Possible eagle sighting?

[Always Looking]

I live in a small city that is 25 miles south west of Manhattan. While eating lunch this afternoon I watched through my kitchen window and noticed a extremely large bird with a white tail. I have seen many hawks within five miles of here and a few vultures. This large bird was partially obstructed by my neighbors house and about 300 hundreds away so I did not get a very good look at it. I contemplated grabbing my camera from the living room but assumed the bird was just passing over my neighbors yard to a more remote area. About two minutes later it passed again in the opposite direction and I am now certain it had a white tail (definitely larger than a red tail hawks that I've seen about five miles away many times).

Is there any chance an eagle would come to this part of the state of NJ? Anybody know of another large bird that resembles an eagle in size with a distinctive white tail?

If time permits tomorrow I may have to do some scouting at a few local parks. I have never seen an eagle and I never expected one to be in this part of NJ (Newark airport is twenty minutes away).

Please share your thoughts.

[Kayaker72]

Check out bird.org. Under data/species map you can enter bald eagle and your city. Generally, there have been several recent sightings in NJ.

http://ebird.org/ebird/map/baleag?ne...=1900&eyr=2014

[HDNitehawk]

Many states monitor bald eagles since they are endangered

A quick search pulled up this;

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/eglrpt14.pdf

While looking on other blogs there were reports of sightings this month in Manhattan.

[HDNitehawk]

Looking at the info the closest breeding pair nest is in Linden, should be easy flying distance to Manhattan.

Identifying mature bald eagle is easier than seeing a white tail. That big white head should be distinctive. Much larger than a hawk also.

[Always Looking]

Thank you, you guys just gave me hope. I just read both of the links you posted and it looks very encouraging. I am one town away from Linden, so it certainly could have been eagles. Now if I could just get some time off from work and get out there to do a little wildlife photography I might actually be able to see the head and not just the tail as he/she flew away from me. I had no idea there were that many eagles in NJ, especially within fifteen minutes of my house.

[Joel Eade]

Agree with advice already given....you probably did see a Bald Eagle. They have made a remarkable recovery and are now seen very frequently in many locations. They have actually been "de-listed" from the US endangered species list.

http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/p...le?spcode=B008