More eagles get birds eye view of local abattoir

BAYVIEW - With talons clutching a gnarled stub at the top of a towering old pine, a young eagle's eyes glance toward every slight movement viewed from its strategic location.
The familiar sound of a tractor rings through the air as its next meal arrives, then, in a flash it swoops down from its observation post gliding from the trees to rip into the leftovers from a day's work at a nearby abattoir.
"They know they are safe here," said Harold Ferguson, owner of Ferguson's Abattoir on Bayview Road located on the outskirts of Pictou.
Ferguson has been closely watching the flock of majestic baldheaded eagles grow during the past few years as they come to feast on the leftovers of his daily grind.
Last winter, he estimated there were more than 40 of the birds taking refuge in the treetops on the family's farm, however this season he estimates that number may have climbed to more than 60.
"It seems like every eagle that had little ones last year brought them back this year," said Ferguson.
He feels very fortunate to have the birds visit the family's farm and loves to look out the window of his home and occasionally see three or four of the large white-headed birds lounging in a tree in his front yard.
"I honestly think people don't realize what we have here in the province," he said.
Ferguson takes pride in helping to increase the eagle's survival rate during the winter months when food can be scarce.
He encourages people to drive along the Bayview Road to see the large birds close-up from the safety of their vehicles.
He said the best time to view them is between 3:30 p.m. and dusk as they feed in the fields easily seen from the road.