Hawk Mountain debuts bald eagle film

New video by the Pennsylvania Game Commission chronicles 30-year success story of the bald eagle

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary will debut the new documentary "Pennsylvania Bald Eagles: Celebrating 30 Years of Restoration" at 5 pm on Saturday, September 28 in the Sanctuary Visitor Center. The 22-minute wildlife documentary was recently released by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and details the conservation success story of bald eagles across the Commonwealth. The free showing is the first installment in the Sanctuary’s annual Autumn Lecture Series, and the video will be followed by a question-and-answer period with Endangered Species Biologist Patti Barber of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

"Pennsylvania Bald Eagles: Celebrating 30 Years of Restoration" is designed to be entertaining and informative for people of all ages, and helps to share the story of the early days of eagle persecution, and the 7-year restoration project launched in 1983 by the Game Commission. At that time, biologists could document just three bald eagle nests and six adults in all of Pennsylvania, and each nest was located along the Ohio border in the northwestern corner of the state.

Thirty years later, the big bird is back and now with 271 nests spread statewide, including a local pair that has been seen frequently from the Hawk Mountain lookout. In fact, two adults will commonly accompany migrating eagles along the ridge before they turn back to soar across the valleys. 

“The bald eagle’s recovery in Pennsylvania has been nothing short of remarkable, and this film does an incredible job of telling that story” says Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl Roe. “It celebrates a victory for wildlife conservation and will leave residents feeling proud to be Pennsylvanians.”

“Pennsylvania Bald Eagles, Celebrating 30 Years of Restoration” was filmed and edited by Game Commission videographers Hal Korber and Tracy Graziano, and their work was recently entered in the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. After making a tour around the state, the film will be made available to the public online.

Roe said the game commission staff and board has responded warmly, and describes the film as a moving portrayal of the bald eagle’s comeback. 

“People have an indescribable connection with bald eagles, and to see the bald eagle’s tale of triumph laid out in this manner simply is a thing of beauty,” Roe said. 
Learn more about the Autumn Lecture Series