MONROE — For some people, the arrival of Lent next week means fish fries on Fridays.
For the bald eagles living near DTE Energy’s Monroe Power Plant, fish is on the menu every day, thanks to the relatively warm water where Plum Creek and the power plant’s warm water discharge meet Lake Erie.
Guests of a tour this past Friday got to see eagles fishing and dining on gizzard shad that also are drawn to the warmer water. Visitors on the annual tour on Jan. 27 organized through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t see too many eagles because of the dense fog, but there was evidence along the creek bank of eagle meals, including talon tracks in the sand where the birds had landed and skeletal remains of fish.
The plant’s location next to the lake creates an ideal environment for the large raptors that like to eat fish, and as many as 200 eagles — maybe more — hang out during the winter months in the wooded area on the south end of the plant property. During winters when Lake Erie freezes over, the warmer discharge from the coal-fired plant keeps the water near the lakeshore open. That gives the eagles the opportunity to swoop down from the trees and use their talons to grab any fish that swims too close to the surface. Even in milder winters like this year, the warmer water draws fish in from the colder water out in the lake.