Birds of North Brevard

March 11, 2006 KSC has quite a few pairs of nesting Bald Eagles. The most famous is a pair that return every year to nest in a pine tree just off Kennedy Parkway North (SR3) about half way between the VAB and Kennedy Parkway West (SR 405). Every year the photography contractor mounts cameras in the tree before their arrival to try and film them raising their eaglets. Some of the cameras are motion activated and others are remotely activated by personnel usually sitting in a van hundreds of yards away. These are some of their most recent photographs.
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How many of you recognize this bird? This is a juvenile Southern Bald Eagle. I photographed it at the Blue Heron Wetlands in Titusville Florida. The Bald Eagle doesn't get the traditional white head and tail feathers until the fourth or fifth year of its life. Even prior to the extensive use of DDT, the juvenile Bald Eagles in Florida led a perilous life, as many were shot indiscriminately as "chicken hawks." Having been a Florida resident for over fifty years, I was aware of the lack of knowledge of "old time crackers" who classified all hawks as predators to be "shot on sight." Unfortunately juvenile Bald Eagles fell into this category. I am certain that the adult Bald Eagles were respected, in as much as the notoriety they received as "Our National Bird." This again is a classic case of lack of education in the life cycle of the Bald Eagle in Florida. I thank God for the "new lease on life" that the Bald Eagles have obtained throughout the United States. Bob Paty