LAKELAND (FOX 13) -
It is a thrill to see a
bald eagle in the wild. Polk County employees going to work at the sheriff's
office or emergency operations center in Winter Haven are feeling beyond
exhilarated as a result of what they're seeing.
Dozens of bald eagles
are roosting on a nearby communications tower.
Members of Florida
Audubon have counted as many as 60 at one time.
Reinier Munguia, who
heads the local Eagle Watch program, is thrilled.
"An animal that
was on the endangered list, and we almost lost them back in the 40s. Now, to
bring them back and be so successful? That's an accomplishment," he told
FOX 13.
The birds begin
roosting at sunset. Then at sunrise they leave to go feed at nearby Lake
Hancock or the county landfill.
Even though Reinier
sees the population growth as a good thing, he said there is a downside to the
birds sleeping on the tower.
Normally, they would be
spending the night in trees, he said, but destruction of the habitat is making
that harder and harder to do.
