closest I’ve ever come to seeing a golden eagle was in the Netherlands. Alas, it sat inanimate atop a pedestal next to a botanical garden, far too statuesque to count.

    I’ve always loved what Hawk Mountain’s Maurice Broun wrote in his 1949 conservation classic Hawks Aloft:  “I have spent a great deal of time watching eagles, and have never ceased to be filled with childlike wonder at the great birds. ‘The way of an eagle in the air’ is a vision of inexpressible grace, arousing our deepest poetic instincts and filling us with pure delight.”

   Now, if only I could see a real-live golden eagle this month at the State Line Hawk Watch in Alpine.  That would be, well, … golden.

   How about you? What’s your nemesis bird and why? Email me at celeryfarm@gmail.com.

    The Bird Watcher column appears every other Thursday.