Hello! With bald eagle nesting season underway, it's an exciting time of year as new nests are discovered and reported. The Ohio Division of Wildlife, in monitoring bald eagle populations in the state, does record every nest that we become aware of. In many cases volunteers will monitor the nest to provide information on egg laying and hatching dates and number of young produced so that we may track production of the nests, in addition to the number of nests in the state. By far, most bald eagle nests in Ohio are located on private property. Landowners (and neighbors to nests) have varying views on eagles using their property. Some are ecstatic, some are indifferent and believe it or not, some would prefer not to have a nest on their land, especially when it means interested onlookers may trespass on their property in an attempt to see a nest. The Division of Wildlife attempts to work with each landowner individually to make sure the nest has as little negative impact to the property owner as possible. The Division of Wildlife recognizes that bald eagles do attract a lot of attention from the casual observer to the veteran birdwatcher. In addition, we feel it is extremely important to promote the success of bald eagles in Ohio to increase awareness and appreciation for the species and to help educate the public. For that reason, we will readily publicize nest locations that are easily viewed by the public. Most of the publicized nests are located on public land, a few are on private land and we have permission from the landowner to advertise the location. If a landowner does not want visitors on their property to view the nest we definitely do not publicize the nest in an attempt to curtail curiosities and lessen the potential for conflicts. Regarding the nest at Highbanks Metro Park in Delaware Co. The nest is viewable from the Overlook Deck (http://metroparks.net/MapHighbanks.aspx). Note that the Olentangy Environmental Control Center is NOT ALLOWING viewing from their property without prior authorization from the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Please do not visit the OECC property for the purpose of looking at the nest. You will be asked to leave. No Trespassing signs are posted and will be enforced. To check if a bald eagle nest is viewable for the public, please check with your regional Wildlife District Office. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/ContactUsStandIn/tabid/18270/Default.asp x It is better to be more cautious then to attract a lot of attention and binocular traffic to an area that results in landowners having ill feelings about birders. Thank you for your cooperation. Donna M. Daniel Assistant Wildlife Management Supervisor ODNR, Division of Wildlife, District One 1500 Dublin Rd. Columbus, OH 43215 614/644-3925 614/644-3931 FAX [log in to unmask] http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/ http://ohioperegrinefalcons.blogspot.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]