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Show irnmyit 2 eiN flWjr1 Hjflir Sun Advocate, Price, Utah layapiwiii Thursday, May 20, 1993 OCfPt$ i; r DWR officials ,T'we'" JTT- - 1W used a cherry picker to hoist the chicks up to the eagles nest. Bald eagle family calls obscure cottonwood home general health. All three downy eaglets appeared to be doing very well, in spite of the unwelcome attention. Besides being the first bald eagle nest in Emery County in recent years, the fact that the only the third nest docueagle pair is raising three mented in recent years in the young is another first. Since state of Utah, which hosts as 1977 when DWR biologists many as 1,200 bald eagles began keeping track of bald every winter, but only two or eagle nests in Utah, not once three pairs during the breedhas a pair raised three nesing season. tlings. One or two young per On May 11, Division of nest is the norm. Three is rare. Wildlife Resources biologists, The finding of this new nest with the cooperation of the gives rise to a lot of optimism, and reports of other nesting private landowner and assistance from a UP&L manlift, pairs trickle in every year. fitted three baby balds with The recovery goal for Utah numbered aluminum and is 10 nesting pairs, says Bill d bands. Bates, DWR native wildlife This scientific undertaking manager. It is encouraging to was met with considerable find another bald eagle nest, suspicion on the part of both expecially where this one is parents, soaring overhead located. The other two nests are close to water, but these during the event. Various measurements were made of eagles are doing great in an each baby bird to determine upland situation. All three sex and age. They were also eaglets were plump and examined for parasites and healthy, which indicates the Newcomers to Emery County include a pair of nesting bald eagles. Of all unlikely places, theyve taken up residence in a leaning cottonwood, standing in an alfalfa field. The Emery County nest is color-code- Raptor rehabilitator Marilyn Bicking from Moab holds one of the eagle chicks. She reports healthy. it habitat is doing very well in supporting them. Bates indicated that the eagles feed mostly on prairie dogs, jackrabbits and coots. He also remarked that the eagles were doing well even though in close proximity to humans. Before the advent of pesticides which weakened egg shells, causing them to crush under the weigh of an incubating parent, the sight of bald eagles in Utah was much more common. Since the ban on DDT in 1971 and federal protection in the form of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, the species has begun a slow upward climb from the brink of orga-nochlori- ne extinction. Today, recovery of this magnificent bird appears well underway. If . the .trend continues, the prospect of removing Americas national symbol from the endangered species list is a real likelihood. is Photos and stories by Brent Stettler Although this baby bald eagle is just a few weeks old, dangerous-lookin- g Fishing will be good Division of Wildlife Resources fisheries biologists sampled the trout population at Millsite Reservoir last week to determine abundance and fitness of the population at this popular state park. Biologists left one floating and two sinking gill nets overnight at three different locations in the reservoir. Fisheries personnel stretched the nets from points near shore out into deeper water to intercept normal trout movement. Nets were picked up the following morning, providing some interesting data. A total of 77 trout were captured half rainbow and half cutthroat. Most fish fell in the 8- - to category, with 12-in- ch fish being most numerous. Only two trout 10-inc- h exceeded 16 inches. Another four measured about 14 inches. The average fish weighed in at half a 10-in- pound. Kevin Christopherson, DWR regional fisheries manager, performed autopsies on 20 fish to identify potential health problems. Checking a variety of organs and body it still has a beak.' at Millsite this systems, Christopherson cally overwinter well found no diseases or parasites. Stomach contents of auto-psie- d fish included zooplankton (tiny microscopic animals), blood worms, stone flies, snails and crayfish. Surprisingly, some trout had ingested pine needles, sticks and plant debris, suggesting that food had been in short supply. Christopherson indicated that food was a limiting factor to the size of fish in the reservoir, which supports a scant amount of plant and animal life. Although trout typi MNM! year at Mill-sit- e, they dont grow very large. The number of trout netted was encouraging. Twenty or 30 per net generally indicates good fishing. The catch last week averaged 25.6 per net, so good fishing is expected. Millsite has been drawn down in anticipation of a heavy runoff. Nevertheless, boats are launchable and park restrooms and services are in operation. For some good family fun not far from home, give Millsite State Park a try. r" |