Recently the The Press of Atlantic City wrote an opinion piece regarding government programs that work and they cited the laws that were passed to ban DDT and the protection of endangered species - eagles and other raptors being the beneficiaries. Some stats: There are 148 bald eagle nests in New Jersey with 41% in Cumberland and Salem county (that's south Jersey along the Delaware Bay). In 1963 there were 417 eagle nest in the entire lower 48 states! In 1970 there was 1 (one) nest in all of New Jersey. Since I've moved to South Jersey 7 years ago, I've sighted eagles no less than a dozen times. In the sky you can't mistake them; the largest flying bird you will see and the white head is prominent. Sitting in a tree top they look like they weigh 100 lbs.

Last month a Snowy Owl was spotted in a nature reserve in the marshlands near Atlantic City. A very rare sighting for birds that normally winter in Canada and Russia. Speculation is that the food source up north is not so abundant. They primarily dine on lemmings; not that there are lemmings in New Jersey, but there are a lot of ducks, which is also on their menu. Snowy Owls are the largest specie of owls in the world.

Lastly, I added a bird to my sighting list - a Carolina Wren. It was on my suet feeder. It took me awhile to find it in my book. Uncommon in NJ. Nice rusty brown back and wings, lighter below, like a cinnamon color with a distinctive white stripe over the eye.

Chirp, chirp.