Earlier this year, bald eagles nesting in East Naples were threatened by nearby construction, which violated the federal buffer zone, Rene Wilson with Audubon Florida tells us. The org’s Eagle Watch program provided the data needed for Collier County Code Enforcement to “hold those responsible accountable.”
“As a leader in policy expertise, Audubon’s science-based policy solutions protect raptors across the Sunshine State, especially through the Eagle Watch program,” writes Wilson. “This community science initiative, headquartered in Maitland, relies on approximately 750 dedicated volunteers to monitor more than 1,200 eagle nests around the state. Although they are no longer on the list of Threatened and Endangered species, Bald Eagles are still protected by both state and federal laws.”
In 2011, a pair of Bald Eagles began nesting in a tall tree within an East Naples golf community near Tamiami Trail in Collier County. As they have every year since then, the eagles nested again in the 2025-2026 Bald Eagle nesting season, which runs from Oct. 1 through May 15…