Bald eagles pique interest of Lake Chabot visitors

Oakland Tribune, Dec 31, 2003 by Ben Aguirre Jr., STAFF WRITER

CASTRO VALLEY -- They are there. Some people just haven't seen them yet.

Somewhere among the marshy areas of the northeastern shore, two bald eagles are spending their winter at Lake Chabot.

Feasting on the fish and drawing attention to themselves only because their very existence is rare, these eagles are drawing quite a following.

During the last few weeks since the birds were first spotted, Troy Schwenk, a park ranger at Lake Chabot, said he has noticed a lot of people carrying binoculars on the trails.

"The word is getting out," he said.

Sunday, some bird-watching lakegoers said they came to see the bald eagles but didn't catch a glimpse.

For three hours, Jim Strubel of Hayward watched the skies and water near Honker Bay and Raccoon Point through his telescope. He didn't see them, but he wasn't disappointed either.

"I didn't spend all that time looking for them," he said, noting that he saw plenty of other birds to keep him happy.

He said that while the chance to spot the eagles in Castro Valley is rare, he has seen the bald eagle couple that is nesting at Lake Del Valle near Livermore.

"The nest is the size of a Volkswagen," he said.

He said no one he talked to Sunday saw the birds that morning.

Elliot Aronson and his wife, Shirley Hoye, of Oakland, wore binoculars around their necks as they headed back to their car after spending two hours looking for the eagles.

Like Strubel, they weren't disappointed because they had seen so many other species and because they always enjoy their trips to the lake.

Tom Martin, a volunteer with the East Bay Regional Parks District, said he had many people ask him to point out the eagles.

Martin, who said he hasn't seen the eagles, suspects they might be resting on an island in the middle of the lake where other ducks and birds are known to stay at night.

He said he hopes they decide to make Lake Chabot their home.

"That's a real drawing card," he said, noting that if they stick around long enough, he is sure to see them.

While none of the lakegoers reported seeing the birds Sunday, Schwenk said he personally saw the eagles at close range while on a boat a few weeks back.

"It was amazing," he said, noting that he has worked at the lake for more than 10 years and had never seen anything like it.

Schwenk also said other employees, some of whom have been at the park for 15 to 20 years, couldn't recall ever having seen bald eagles at Lake Chabot.

Schwenk added that biologists have said the eagles likely are migratory and would be at the lake only until March or April 2004.