Eagles draw visitors to
national park
Published Friday, May 16
By Jebb Johnston
Staff Writer

SHILOH, Tenn. -- Shiloh National Military Park's newest attraction is a rare local sight that comes courtesy of nature. An eagle's nest where a couple of chicks have hatched has been drawing visitors to the park.

"We get asked where the eagles are just about every day," said Marcus Johnson, a park ranger. It is the first known instance of eagles nesting within the park. Bill Avery, an amateur photographer from Corinth, recently visited the park with his camera and submitted some of his pictures to the newspaper.

"The majestic birds are awesome," he said. "Their nurturing is very interesting." One of the photos shows the mother delivering food to the babies. "Mom has been grocery shopping, and she is flying home with a young baby pig for lunch," said Avery.

Fish is normally the preferred diet of eagles. One picture shows the bird landing with its catch, and another shows the larger of the two birds in flight.

"He leaves his guarding position and circles me, letting me know of his displeasure of me being present," said Avery. Johnson has been observing the birds as much as possible.

"I have seen at least one chick, and most of the visitors do confirm there are two chicks," he said. The eagles were noticed building a nest as early as November, and it was completed in February. Park officials believe the eggs were laid in March.

The eagles are expected to fledge until about mid-July and then could be seen on the ground some as they learn to fly. The nest is located in a tree near the intersection of Hamburg Savannah Road and Riverside Drive.

"Normally they build closer to water sites, not a quarter mile from it," said Johnson. "Nobody would have thought they would have built next to the road as they did."

There is also a construction area nearby. The park service has put up barricades to keep people from getting too close to the nest, as eagles are very sensitive to human activity.

"It affects how frequently they come to feed the chicks," said Johnson. He said the park will make an effort to keep the nest undisturbed so that the eagles may return in future years.

Avery said he plans to show some of his photos of the eagles in a photo class exhibit planned for June at the Corinth Artist Guild Gallery. Johnson said he plans to prepare a program on eagles. The Bald Eagle was reclassified from "endangered" to "threatened" in 1995 and removed from the list in June 2007.

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