Bald eagles stall plan to trim trees near Fremont BART
FREMONT - BART is reconsidering a tree trimming operation in Fremont after concerns have been raised about Bald Eagles in the area.
"And so I thought, 'well I need to bring a camera down here.'" said Christine Wilson. "Then I got a bigger camera, and a bigger camera. And I just love watching them and they're just beautiful animals."
Wilson and Dan Sarka have spent the past several years watching, photographing, and just being happily in awe of this remarkable feature of Fremont's Quarry Lakes area.
"This was this morning about 6:45," Sarka said of his latest photo.
"This is a photo I took yesterday morning at 7 o'clock on Alameda Creek," Wilson said. "It's really cool. One of your neighbors? Oh yes they are."
So they were alarmed when BART started taking down trees in the area, trees that these Bald Eagles have been using, in some capacity, though not necessarily for nesting. BART Director Liz Ames heard about those concerns and decided to come take a look for herself.
"The eagle comes from over here and he circles once, and I didn't have my phone with me. I was just I wasn't prepared for this," Ames laughed. "Anyways, I got my phone and got the last circle."
She saw the eagles too, and now she's asking BART to hit the brakes on the trimming. These trees are considered a fall hazard in strong storms, but Ames is hoping those plans can be adjusted.
"There's some trees right here by the tracks and you know that to me is more of a hazard than maybe these trees over here," Ames said. "With the Eagles for roasting, but we need to get this evaluated."
These eagles, of course, have not landed in these eucalyptus trees by accident. They have quite shrewdly picked the highest perch, with the best view, above another wildlife story we have followed in recent years: the Alameda Creek fish ladder.
"They come out of these two areas and this is kind of a stop on their way to Lago Del Osos in Quarry Lakes," Sarka says of the feeding birds.
"In the wilderness I have never seen an Eagle," Ames explained. "And this is in Fremont!"
Ames says if more is learned about the eagles' connection to the trees there could be a stronger case for protecting them, but for now BART is following all state and federal requirements, and the trees might go.
"So cutting down these trees would be just a shame," Wilson said. "Because they do hunt from here, and they do eat from here you know. I just love everything about them. They're just incredible birds."
BART has already delayed the tree removal by a week. The agency says it is looking at different options for how to proceed, and whether some of the trees can be preserved. What happens to them is still an open question, but a lot of people, including at least one BART Director, are hoping something can be saved, or at least enough to help these awesome birds remain a fixture in this corner of Fremont.
