Bald Eagles Are Nesting In East Brunswick, Mayor Says

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — Add bald eagles to the list of notable wildlife sightings in East Brunswick, host Greg T announced on a recent episode of "Buzz About East Brunswick."

"There really is a buzz in the air about East Brunswick," Greg T said. "We have the Salamander Crossings, we have the Butterfly Park, and now we have the Bald Eagle. How about that?" He noted the eagle has been spotted at Bicentennial Park and Tammany Park.

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Mayor Brad Cohen said he first heard about eagles in the township while out campaigning, when he met a Milltown resident with friends near Farrington Lake.

"She was telling me there's bald eagles there. I'd heard other people tell me, but I just didn't believe it, because I just didn't think our area really had them," Cohen said. He noted that eagle nests had previously been found near the top of the township landfill — a largely preserved, county-owned area that few residents ever visit, though tours are periodically offered.

"If you get to the top and look around, it's an unbelievably beautiful area — it's really almost like a nature preserve," Cohen said, adding that workers at the landfill have told him they see eagles there regularly. "There's deer and all these different animals."

The resident who first told him about the sightings also explained how to distinguish a bald eagle from more common birds of prey, Cohen said.

"She said, one, the bird is much bigger than things like turkey vultures or hawks," Cohen said. "When its wings are expanded, they tend to be very flat, whereas turkey vultures and hawks tend to go above the horizontal. And obviously, they're white."

Cohen said he later spotted a bird matching that description on a walk near the park, though it was too far away to get a clear photo on his phone. A clearer picture came courtesy of a friend, who photographed an eagle perched on a branch near the Elks Club during a fundraiser for St. Bartholomew, Cohen said.

"That's all Lake Farrington," he said. "The birds are definitely in that area, and the best viewing site in East Brunswick would either be Bicentennial Park, right out by the lake, or by the Elks Club, or Tammany Park, which looks out over this most pristine area of Lake Farrington."

Greg T pointed out the timing of the discovery, coming during the nation's 250th anniversary.

"What does that say? 250th year — maybe there's an overlying message in all of this," he said.

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