Outdoor Education School Science Camps California

Bald Eagles and Their Comeback! Brandon Bortzer

In 1963, scientists estimated a total of just 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles survived in the lower 48 states.

The emblem of the United States since 1782 and the only eagle endemic to North America, the American Bald Eagle, is one of the most majestic birds in the world. This glorious bird our forefathers chose to honor is worthy of our admiration and our protection.

Picture taken by author in Alaska.

The Comeback!

In 1963, scientists estimated a total of just 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles survived in the lower 48 states. This was a staggeringly low number, so in 1967 the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species through the Endangered Species Act. ¹

After being placed on the Endangered Species List and with the help from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the American Bald Eagle was able to make its comeback. With the help from the acts and many small projects and organizations, the bald eagles population increased enough to be taken off the Endangered Species List.

In 2006, there were an estimated 9,789 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states with the majority of the nests found in the Midwest. Since then, the population continued to climb, however the hunting and killing of these birds continues to be illegal due to the legislation.

Today, the main cause of bald eagle deaths is from power lines along bodies of water. However, many communities are voting to widen their power lines or place yellow curly-q wires on the power lines so the eagles can differentiate the lines from the background horizon.

Hey eagle! Don’t you know this is dangerous? This picture was NOT taken at High Trails…thank goodness.

Quick Bald Eagle Facts

Like other raptor species, female bald eagles are bigger than males, and can have a wingspan of up to 8 feet long! That’s the same height as our Instructors on each other’s shoulders! Females can weigh up to around 14 pounds, with 6 percent of their weight coming from their skeletons, and the rest coming from their feathers! That’s a lot of feathers! ²

8 Feet Wide. Two instructors.

When searching for these beautiful birds, you might have better luck looking for their nests. Bald Eagles mate for life and a part of their mating ritual is building a nest together. After building on the same nest for sometimes 35 years, some nests can reach a weight of almost 3 tons! That’s enough weight to break down the tree! ³

Bald Eagles live near many types of bodies of water, including Big Bear Lake, just down the road from High Trails. One might even be lucky enough to find a perched bald eagle close to High Trails at Jenks Lake! However, if you were to travel back in time just 30 years, you likely wouldn’t find bald eagles in this area, or in the continental United States. With the overuse of DDT, a pesticide for insect control, and an extensive amount of deforestation, the bald eagle came very close to extinction in the Continental United States. ⁴

Picture actually taken at Jenks Lake…

Help The Bald Eagle!

There are still many organizations working to protect the bald eagle. Monetary donations can be given to organizations like the Defenders of Wildlife ⁵ or American Eagle Foundation ⁶. You can also donate your time and volunteer with projects and organizations working to protect the bald eagle.

Bald Eagles and Their Comeback! Brandon Bortzer

Photos from http://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagle-cam.html

In the San Bernardino National Forest, volunteers count Bald Eagle populations in the Big Bear Lake area on the first Saturday of every Winter month. The High Trails staff has been helping Robin Eliason, a district wildlife biologist for the Forest Service, with this project over the past several months. You can find similar projects in your area trying to keep the American Bald Eagle safe and off the Endangered Species List.

At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com

https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/population/index.html ↩
http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/ ↩
https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/eagle-nesting-young/ ↩
https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/population/index.html ↩
http://www.defenders.org/bald-eagle/basic-facts ↩
https://www.eagles.org/ ↩

Book and Media Review, Feathered Friends

Flip Distractions into Discussions: Verbal Jiu-Jitsu- Alex Eisenreich

Rock Climber or Amateur Geologist? – Michael Perez

Comments are closed.

Super Hero Squirrels - Alex Kaklamanos

Tom Brown Jr., a famous tracker and naturalist, said, “We learned to be patient observers like the owl. We learned cleverness from the crow, and courage from the jay, who will attack an owl ten times...

Waterflies - Stephen Perry In our Little World class here at High Trails we discuss three types of decomposers: Bacteria, Fungi, and Invertebrates/Scavengers. We do in fact find all sorts of interesting critters, both growing and crawling around the... Why Bees Are Disappearing - Jaimie Spetseris Really Cool Thing about the Spring Season: new plants pop up left and right, and beautiful flowers are in bloom. Safety Consideration of the Spring Season: it’s the time of year when we must warn our... The 11th Essential - Kate Leaf When walking into an outdoor store like REI, I am often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of outdoor gear, equipment and clothing available to keep us safe and healthy in the outdoors. But what do... Improv-ing Education - Cass Language Friday afternoon— busses are delayed due to snow, and you find yourself with 15 students for an hour longer than you expected. Or maybe your boss tells you to lead a 10 minute activity for... Scientific Method in Everything - Leslie Urban In sixth grade I remember losing a spelling bee because I did not know how to spell ‘hypothesis’. Our science teacher, Ms. Miers, had spent the entire fall semester pounding the Scientific Method into our heads... The Master's - Alex Kaklamanos A master's degree is an advanced academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. Earning a Master’s degree... Big Picture Lesson #3: You Are the Master of Yourself - Danny Walden I hold up my radio and beckon to the kids in the back, urging them to listen to the crackly voice emanating from the speaker. It's almost time for switchover, when the kids will join their... Myco-what? Harnessing Fungi - Chehala Andriananjason Fungi finally get their 15 minutes of fame here at High Trails as we teach our class Little World. This is just fine with me, as fungi were hugely important to my family’s world when... Flip Distractions into Discussions: Verbal Jiu-Jitsu- Alex Eisenreich You are a Teacher. So you probably know that Random Tangent Student. The one that takes extra prompting to engage in class; the one that needs redirection to stay on task; the one who doesn’t volunteer... Why do male seahorses give birth? Joanna Leach When teaching students, have you ever gotten a question that stumped you? If the answer is no, then I applaud you on your vast knowledge of everything. For the rest of us, we can make an... The World Turned Upside Down- Melissa Fitzgerald Have you ever seen one of those pictures, when you look at it straight on the image is of a beautiful woman and when you stare at it another way you see a haggard old... Why Plants Are Important - Caroline Burdick Did you know that this state is so large, so diverse, and geographically varied that over 5,800 plant species can call California home? This is about the same as all other states combined! We also have over 2,100 endemic... Speak Like A Yuhaviaatam - Ikwe Mennen You're staying in the Condor cabin? I think you mean Qwat cabin! Yuhaviaatam means “people of the pines” in their own language. They are the native peoples who lived on top of our mountain, in the... Steller’s Jays: The birds you hate to love - Shannon Pappas When I say that I don’t always like Steller’s Jays, my students are always shocked. I, of course, understand where they are coming from. I remember when I first came to these mountains and was immediately... I SEE What You Mean: A Close Look at Light and Vision - Robert Donisch Here at High Trails, one of the most discussed adaptations organisms have is that of sight. And we know what sight is: the ability for our eyes to detect light. But...how do we actually see? Why... Why We Lorax - Penelope Burgess “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” –Dr. Seuss What is The Lorax? Every Friday morning at High Trails Outdoor Science School, groups of 40-120 5th or... Magnetic North - Lauren Elysée Stansbury Here’s a riddle: A young explorer finds a map of a buried treasure. With compass in hand, the explorer takes a perfect reading and travels for 5 miles through the wilderness. Upon arrival at the... Nature Guide Largely put together by staff member Laura Cerrato, here's an old fashioned, printable field guide full of all the animals, plants, rocks and things you might find in our neck of the woods. “Whatever GRABBSS their attention...” - Shane Hyre Team Discovery Hike: it's the first activity you do with your field group on their first day at High Trails. It's time for the group to discover who you are, where they are, and what...

Popular Parent Links

Special Concerns: Information and form for special situations. Health Consent Form: required for every student attending High Trails. Medication Form: required if a student is bringing medication to High Trails. Discipline Form and Packing List: general information to prepare for your trip. Forms Video: check this out for a visual explanation of our forms. Printable Parent's Guide: used in lieu of the online Parent's Guide. Menu: a weekly list of the food up here.

Trail Games #1- Kyle O'Dea So what do you do while hiking with a large group of students through the forest? Play games of course! Here at High Trails Outdoor Science School we have an arsenal of games we... Guided Questioning: Turning Wah into Wow - Mark Kerstens Ever have a cool fact, idea, or concept that comes up as you hike that you want to share with the students? These teachable moments happen all the time, and are a great way to... Props: Can’t live with them, can’t live without them… Shane Hyre If you talk to anyone in the outdoor education business – talk about props. Talk about the rubber chickens, the stuffed animals, the rope, the spots, the foam thingies… props have been the underestimated “magic... Don’t Rain on My Parade! Shannon Diaz Have you ever had to teach students while outside in the rain or snow ? Here at High Trails, we hike and teach our students in three different seasons with all sorts of weather. Whether we... Morphology Makes You a Science Wizard - Jenna Ikwe Mennen “Who knows one characteristic of a mammal?” says every High Trails instructor, once a week. “Warm-blooded!” answers an eager student, remembering to raise their hand only after already blurting out the words. Now, how do we... Ode to Button-Pushers - Alex Rice Do you know the student who throws a stick when their instructor isn’t looking? The one who goes past the boundary their teacher very explicitly creates or breaks the rule that was thoroughly reviewed three... Toothpaste: Show Don't Tell - Kelsey Wentling Once inside the cabin, everyone shivers off their jackets and eagerly starts buzzing around the warm haven: home for the next three or four nights. Soon after, buzzing turns to chatting and not far off chatting... Why We Lorax - Penelope Burgess “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” –Dr. Seuss What is The Lorax? Every Friday morning at High Trails Outdoor Science School, groups of 40-120 5th or... Frontloading and Debriefing - Shannon Diaz “On your mark, get set, go!” “Huh? I don’t even know what we’re playing!” Have you ever tried playing a game or doing an activity that wasn’t explained completely or didn't make sense to you? This can... American Sign Language in Science - Sarah Beery How do you teach science to a deaf student if sign language doesn't have a way to sign the word? Science is its own language with all the varying terms ranging from photosynthesis to camouflage to... Growth Mindset - Alicia Imbrogna Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. -Tim Notke How many times in your life have you encountered a situation that was frustrating or annoying and often appeared too difficult to overcome? Have... Flip Distractions into Discussions: Verbal Jiu-Jitsu- Alex Eisenreich You are a Teacher. So you probably know that Random Tangent Student. The one that takes extra prompting to engage in class; the one that needs redirection to stay on task; the one who doesn’t volunteer... “Whatever GRABBSS their attention...” - Shane Hyre Team Discovery Hike: it's the first activity you do with your field group on their first day at High Trails. It's time for the group to discover who you are, where they are, and what... Analogies are to Teachers as Utility Belt is to Batman - Hollyann Duskin A streak of light burns bright and brief across the night sky. A collective gasp comes from the group of students huddled in the darkness as they exclaim, “a shooting star!” As we discuss that shooting... Scientific Method in Everything - Leslie Urban In sixth grade I remember losing a spelling bee because I did not know how to spell ‘hypothesis’. Our science teacher, Ms. Miers, had spent the entire fall semester pounding the Scientific Method into our heads... Your Name? I Don't Have A Clue - Haley Cushing Instructor: “Ok, who can tell me an example of a renewable resource?” Unnamed Student Raises Hand. Your mind goes blank. You look down at your attendance sheet. Back at the student. Back at the attendance sheet.... Improv-ing Education - Cass Language Friday afternoon— busses are delayed due to snow, and you find yourself with 15 students for an hour longer than you expected. Or maybe your boss tells you to lead a 10 minute activity for... Teaching with Music - Jordan Rowell "Alright class, it’s time to earn our beads for our Furry Friends class. Let’s review what you can remember about adaptations of mammals. John, tell me at least one characteristic of a mammal?" Uhhh…. Uhhh oh is... 3,2,1, Bonus Point! Caroline Blake “Single file line in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,” This is what I shout to my students within the first 5 minutes of their arrival. The kids scurry to get into the best line that they... Building Communities - Jess Fangman “This needs to come from your heart,” I said in a soft tone. I watched anxiously as 12 different sets of eyes peered back at me in puzzlement. I had asked my cabin group of sixth... A Unique Class is a Memorable Class - Paul Adams A few weeks ago, I was attending a music festival in Santa Barbara. As I was walking around the camp ground, I met a man named Brian who invited me into his camp. We had... My Former Self - Shannon Diaz Have you ever thought back to when you were in fifth grade? What was the world like for you then? I remember when I was in fifth grade, and getting ready to go to Camp... Why Visit A Classroom? Tamara Perreault Working at High Trails, I quickly became a proponent of teaching outside. There are a lot of clear benefits. In California, class size is almost always 20 or more, but our groups are rarely more... Home - Tamara Perreault What makes a place a home? This can be a tough question. Think about it for a moment. When you say, “I feel like I’m at home” what makes you feel that way? 2,000 years ago... Science Fiction Is a Teaching Tool - Jake Sheaffer As instructors at High Trails we are constantly trying to relate the material that we teach back to the student’s daily lives. Sometimes this is difficult, because not all students understand why topics like...

Food Waste & The Clean Plate Club - Sam Farrell Food waste is one of the most important things students learn about here at High Trails, but it is also easy to overlook. While most people don’t consider it to be a big deal, as... Where Have All The Monarchs Gone? - Melissa Mercier Monarch butterflies are amazing insects; they can change from caterpillar to beautiful winged creatures! What you may not know is they perform a second and equally amazing feat... Monarch butterflies perform a four generation long trek... Steller’s Jays: The birds you hate to love - Shannon Pappas When I say that I don’t always like Steller’s Jays, my students are always shocked. I, of course, understand where they are coming from. I remember when I first came to these mountains and was immediately... How Plants Can Be Medicine - Canot Walker High Trails is located at 7000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountain Range, and one of the first topics we learn about in Team Discovery Hike is who lived here before us. The Yuhaviatam arrived... Mars InSight Lander - Karen Solange Fraser Mars’ latest lander, InSight, launched in May 2018 and landed in November 2018. At approximately 5 feet long and 20 feet wide, it features two solar panels, two cameras, and three scientific instruments with a... Snake Reproduction - Mallory Schmackpfeffer When we talk about snakes, the assumption that we make is that all snakes reproduce by laying eggs, but that’s only part of the story! The truth is that only 70% of snakes lay eggs... Seed Dispersal of the Black Oak - Davíd Valencia Did you know that one of the largest populations of all Black Oak trees in southern California is in the San Bernardino National Forest? [1. Tyler, Claudia M., et al. “Demography and Recruitment Limitations of... Contour vs Downy Feathers – Frazer Winsted It is the middle of Feathered Friends class. After discussing that there are multiple feathers on a bird consisting of contour and downy feathers, one of my students says: “Mr. Frazer, what is the difference... Non-flowering Plant Reproduction: Conifers – Ryne Tobar Of the classes I get to teach at High Trails, my favorite is Plant Detectives. Plants are incredible organisms. While they might be immobile, plants are able to propagate, or reproduce, far beyond their immediate vicinity. When... Plastic is the New Black – Lillian Johnson Do you know what you're wearing? When discussing the natural origin of materials with students, discovering that plastics are typically made from crude oil – the same fossil fuel used to power our cars –... Benefits of Rock Climbing - Peter Le People ask me if climbing is a good way to stay in shape; I tell them I stay in shape to be good at climbing! Why do people climb? That is the question all instructors ask... Purpose of Pupils - Allison Hanson Over the summer, I went hiking with some students at summer camp. On the trail, we ran into a woman taking her goats out for a walk. Yes, GOATS. Goats are great. I was then... Over the Moon...Cycle - Suzanne Bosman “The common theme of calendar making is the desire to organize units of time to satisfy the needs and preoccupations of society. In addition to serving practical purposes, the process of organization provides a sense,... Outdoor Education & Line Dancing - Jade Koenigs When I say the words “Line Dancing”, the faces of my students scrunch up into a mixture of emotions. Some voice excitement, some voice disgust, but most faces bare the unmistakable feeling of apprehension, scared for... Can A Formula Predict Floods? - Anne Sweney “From where we stand the rain seems random. If we could stand somewhere else, we would see the order in it.” –Tony Hillerman For people living in climates that are dry and arid, understanding the water... We Don’t Need No GPS! Brad Brainard The day is September 11th, 2014. I am standing face to face with a weathered and worn wooden sign on the top of a mountain in the middle of Maine. The sign reads, in big,... Diggin Deep into the world of the Thatch-Mound Ant - Kyle W. Gray What is that mound thing? When sauntering about in the San Bernardino National Forest you may notice large mounds or domes made of grass, leaves, pine needles, and numerous other plant materials. What exactly are these... Replenishing the Water Cycle - Kevin Williams Did you know the scientific term for the water cycle is the hydrologic cycle? I was on a hike the other day and thought about the apple activity I do during our Water Wonders class to... Bird Sounds of Spring - Danny Walden Spring is here, and it's an exciting time! Our bird friends in the San Bernardino mountains begin to sing, and these year-round populations are complemented by a whole new host of migrants. To many people,... The Spirits of the Water: Loons - AleXANdra Barteldt There is a loonie legend about a small lake in rural Maine named Flying Pond. As the story goes, the Native Americans of the region returned to the northern lakes every season for fishing and... Archery in North America - Hannah Livezey As staff members at High Trails, we are offered opportunities to visit other outdoor schools and exchange ideas with others in the outdoor field with hopes to deliver the best possible curriculum to the students... Speak Like A Yuhaviaatam - Ikwe Mennen You're staying in the Condor cabin? I think you mean Qwat cabin! Yuhaviaatam means “people of the pines” in their own language. They are the native peoples who lived on top of our mountain, in the... Welcome to Subirdia: Book Review - Mark Kerstens Ever wonder how our ever growing suburbanization and development affects wildlife populations? Have you heard that urban development is exclusively bad for bird populations? I thought so, too, until I read Welcome to Subirdia by... Rock Climber or Amateur Geologist? - Michael Perez Is igneous bliss or are all the little sediments of rock knowledge metamorphosing climbers into rock experts? Ha! As rock climbers, we experience many different types of rocks when we go to climb at various crags... Bald Eagles and Their Comeback! Brandon Bortzer In 1963, scientists estimated a total of just 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles survived in the lower 48 states. The emblem of the United States since 1782 and the only eagle endemic to North America,...