My First Patuxent Bald Eagle Sighting

It Happened on the Banks of the Patuxent River: My First Bald Eagle Sighting

By Tom Terry

It was in the late 1950’s. My brother Michael and I were fishing for eel and white and yellow perch on the bank of the Patuxent River with my Grandfather, Anthony (Tony) Poula, at our favorite fishing spot on Mr. Vernon Arnold’s property (Fig.1). It was a typical spring day. The ground was moist, the trees were almost in full leaf and the river was flowing by at its normal pace as there had been no recent heavy rains.

Our fishing spot on the river bank was under tree canopy, but we faced the river in a small opening where there were no shrubs or small trees nearby, so we could easily cast without getting our lines tangled up. The opening was large enough that we could see up and down the river for about 75 feet to either side. Beyond that distance the trees growing on the bank totally blocked the view. The river at this location is narrow enough that a nice easy cast could propel the sinker and bait half way across the river and then the current would quickly carry the sinker and bait downstream so it ended up being about 15 feet from the river bank. The river is wide enough, however, that there is about 50 feet of opening that tree canopies on either side cannot encroach on creating a narrow corridor that wood ducks, kingfishers, blue herons and other birds can use to travel up and down the river. If we were quite and still we often saw kingfishers dive and catch minnows and wood ducks come squealing by looking for a protected place to land and feed or rest and preen.

Bald eagles in the 1950-60’s were so rare that I had never seen one despite the fact that I was a teenager and had fished, hunted, and explored all the surrounding woodlands and farms for years. Red-tail, Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks were fairly common as were American kestrels, but bald eagles were something that I had only read about or seen in pictures.

Once we had baited our hooks with worms, cast our lines out, and put our rods in the crotch of a forked stick stuck into the ground, we sat down on the ground to watch the rod tips as they slowly moved up and down with the current. We sat still and quite so that we would not spook the fish that might be tempted to grab our bait. While waiting for the big strike, we enjoyed the sound of the river, the breeze moving through the new spring foliage, and the time away from farm chores, school work, and other duties.

And then, without warning, a very large bird appeared, flying about 20 feet above the river to our right and it flew right in front of us, no more than 40 feet away, then it continued up river and out of sight. It was a mature bald eagle with all of its distinctive features – large wingspan, powerful hooked beak, brown body, white head and tail and majestic flight.

I don’t remember if we caught any eels or perch during that trip or not. All that that I remember is being awestruck by seeing such a magnificent bird at so close a range in one of my favorite natural places. We went home as content as successful explorers just returning home after visiting a new land.

We never mentioned the sighting to anyone but our family as many folks still considered birds of prey chicken thieves and game predators and they were often shot. At this time pesticides such as DDT were also contributing to their decline.

I now marvel at being able to see bald eagles on a regular basis at Ample Grange Farm. Many factors have contributed to their recovery, but we have to be ever diligent about educating the public about the role they play in the natural system and maintaining habitat for foraging and nesting, so that future generations can enjoy regularly seeing them along the Patuxent river corridor.