Deval Patrick, Environmentalist

(Mark Wilson/Globe Staff and Dave Fuller)

Two young bald eagles have a panoramic view of the Quabbin Reservoir from their nest, one of eight there. Photographer Mark Wilson handed a preset camera to state wildlife technician Dave Fuller, who carried it up a tree and clicked the shutter.

This is why I voted for Deval Patrick for governor. While the Boston Herald reports nothing but his spending to upgrade his offices (what did Mitt Romney care about his offices, he was NEVER IN THIS STATE. Grrrrr.) this is the kind of positive change we expect from Governor Patrick.

Boston Globe: Eagles getting assistance, but still endangered

Governor Deval Patrick banded two five-week-old bald eagles today, assisting in the effort to keep track of the endangered birds.

“I am so proud that our restoration program has helped keep these magnificent birds soaring over our Commonwealth,” Patrick said in a statement.

NYTimes: Massachusetts Law to Manage and Protect Ocean Waters

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law Wednesday a measure that will establish the nation’s first management and protection plan for a state’s ocean waters.

The law sets ground rules for all offshore projects and businesses, including energy ventures and conservation areas that lie in state waters. The state controls all water within three miles of the coast, about 1.6 million acres of water.

Lawrence Eagle-Tribune: Creating 'green collar' jobs: Massachusetts groups striving for stronger position in environmental market

[I]n Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi have been promoting their own green initiatives, which would dedicate $100 million over the next five years to clean-energy research and business development.

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Quincy Vale, president and CEO of PowerHouse Enterprises, a Lawrence company that designs environmentally friendly modular homes, said in the past, former Gov. Mitt Romney "said the right things" but didn't back up his words with funding. Gov. Patrick's administration, however, "gets it. Patrick has shown a lot more action," Vale said.

Massachusetts Eagle Count: 71

Wildlife officials counted 71 bald eagles across the state yesterday, including this one in Amesbury. (DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF)

Boston Herald: State to conduct annual census of bald eagle population

BOSTON - Wildlife officials and volunteers have spotted 71 bald eagles along state waterways during the annual count of the once-endangered birds.

That’s up from 48 birds counted in Massachusetts a year ago during the one-day, nationwide survey.

The state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife says the sighting of 27 juvenile bald eagles Wednesday is a good sign.

The biggest number of eagles, 36, were seen during a helicopter survey of the Quabbin Reservoir in Belchertown. Other sites surveyed include the Merrimack River in Newburyport and two ponds in Lakeville.

Wildlife officials say the state’s all-time high was 76 eagles counted in 1998. Only eight eagles were spotted during the first statewide survey in 1979. The population had fallen because of habitat loss, bounty hunting and reproductive failure linked to pesticides.

Boston Globe: Eagles soaring across Bay State

That's Some Big Baby!

Worcester Telegram: Commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game Mary Griffin and Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles pose with the eaglet.

Worcester Telegram: Video of the eagle banding

Update: Another video, this one from WBZ, who had a camera on the guy who climbed the tree, so you can see the eaglet sitting in the nest.

Worcester Telegram: Bands all here for the eagles

It’s always risky to drop in unannounced on a new family.

Pushing the envelope is when about 25 people converge on a small submarine-shaped island to view the only offspring of the first pair of eagles to have successfully nested at Wachusett Reservoir. Wednesday was the coming out party for the 4-week-plus-old eaglet who was removed from its nest and fitted with two metal leg bands that give it unique identifiers that will help track it the rest of its life.

The adult eagles took the whole affair in stride. They circled the island from time to time, but kept a distant and silent vigil. Left to deal with the humans on his own, junior proved to be a really good sport. For those of us on the island, there was more than a little drama, a dose of education and a rare chance to share a moment of pride with the state agency personnel that have helped restore the bald eagle population in Massachusetts.

Resembling a mini beaver hut, the eagle’s nest was cradled near the end of a bend formed by new growth at the top of a 60-foot white pine tree. The whole configuration leaned into the 15-mile-an-hour northeast blow churning up the reservoir on Wednesday morning.

Eagles Return to Wachusett Reservoir

An adult bald eagle soared through the air as the scientists worked on banding the eaglet.
(Mark Wilson / Globe Staff Photo)

The resurgence of the bald eagle population in the northeast continues. Today's Boston Globe has a photo gallery showing the nest built by the first pair ever to nest along the Wachusett Reservoir in Central Massachusetts.

They banded a baby eaglet from the nest so it can be tracked.

The eaglet received two new bands, an aluminum US Fish and Wildlife Service band and a colored Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife band.
(Mark Wilson / Globe Staff Photo)

Conservation, anyone?

Yesterday while walking around the Wachusett Reservoir I saw three mink swimming. A first for me -- I've never seen a mink that wasn't being worn as a piece of clothing. They were bobbing in the water, tiny eyes, ears & mouths, diving & having fun. I've had several great wildlife spots in the past year -- the huge red-tailed hawk that almost caused me to drive off the road in Oneonta, New York; the magestic bald eagle perched in the tree along the East Branch of the Delaware River in Margaretville, New York (again, I almost came acropper swerving into the breakdown lane for a good view); a deer standing 10 yards above me on a ridge above a trail along the Wachusett Reservoir.

Given my love of wildlife, I've joined a new organization: GoMainstream.org, a self-described "New Coalition of Conservationists". We are the true conservatives. Click on the link to join.