The bald eagle is making a comeback here in New Jersey.

Last month, the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with the nonprofit Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, released its annual report for the Bald Eagle Project.

For the sixth year in a row.

The population has increased, highlighting what has been one of this state's most successful conservation efforts.

And that success has been in part due to the help of about 150 volunteer nets monitors.

To explain more, I'm joined by a contributing writer for NJ Spotlight News, Andrew Lewis.

Andrew, there was a time when spotting a bald eagle was virtually impossible.

Not so much the case now.

What has been the main game changer?

Yeah, it's been a variety of things, really.

In the 1980s, the state of New Jersey really aggressively pursued bringing back the bald eagle population.

They isolated nests and they the one remaining nest actually in South Jersey.

They made sure to to protect it from any human interference.

They did what they called a hacking experiment where they actually took the eggs out of the out of the nesting pairs nest, because at that time, because of DDT pollution, that the egg shells were too soft.

So they incubated the shells themselves in a lab.

And then another really important thing is they imported 60 bald eagles from Canada in the late eighties.

And those leave, they were juveniles and they actually ended up flourishing and doing pretty well in the state.

So let's talk about these volunteer nests monitors.

I watched the video and let's just say the job isn't for the faint of heart.

How many are there and what where have they monitored nest and kind of what does that job you explain to that to to to viewers about what that job means?

Yeah, I mean, if you're if you're a bird enthusiast, it's a pretty great gig.

I think there are about 150.

I think that's volunteers.

And then also folks like Cathy Clark with and Jaideep and Larissa Smith with Conserved Wildlife Foundation.

So essentially a team of 150 volunteers.

And they just they watch these birds.

And of course, it's sort of the thing they're looking for the most is to see juveniles hatch parents change roles.

You know, the mom might head out for a flight and the father will take over the nest and vice versa.

So they're just looking for any interactions in the nest areas in the United States that are no longer considered endangered.

In New Jersey, they are considered endangered during this incubation period that I mentioned earlier.

But also, as I mentioned in the story, the state is considering delisting them or not really de-listing, but down listing them to species of special concern.

So they'll still have, you know, some protection, but it won't be as sort of stringent as an endangered protection.

And that's, you know, great news.

And it's a testament to the conservation efforts that have been going on for the last 40 years.

Well, I love to hear it.

Andrew Lewis, thank you for joining me.

Thank you.

Raven.