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To Surge And Protect

Robert Burke / Tampa Tribune

A pair of American bald eagles are nesting high in a tree in an area where high voltage power lines may run. Nearby residents are concerned and are looking for some type of protection for the pair

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2008

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DOVER - They have watched for years as majestic bald eagles hatched eggs, reared fledglings and returned to their nest high in the branches of a towering pine tree.

Now, nearby residents have learned that a hired environmental consultant will spend time each month during the next year observing the pair of bald eagles nesting in a wooded area off Jess Walden Road.

The nest, documented as an active home to bald eagles for more than 40 years, sits in a corridor Tampa Electric Co. is considering for a high-voltage power line that will run from Mulberry to Temple Terrace.

Neighbors have told TECO they worry the power line will disturb the eagles or force them to leave.

By studying the pair's flight and foraging patterns, TECO engineers can decide whether to run the lines east or west of the nest, said Philip W. Simpson, a consultant with Gainesville-based Environmental Consulting & Technology who was hired by TECO to monitor the nest.

According to TECO maps, the power line corridor is about a mile wide near the nest to give the company plenty of room to work around it.

Simpson accompanied TECO Principal Environmental Specialist Adriano Alcoz on Jan. 10 with several of the neighbors who live nearby to see the nest for the first time. One of the eagles was sitting amid the sticks and other organic nesting materials when the group arrived. The pair are taking turns sitting on eggs in the nest.

"I'll be coming out here monthly to check the status of the eagles and try to define exactly when they breed, have young, hatch the young and which way the eagles are flying to their primary foraging area," Simpson told the neighbors.

TECO purchased the wooded property in the 1980s, knowing it would be needed for power lines, he said.

Alice Gabriel and Susan Watson, who own property next to the woods where the eagles nest, told Simpson they have observed the eagles for years and saw one of the two young from last year's hatchlings return to the area this year. Young eagles often return to the nest where they were reared before finding their own nesting territory as adults.

Watson hopes to create a coalition of people willing to monitor plans for the power lines and has organized a meeting Sunday with neighbors.

She said she also is considering signing up to become a party of record, so she can speak before a state administrative hearing judge about the power line route.

Hillsborough County has filed a motion requesting a separate public hearing during which members of the public can speak on the corridor plan. County Attorney Marva Taylor said she expects to get a response to the request this week.

The state administrative judge will recommend to Gov. Charlie Crist and a siting committee whether to accept the route TECO has chosen for the high-voltage lines, which TECO officials said are needed to provide electricity to a growing population. The administrative hearing will begin at 9 a.m. March 4 at the Embassy Suites ball room, 10220 Palm River Road, Brandon.

Watson said other species of birds, as well as otters and other mammals, live and forage in the woods TECO owns. She and others are concerned that without their input, the woods will be destroyed to make way for the power lines.

TECO officials have said they will follow U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service guidelines in deciding how much of a buffer to leave between the eagles' nest and the power lines. Depending on the circumstances, U.S. Fish & Wildlife could require a buffer of 330 to 660 feet around the nest.

Watson can be reached at (813) 651-3345.

ENDANGERED EAGLES

The American bald eagle has been threatened with extinction first by hunting and logging, then by DDT, a pesticide used extensively before 1972. Eating food tainted with DDT caused the birds to lay eggs with thin shells. Here are more facts about the birds:

•Since the use of DDT was banned in 1972, the birds have rebounded. Last year, bald eagles were removed from the federal list of animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.

•The birds are still protected under the U.S. Bald & Golden Eagle Protection Act.

•Today, the biggest threats to the birds are loss of habitat, collision with or entanglement in power lines, traps, pollution and harassment.

•Bald eagles mate for life, and females typically lay two to three eggs in late winter. Pairs tend to reuse the same nest each year.

•Bald eagles typically reach maturity and get their white heads and tails about five years after hatching. Before then, they are entirely brown.

•An average bald eagle is 28 to 38 inches tall and has an average wing span of 80 inches. Females are larger than males.

•Bald eagles dine mostly on fish.

Source: American Eagle Foundation, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at yhammett@tampatrib.com or (813) 657-4532.

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