POWERGRAMS

11 bird or nest sighting and logged on the company's sensitive resource map, which is submitted to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). While surveying can be exhilarating, it also can be bone-chilling. This year's survey was conducted during the coldest temperatures of winter 2017. Alabama Power surveyors encountered creeks iced over during the sub-20 degree weather. "Who doesn't enjoy a boat ride?" Yerby deadpanned. "But we prepare for the cold. I only lose feeling in my face for a short period of time." Fitch's wardrobe consists of three layers of clothes, two hats, heavy gloves and a "float coat," a type III life vest that also is "a very good shield against the wind," Fitch said. While Alabama Power makes the survey for business purposes, the results go beyond the company. "Alabama Power's participation is instrumental in providing us with valuable location information on eagle sightings as well as nest data we would not be able to obtain otherwise," said Carrie Threadgill, a biologist in ADCNR's Nongame Wildlife Division. "Alabama Power is critical to conducting the survey" on Smith Lake, said Allison Cochran, a wildlife biologist with the Forest Service. "They have more resources, including boats and personnel, to effectively and efficiently conduct an eagle survey. The Forest Service does not have those same resources available to accomplish this large survey effort." ADCNR has plenty of skin in the game. From 1985 to 1992, the agency released 91 bald eagles into the wild "after they had disappeared completely" from Alabama, Threadgill said. Although the bald eagle was delisted in 2007 as endangered, ADCNR is eager to see the results of its Eagle Restoration Program. "This was the first major success for our Nongame Wildlife Program, and annual monitoring is important to ensure our eagle population continues to do well," Threadgill said. Cochran and her U.S. Forest cohorts are interested in survey results because the agency manages Bankhead National Forest, the largest landowner around Smith Lake. "For conducting active forest management activities like timber harvesting, tree planting and prescribed burning, it's important for us to gather information on where eagles are," Cochran said, "especially in regard to nesting, so we may improve and conserve habitat for eagles near Smith Lake and protect nests during management activities." One of those key activities is a longleaf pine restoration program around Smith Lake. And while Yerby knows what he's doing is business, it still doesn't minimize his emotions. "It's especially exciting to find an active nest or to see a juvenile," he said. "It just confirms that bald eagles are continuing their comeback." A golden eagle flies through trees (top) while a pair of eagles look for prey from tree limb. Eagle in nest on Lay Lake Photos by Steven Rod MacLeroy

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