Bald Eagles Still At Dallas’ White Rock Lake Day After Losing Nest To Strong Winds

By Erin Jones

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    DALLAS, Texas (WBZ) — On Tuesday, Feb. 15, two bald eagles lost their nest near White Rock Lake in Dallas.

On Wednesday, they were still in the area.

Now, the big question is will they stay?

The city’s urban biologist says at this point we have to wait and see.

They’re still keeping Lake Highlands Park fenced off, trying to minimize any disturbances until the eagles decide what they’re going to do.

For Dallas resident Brit Clure, seeing the eagles in person this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“I think it’s amazing that they’re in Dallas,” he said. “I never would’ve thought in a million years I would’ve seen bald eagles.”

He’s been visiting Lake Highlands Park to get glimpses of the two bald eagles.

Since October 2021, the City of Dallas and its state and federal partners have been monitoring them.

Brett Johnson, the City of Dallas’ Senior Environmental Coordinator, said they repurposed a red tail hawk nest into their own.

“Unfortunately, the eagles set up in a tree where the limb was not very strong so just the combination of the weight of the nest plus that strong wind gust, the limb broke,” he said.

At least one egg didn’t make it, but still today the eagles were sticking around.

“Some of that could be breeding activity, some of that could be trauma related,” Johnson said. “They very well could try to rebuild.”

“While we were standing out here we watched one of the eagles come through with something in its foot so it looks like they’re trying,” Robin Ryan said. “I have read that this is a younger pair so they might have some trial and error before they get it correct.”

Ryan works with a variety of bird species at the Dallas Zoo, including Aurora the bald eagle.

She said if the two bald eagles can successfully build a new nest, they’ll probably return year after year.

“They’re going to build up that nest larger and larger,” she said. “It can weigh over 1,000 pounds at a large nest site so it needs something that can support the weight.”

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