Birdwatcher spots pair of eagles at Crystal Lake’s Main Beach

Phil and Jae Hoggstrom of Lakewood were driving home from birdwatching in McHenry last week, when he noticed what he considered an unusual sighting: a pair of bald eagles perched on a tree at the Main Beach playground in Crystal Lake.

“As we got closer, we noticed the distinctive coloring and had to stop and take some photos,” Phil Hoggstrom said. “It seemed a rare opportunity. One soon flew to another tree and the other larger bird, probably female, just stayed there for a few photos before taking off over the lake.”

While that was the first time Hoggstrom saw a pair of eagles in that area, the recovery of eagle populations over the past decade means such sightings could be more common this winter in McHenry County, Crystal Lake Park District Manager of Natural Resources Preston Skultety said.

Eagles can be seen passing through park district territory, particularly near bodies of water, Skultety said, adding he’s seen three eagles since October, all circling over Four Colonies Park.

“Eagles in our region are a relatively common sighting,” Skultety said. “The pair observed at Main Beach may have just been passing through or foraging for fish in the lake.”

The real rarity, Skultety said, would be spotting an eagles’ nest, though he added that too could change as populations continue to recover.

A report by the U.S. Forest Service from last January noted 35 bald eagle nests had been spotted in six collar counties, including McHenry County, last year.

With more than 3,100 bald eagles currently winter in Illinois, across 27 counties, more wintering eagles are spotted in Illinois than any other state in the continental U.S., according to an Illinois government fact sheet.

After a major population crash nationwide, largely caused by the insecticide DDT, conservation efforts have helped eagle populations grow from 10,000 nesting pairs in 2007 to more than 71,000 pairs and 316,000 individuals in 2018-19, according to a 2021 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .

Hoggstrom said he likes to take wildlife photography along the Fox River, and he’s not alone The Stratton Lock and Dam in McHenry is a popular winter birdwatching site as birds like eagles and turkey vultures gather by the hundreds to take advantage of the fish available above the dam, Hoggstrom said.

“Eagles are exciting to spot in the winter,” Hoggstrom said. “Hawks are neat to watch as well. What’s interesting is how they’ve adjusted to the suburban environment. We build into their habitats, they adapt in turn.”

For those looking to watch for eagles or take wildlife photography, there isn’t much danger for either the birdwatchers or the birds, Skultety said, as the chance of interacting was low, but he added it was best to “enjoy them from a distance” and to not disturb them too much, as that would discourage them from returning to a site or even nesting there.