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Winter is a great time to view bald eagles in New York State. Viewing from a safe distance and at planned observation sites can offer an exhilarating and memorable experience. Wintering eagles begin arriving in December and concentrations peak in January and February. Most are heading back to their nests by mid-March.
The Hudson River, the Upper Delaware River watershed, and sections of the St. Lawrence River are great places to view bald eagles in the winter. DEC maintains two well-marked viewing areas in the Mongaup Valley on the Rio and Mongaup Falls reservoirs.
The following tips will help you to have the best possible experience:
- Use binoculars or spotting scopes instead of trying to get a little closer.
- Don’t do anything to try to make the bird fly.
- Respect private property, and avoid restricted areas.
- Scan the tree line for eagles that are perched in the tree tops.
- Look overhead for eagles soaring high in the sky.
- Arrive early (7 a.m.- 9 a.m.) or stay late (4 p.m. – 5 p.m.), when eagles are most active.
- Be patient – this is the key to successful viewing.
Warning: Harassing, disturbing, or injuring a bald eagle is illegal.
Photo courtesy of Steve Hall, Adirondack Wildlife Refuge
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor 
I am no ornithologist, but I have the idea that it really is very important to follow your guidelines because it takes an eagle a great deal of energy to get airborne. So it is hurtful to the bird to make it change its perch. The eagle needs a good chance of catching food as its reason to fly.
Thank you for your article.
My son hit a deer with the car a few weeks ago. We got a tag for the deer and I processed it for the freezer. I took the carcass up to the edge of one of my fields and put a trail camera on it. Got some nice pictures of a couple of bald eagles feeding on it. Have done this in the past and have gotten pictures of coyotes, foxes, ravens and one time a red tailed hawk, but never bald eagles. Was pretty cool to see. We often see them perching on trees below the house on the Grasse River. I did not know they would be interested in a deer carcass, learned something new.
Cool! Can you share those pics?
Yes but not how to upload on this site.
Can you send me an email to [email protected]? I’d love to take a look!
Onondaga Lake in Syracuse is a great place to see large numbers of winter eagles. The water treatent plant at the south side of the lake provides a lot of open water for them to find food. Good viewing, from a distance, is possible from the back parking lots of the Destiny Mall. My wife and I have seen as many as 50 – 75 eagles at one time there in past years. Am planning another viewing trip this coming week. Check this out. https://www.syracuse.com/outdoors/2021/01/onondaga-lake-bald-eagle-watch-27-birds-spotted-this-week.html
Are the eagles safe to eat anything out of Onondaga lake? Is anybody safe to get close to that lake?
Yes eagles are safe to eat drdirt! They taste a lot like whooping crane!
There’s a pair of bald eagles, one of them immature, that have been flying over where I live downstate north of Albany for the past some years. In past trips by train down to NYC, bald eagles I saw aplenty flying low over that historic course the Hudson River. It’s a good thing that smart people put up a stink some decades back to ban DDT….else there’d be no eagles left. If we could just get rid of all the other poisons! To think how much more wildlife would be spared untimely, and oft-times, cruel, deaths!
It isn’t only poisons. Sometimes just stupidity/politics. Not exactly in the Adirondacks, but in the Catskills:
https://flylordsmag.com/west-branch-of-the-delaware-de-watered-for-dam-repairs/
Those aren’t eagles you’re see down NYC way there charlie, those are seagulls! Or as some like to call them, dump chickens! Unbelievable!