Super volunteer discovers Walworth County's third bald eagle nest and watches another from the ground

Zach Kastern of Whitewater was among dozens of Wisconsinites turning in reports of new bald eagle nests in Wisconsin in 2020. The longtime volunteer for DNR's Natural Heritage Conservation Program shares his story and pictures from this exciting discovery.

"I’ve been involved in a few different citizen science projects since I became an State Natural Area steward in 2012. After learning about and getting to see some of the most interesting plants, places and creatures around us, I decided that trying to capture images on my iPhone just wasn’t good enough anymore.

So I bought a digital camera to be able to get those better shots.  It was early spring and I wanted to learn how to use this fancy thing before the bumblebees came out so I could do better surveys for DNR's Wisconsin Bumble Bee Brigade.  I started shooting any birds I could find since they were becoming more plentiful at that time. 

One day, on my way home from work I stopped at a local park near my home and snapped some photos of geese lifting off from the lake.  In the background was an island with many large trees with heron and egret nests high above the ground.  In one of the photos I noticed a shape that stood out to me. It was very blurry and out of range but I could swear it was an eagle.  I was intrigued so I changed locations in an attempt to verify what I was seeing. I could get a little closer but not much since this is an island and ice was black and starting to break-up. I was confident I was seeing a pair of eagles out there after seeing the second one arrive a few minutes later.

Making the connection from a past conversation

I’ve gotten to know DNR regional ecologist Sharon Fandel a little bit after I attended a few public comment sessions for DNR projects near me.  We discussed some of the volunteer projects I’m involved in and she knew I’m out and about quite a bit in the Southern Kettle Moraine Forest.  She had told me she had an interest in knowing about any eagle nest sightings in Walworth County so I told her I would keep my eyes open.

I remembered what Sharon had said so I decided to drop her an email and let her know what I think I may have found.  It’s fun to submit sightings to Ebird too but I thought this might be a bit sensitive for that and if I could get some info to one of our local ecologists maybe something more could come of this sighting. Maybe some management decisions could be affected by this. 

I’m glad I contacted her because it turned out she was doing a flight the very next day to try and verify eagle nest locations in southeast Wisconsin and she added this location to her list.  The funny part here is that I stopped to check on the eagles here myself again after work the next day and caught the survey plane in the act of circling the island and even snapped a couple of pictures of them doing it.  I sent the photos to Sharon and she confirmed it was their plane. I chuckled about that for a bit.

Second nest location enters the picture

I kept tabs on the nest location every few days that spring and rented a much larger lens for my camera, hoping to get some awesome pictures. I didn’t really capture the shots I hoped to get until I was given another possible nest location nearby to take a look at. When I checked on this second nest I was able to verify a nesting pair at a safe and respectable distance.

Once while out there observing the nest, the second bird returned to a tree nearby and made it known that I was not welcome any closer so I respected its wishes and left them to their business. I checked on them from a distance every few days or so and at one point saw at least one dark colored youngster in the massive nest with one of the white-headed parents.

For me, making an observation like this and being able to share info with our ecologists at DNR was very satisfying.  I felt like I may have contributed some little piece of information that could possibly lead to a positive impact on the critters and the places around me.  The fact that volunteers are heard by decision makers is one of the things that keeps me volunteering with the DNR and I am grateful for the relationships I have been able to build with these people that I respect at DNR.