The eagles have landed (in northern Kane)

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A bald eagle and it's young fly over the Fox River in Elgin. February 19, 2011 | Sun-Times Media~File Photo

Updated: January 26, 2012 8:12AM

The big birds are back in town.

That’s the news from Mike Turner of Hampshire, who has been snapping photos of majestic bald eagles soaring above and hanging about the Fox River in northern Kane County and periodically posting the shots on Facebook since Dec. 10.

Last January, quite a few eagles were seen along the Fox shores near downtown Elgin — enough that the area around the Gail Borden Public Library became a de facto viewing spot. Postings Dec. 22 at the online Eagle Viewing Directory, hwww.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/directory/IL.html, included eagles being spotted up this way around Carpentersville, Crystal Lake, East Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin and St. Charles.

Jerry Hope of St. Charles and the Kane County Chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society (www.kanecountyaudubon.org) told The Courier-News earlier this year that he first noticed bald eagles in the area about a dozen years ago between St. Charles and Geneva off the Fox River’s shores. About a half-dozen years ago, more and more were seen, including at spots in South Elgin and in East Dundee.

In counts in Illinois last year, 100 nesting pairs were spotted across the state, and as many as 1,000 bald eagles have been counted along the Mississippi near Alton during the winter. The birds are scavengers that will fish and look for open water such as near dams, where it is easy to catch prey. In cold weather, water below dams moves too much to freeze and becomes a particular draw for eagles looking for fish.

In the 1950s, experts put the number of bald eagle pairs in the lower 48 states at between 200 and 400. The pesticide DDT had almost wiped out the species by causing the birds’ eggshells to be too soft. That led to the birds crushing their own offspring while nesting the eggs.

The DDT ban in 1972 helped bring back the species, as did federal laws put on the books in the 1960s and later protecting the birds. According to the American Bald Eagle Information website, there now are more than 70,000 of the birds in the U.S.

By 2007, “the Interior Department took the American bald eagle off the Endangered Species List. The bald eagle will still be protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The Bald Eagle Protection Act prohibits the take, transport, sale, barter, trade, import and export, and possession of eagles, making it illegal for anyone to collect eagles and eagle parts, nests, or eggs without a permit. Native Americans are able to possess these emblems which are traditional in their culture,” the website states.