‘We regularly see eagles': Eagle sightings on the rise in Winnipeg

CTV News

4 hours ago

CTV's Joseph Bernacki has more on why bald eagles are showing up more within Winnipeg city limits.
CTV's Joseph Bernacki has more on why bald eagles are showing up more within Winnipeg city limits.
Winnipeggers are using their eagle eyes to spot birds of prey soaring in the sky.
'We live a half block from the Assiniboine River and we regularly see eagles,' said Naomi Gerrard, a bald eagle researcher who has used the bird as an inspiration for her art.
'One day I was working in my studio upstairs and I looked out and there was an eagle. Just flew in, landed on the tree right outside my studio, which was just awesome.'
Jon Gerrard, who also researches the birds of prey, said he began banding bald eagles in 1968 to find out where they're migrating — a project that continues to this day.
The couple travels to northern Saskatchewan every summer, where they study a large bald eagle population.
The birds are a common sight in rural areas, but their migration has changed over time.
'Back in the 1960s, there were no bald eagles breeding in or around Winnipeg, and now there are,' said Jon.
Barret Miller, manager of programs and education at Assiniboine Park Conservancy, said that pesticides previously used in agriculture reduced the number of bald eagles but added that the population has since bounced back.
'Eagles have made a really great comeback because the habitat conditions were proper here in Manitoba,' said Miller.
'They had some legal protection for their nesting areas to the point where we do see them along Wellington Crescent and down in Saint Norbert.'
Public sightings of bald eagles have taken place in numerous areas across the city, including at Polo Park, the University of Manitoba, Henderson Highway and Sisler High School.