Bald Eagles
In the mid 1990s bald eagles began showing up on lakes along the Yadkin River chain. At the time, Alcoa Power Generating Inc, set out to encourage the population by preserving habitat. Large areas of open water, dense undeveloped forests made the Yadkin Lakes the ideal spot for the majestic birds. Despite being our national symbol, bald eagles were once a rare site in North Carolina as well as most parts of the country. Up until 2007 they were on the endangered species list. Most people grew up never having seen one in the wild. Now thanks to conservation efforts, bald eagles are a common sight on all of the area lakes. High Rock Lake is known to have several active nests and a few non-active.
This page is dedicated to bald eagles around High Rock Lake. We will continue to build this information, pics and videos for the benefit of all eagle lovers. Scroll down for more. Please check back often for updates.
Bald Eagle Picture Galleries
Winter 2023/24
Fall 2023
Spring/Summer 2023
Winter 2023
Fall 2022
Bald Eagle Watching
Carolyn Phillips Canzonieri and her husband Mike live on High Rock Lake. Several times a week they venture out on their pontoon boat in search of bald eagles and other birds. The couple admits that they weren't really into "Birdwatching" until they moved to the lake.
Like so many people, the Canzonieris were not aware that there are lots of bald eagles on and around High Rock Lake. One day they started noticing the large birds and curiosity led them on a journey to seek out and photograph these majestic creatures. In the video below they take us along on one of their eagle watching tours.
Carolyn's Bald Eagle Photo Gallery
If you spend enough time on and around High Rock Lake, chances are pretty good that you'll see an eagle on a food run. In other words, grabbing a fish right out of the water and flying off. On a fall day in 2022 I was out shooting pics of the beautiful fall color, (click here for more on that,) when all of a sudden we saw an adult bald eagle on final approach for dinner. I scrambled to change lenses but there was not time to adjust the camera for proper settings so I just fired away anyhow. The images are not great but you can see an entire sequence of the bird swooping down and grabbing a fish. Again, apologies for the image quality but its worth sharing. Enjoy.
For quite a few years there has been an active nest on Abbott's Creek near the Holloway's Church Road bridge over the lake. In 2022 the pair failed to return to the nest but remain active on that part of the lake. Below are some videos of the eagles as observed from a long distance using a spotting scope and iPhone camera. What you will see is various behavior in the life of and eagle. Because of the way the video was captured the quality is not the best but interesting none the less.
