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Eagles, the Landings and the Preserve. June 2002
Sunrise at the Preserve, showing growth today at the approximate center point.
Mature Male Bald Eagle and Sub-Adult Bald Eagles. - Florida Wildlife Commission, not taken in The Landings
The Landings and Eagles have long been identified with one another. The community’s logo contains an eagle, the paper is called The Eagle, and the preserve’s official name is the Eagles’ Nest.
Residents report spotting them!
C&M Associates, original developers of the Landings, set aside approximately 7.4 acres in the heart of the property as “Eagles Nest Area.” In the original covenants filed in March 1980 the area was set aside and held separate from the provisions of the covenants as “private property. . . not intended for development.” It stated: “An eagles’ nest is located on this property, and it is the intent of C & M Associates to preserve the site as a nesting place for eagles.”
Stipulations by the Board of County Commissioners granting approval of the Landings development plan calls for “. . . an undeveloped reserve area, 300 feet from all directions of the eagles’ nesting site, be provided.”
The Audubon Society of Florida maintains a close eye on the eagle population. Dale Nauman of Sarasota is the area coordinator for The Society’s “Eagle Watch.” Eagle’s nest records were started in Sarasota in 1979. It has no indication of the nest in what is now “The Landings Eagles’ Nest.” That’s probably due to the incompleteness of early records.
“The first recorded nest in Sarasota, called SA1, is still active. It’s located on Phillippi Creek near Bee Ridge Road,” according to Nauman. “We are currently at SA36, with 28 of the 36 nests still active, producing 28 eaglets this year,” he adds.
Sarasota eagles, unlike many seasonal human residents, are not migratory. They spend most of the year flying around Southwest Florida. The Bald Eagle can be found in Florida year-round, and breeds here November through June.
Longtime Landin’, and ardent birdwatcher, Marge Blackett, tells The Eagle, she spots them relatively frequently in The Landings and quite often flying over the area. “When people look for eagles,” she says, “they are expecting to see the white head of a bald eagle as they are so often pictured. Actually,” she continues, “many in the area are female or still so young they’ve not developed the white head feathers.”
She suspects the Eagles Nest preserve is void of nests because Grey Horned Owls tend to take over the nests, adding a few twigs of their own.
Despite its resurgence, the bald eagle remains on the Threatened and Endangered Species list.
For more information on Florida’s eagle spottings and migration patterns see: http://www.wld.fwc.state.fl.us/eagle