Bald eagles continue to soar in Kentucky

• Jefferson County eagles occupy two nests%2C and both fledged young.
• Prospect eagles have been putting up with bridge construction.

Bald eagles continue to expand in Kentucky, extending a steady increase in breeding pairs especially during the last decade.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources biologists counted 131 occupied nests this year, up from 123 last year and 42 in 2005. That's a 212 percent increase.

The state just issued its annual report on bald eagles, and it notes that there were 13 new territories where they had not been documented in previous years. Several of those were in Eastern Kentucky.

Eagles continue to nest at two locations in Jefferson County, said Kathryn Heyden, avian biologist with the state agency. The pair nesting on Shippingport Island fledged one young bird, and the pair nesting in the Prospect area fledged two, she said.

Birders first saw the Shippingport eagles in 2010, marking the first known nesting pair ever in Louisville. The Prospect pair were identified in 2012. They built their nest in a tall tree near the construction zone of the eastern Ohio River bridge project, and authorities established certain conditions to reduce disturbances.

"In spite of the blasting and pile driving, they've hung in there," said Meme Sweets Runyon, executive director of River Fields, Inc., a conservation organization that keeps an eyes on the eagles.

Runyon said the northeast Jefferson County eagles' success reflects the success of conservation efforts near their nest and along the Ohio River.

"It's good motivation for landowners to endorse conservation easements," which keep land in open space, she said. "It's a confidence builder."

Elsewhere, the Licking River area in Northern Kentucky now hosts three nests in Pendleton and Harrison counties, two of which were found this year. The Cave Run Lake area now supports five nests in Bath, Menifee and Morgan counties, three of which were found during the last year.

Lincoln, Perry and Woodford counties also have new nests, Heyden said.

The state estimates that 147 young were produced, but only 74 fledged, for a 30 percent success rate. However, the report cautioned that state officials were not confident that they know about all the birds that survived and left their nests.

State officials have credited the banning of the pesticide DDT, eagle introduction programs, improved law enforcement for a comeback of the bald eagle. They have also bounced back in Indiana and across the United States.

Reach reporter James Bruggers at (502) 582-4645 or on Twitter @jbruggers.