DALLAS — The bald eagle family at White Rock Lake was displaced in Tuesday’s storm, city officials say.
Brett Johnson, a conservation manager with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department who’s been observing the eagles’ nesting behaviors since early March, said nearly two-thirds of the eagle family’s nest was destroyed and one of the two new eaglets hasn’t been seen since the storm. The eagle parents were seen nesting in the same area around the lake, though, Johnson said.
Johnson and his team, working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, found one of the eaglets and parts of the nest on private property nearby.
“Due to federal laws protecting the nest and its contents that include the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act), park officials were granted permission by Texas Parks and Wildlife to transfer the eaglet to an area wildlife rehabilitation center. The current condition of the bird remains unknown,” city officials said in a statement.
Johnson and his team were unable to access the area near the nest because of downed trees, but say they will continue to monitor the area where the nest was found in hopes of finding the second eaglet.
The bald eagle family welcomed the two eaglets to the nest at Lake Highlands Park in March. A pair of bald eagles, made up of a male and a female, have been spotted near White Rock Lake since late 2020.
Tuesday’s storms isn’t the first time the pair of eagles there have been displaced. High winds knocked down their nest, which had eggs inside, in February 2022.
