‘These eagles are more than just a symbol’

LAKE HEMET, Calif. — The bonecold rain didn’t keep the regulars from rising early on a Saturday, braving winding mountain roads and thick fog, to wade through muddy lake beds, binoculars in-hand, searching.

About 150 Southern Californians showed up to count bald eagles at six inland lakes, part of a little-known federal program that’s been running for 39 years.

“The level of interest is really extraordinary,” said Ann Bowers, a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Forest Service who has been leading the count for the past three years.

“These eagles are more than just a symbol,” she added. “They’re very faithful to their territories, they’re monogamous, they experience the same kind of challenges that we do in some ways.”

People are eager to see this national icon, if only for a moment, Bowers said: “Sometimes people get emotional.”

At this time of year, bald eagles are settling in at lakes like this one across the region. The eagles, which mate for life, are primarily fishers.

Visitors at six lakes in the San Bernardino National Forest and two California state parks come with notebooks, cameras and spotting scopes. The forest service keeps the public about a quarter-mile away from nesting sites; land adjacent is closed off, so that eagles won’t feel threatened and abandon their young.

On a recent cool morning here, mallards flew overhead, pelicans swam on the lake, coots picked bugs out of the mud, and a lone doe sauntered through tall grass. A

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