I celebrate with Haans new occurrences of the three species he has
noticed. However, I'm not so sure bluebirds are flourishing; efforts by
enthusiasts are not enough to come even close to recovering their
numbers in the old days. They used to be common everywhere--one observer
here in Columbus once found a nest in the interior of the wheel of a
railroad car--but now seeing them is a sometime thing.
     As for falcons and eagles, our Wildlife people have successfully
encouraged raptors--perhaps because they are fellow hunters--in recent
years with elaborate protections, artificial nest sites, etc., but the
results have not resembled the presence of these birds in the days when
humans didn't dominate their range. Falcon populations have dramatically
increased--well beyond their natural presence long ago--because large
infusions have adopted human structures--bridges, steeples, skyscrapers,
etc.--as a substitute for the cliffs (pretty much absent in Ohio) which
were their natural nesting sites. They were not regarded as Ohio nesters
in the old days. Eagles mostly occupied Lake Erie sites until humans
established reservoirs. Eagles are everywhere now, occupying innumerable
niches unknown in historical times. Eagles and falcons used to be
antagonists, but now they nest within two hundred yards of one another
here in town.
     Human efforts on behalf of these two species have shown some
increases to be sure, and Haans is right to applaud them. Whether the
increases were "natural" is a good question. And where are the efforts
for the many many smaller non-game, non-raptorial species in similar
peril? Loggerhead shrikes? Black terns? Shorebirds? Nighthawks?
Red-headed woodpeckers? Swallows? Warblers?  Native sparrows?
Bill Whan

On 11/8/2015 12:13 PM, Haans Petruschke wrote:
 > Hi,
 >
 > Did a beauty fall hike to Carver Pond (restricted access) at the Holden
 > Arboretum in Kirtland this morning and along the way we saw Eastern
 > Bluebirds, then along the East Branch of the Chagrin River and at Carver
 > pond found Bald Eagles.  Then driving home a Peregrine Falcon flew across
 > the road near the Kirtland south Cemetery.
 >
 > This caused me to reflect back on growing up in Kirtland in the
1960's and
 > 70's and how all 3 of those species were extremely rare.  While we are
 > constantly bombarded by a narrative of birds under threat, and there
 > certainly are real threats like habitat loss from coal mining reducing
 > numbers of Cerulean Warblers, and huge declines in seabirds with the
likely
 > culprit being Mercury pollution from burning coal, the Eastern Bluebird,
 > Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon are certainly success stories which show
 > what can be accomplished with properly focused efforts on the real
threats
 > to these birds.
 >
 > I still remember my lifer Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcon.  The former
 > when I was in grade 7 and outside for recess when a mature adult flew
 > over.  The latter at Magee Marsh when I was about 14.  I honestly thought
 > that might be the only Peregrine Falcon I might see in my lifetime as
their
 > population had been so decimated by the pesticide DDT.
 >
 > But we banned the use of DDT in 1972 and all three of these species have
 > rebounded to common or abundant status.  So abundant that I even have
 > Peregrine Falcon as a flyover yard bird in my wooded yard on Gildersleeve
 > Mountain.  We find Eastern Bluebirds nesting in natural cavities deep in
 > the woods because there are apparently not enough nest boxes. Bald Eagle
 > nests are commonplace.  Remarkable change I have seen in my lifetime.
 >
 > These successes just make me realize that it is not all gloom and doom.
 > That with properly focused action that targets true threats to
species, we
 > can make changes which have astonishing results. But we cannot be
 > distracted by false equivalences like standards which treat harm to a few
 > individual birds in the same way we view things that threaten entire
 > populations.  Focus on the entire population is key or else the prefect
 > becomes the enemy of the good.
 >
 > Haans

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