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CTV News
27-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘We regularly see eagles': Eagle sightings on the rise in Winnipeg
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.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Young country diary: Peregrine v pigeon? There's only one winner
I was walking home from school when a group of pigeons scattered from their perch atop a nearby building. Then, out of the sky, dropping like a piece of shrapnel, was the source of the commotion. As the peregrine falcon levelled out of its stoop, it careered into one of the birds, the pair plummeting out of sight, the pigeon inevitably dead from the sheer force of the impact. The last remnant of the skirmish was a handful of small grey feathers that gently drifted to the ground where they lay, a testament to the hunting prowess of the falcon. The incident reminded me of one several months earlier. I had heard a crash from our balcony, and, looking out, I saw a juvenile peregrine falcon, which had maybe overshot while attempting to land and was now trapped there. It quickly righted itself and ruffled its wings, disgruntled and distressed. I watched as it managed to extricate itself, and wing its way back to Canary Wharf. I wondered if it was the same one, once clumsy, now grown up and a formidable hunter. In recent years, falcons have lived in many London landmarks such as the Tate Modern, Battersea Power Station and, most notably, the Houses of Parliament. It is amazing how their population had managed to recover from the 1950s when they were almost destroyed by a toxic agricultural pesticide called DDT. Now, the modern edifices of the London skyline serve as the cliffs that they call home. Olivier, 14 Read today's other YCD piece, by Oonagh, 11: 'The night I clicked with the bats' Young Country Diary is published every fourth Saturday of the month. The submission form is now closed, but keep the link handy, it will reopen on Monday 2 June for summer articles
