Bald eagles sighted along Piscataqua

By Charles McMahon
cmcmahon@seacoastonline.com
March 14, 2011 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — Tugboats, oil tankers and scrap ships aren't the only things Port Director Geno Marconi said he's been seeing along the Piscataqua River these days.

With his office window facing the busy waterway that intersects Maine and New Hampshire, Marconi said it's also not rare for him to see a slew of sea gulls and even harbor seals hanging about.

But for the past couple of years, the longtime director of the Port of New Hampshire said he's witnessed a new visitor along the riverfront.

"The last couple of years I've seen a couple American bald eagles flying around out there," he said. "A couple times they've come by the scrap pile. You can't miss 'em — they are a lot bigger than a sea gull."

Marconi said when he recently visited the Portsmouth Fishermen's Pier on Peirce Island, he noticed one of the majestic birds perched on the limb of a giant elm tree.

"It was just sitting in the tree, looking at me," he said.

As a self-professed amateur bird watcher, Marconi said he decided to take some pictures of the bald eagles and since then has noticed them all over the city, including at Prescott Park.

He said he's learned from others that there may in fact be a nesting pair on Clark's Island, which is at the lower end of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, opposite New Castle.

Just last week, Marconi said he saw another bald eagle flying near the Taylor River by the New Hampshire Liquor Store.

It appears that bald eagles aren't exclusive to the waterfront in Portsmouth, either.

Last June, the Portsmouth Herald reported three separate eagle sightings along the Squamscott River.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110314-NEWS-103140327