Bald

On an outing last November, my wife, Cathy, took this picture of a bald eagle near Conowingo Dam in Harford County. We love to watch birds and other wildlife and on that particular day we were taking a bike ride on the "Greenway" trail from Susquehanna State Park to the Conowingo Dam. Aberdeen Proving Ground, where I work, supposedly has an eagle population of more than 200. From what I understand, the eagles at Conowingo are actually APG residents who...

A young bald eagle rescued from a rural Edgewater road two days ago died yesterday at a Baltimore veterinary hospital."It passed away in the middle of the night. He succumbed to the shock" of his injuries, said Dr. Kim Hammond, owner of the Falls Road Animal Hospital. "It was really sad."When two motorists found the 1- to 2-year-old eagle in the middle of Loch Haven Road, near the south side of the South River, it had a broken wing and multiple puncture wounds infested with maggots.The bird was taken to the Bowie-based Chesapeake Wildlife Sanctuary and later to Dr. Hammond's clinic.

The prognosis is not good for a young bald eagle found staggering down the middle of a rural Edgewater road yesterday.The eagle, which was rescued by two passing motorists, faces a "nip and tuck" battle for its life, a Baltimore veterinarian said.The 1- to 2-year-old bird "should be strong and at its peak," said Kim Hammond, owner of the Falls Road Animal Hospital, where it is being treated in a "shock trauma" unit for shock, a broken wing and multiple puncture wounds.The young bird hasn't yet grown its signature crown of white feathers, he added.

HURRY, I need the phone number for the Board of Education," my friend demanded as she burst into my kitchen.I inched toward my Rolodex."Face it. Mother Nature has beaten us in a fair fight," she ranted. "But changing the school schedule every two minutes trying to eke out 180 days? Who are they trying to kid?"I was beginning to suspect these latest changes were creating a crisis in my friend's vacation plans."Where did they get this magic number of 180 days?" she fumed. "Is a child educated in only 175 days doomed to a future at the Gas-n-Go?

HAVRE De GRACE -- When I went out past the pond early the other morning on my way to check the cows, there was nothing on it except a lone bufflehead drake. He was autumn-fat, one of those round little ducks that hunters call ''butterballs,'' and he was easy to spot in his shiny black and white outfit.Usually at that hour there are geese on the pond, but I didn't see any this time. The bufflehead had the place all to himself. As I passed I noticed that a canoe paddle had been blown off the bank by the wind.

ALBANY, N.Y. - Passenger trains traveling along the eastern edge of the Hudson River are killing bald eagles that nest and feed there, according a report by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. The 14-year survey, which was based on 16 eagle carcasses reported or turned into the state from 1986 to October 2000, found that 10 had been hit by Amtrak trains traveling at speeds upward of 110 mph. Eight of the bald eagles - a threatened species in New York and nationwide - were found along the 142-mile route between Albany and New York City that is slated for new high-speed service later this year.

Despite poor weather in Garrett County during the five-day fall turkey hunting season last November, hunters recorded the second-highest kill on record, 427 turkeys.The record of 580 was set in 1987.According to the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division, the high count this past season, which ran from Nov. 5-10, may be attributed to unusually good reproduction earlier in the year.The fall kill was 146 over the 15-year average of 281.Fall turkey hunting is allowed only in the portion of the state west of Interstate 81.Sportfishing seminarSeats are still available for Saltwater Sportsman magazine's national sportfishing seminar at the University of Maryland on Saturday.

Travelers in search of a rare natural spectacle may want to consider Helena, Mont., where one of the nation's largest concentrations of bald eagles is expected to migrate next month and in early December.Montana naturalists say the eagle migration has grown rapidly over the last three years, with hundreds of the majestic predators drawn to a rich bounty of Kokanee salmon that spawn along a stretch of the Missouri River near Canyon Ferry Village, 20 miles northeast of Helena, the state's capital.

We've got eagles to the side, eagles above, eagles ahead; eagles flushing like coveys of quail; eagles rampant on a forested shoreline, their snow-capped heads festooning the resplendent greens of giant cypress.The sight seizes the spirit, lofts the soul. Raptor (bird of prey) and rapture: no wonder those words have the same Latin root.Between midmorning and lunch, we'll count more than a hundred bald eagles, a pretty average day. This is not Alaskan wilderness. You'd have a hard time seeing as many in one place there.

Visit these Web sites to find the answers, then go to www.4Kids.org/detectives/. * What are the building blocks of molecules? * What is the word for a score of zero in tennis? * Before 1993, when had a Serpent Eagle last been seen? FLY LIKE AN EAGLE Around the world, eagles are admired for their power, freedom and the beauty of their flight. Learn more about these awe-inspiring birds at Eagles, a Nature program by PBS. Fly away to www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/eagles/index.html and get to know these "masters of the sky."