Until recently, bald eagles had not been reported as sighted in Orange County since the 1920s at Laguna Beach. Blame pesticides that nearly rendered our nation's proud raptors extinct. However, two bald eagles were spotted near the 241 toll road and Irvine Lake in 2011. “This pair came from the north somewhere; we don't know why or how,” explained Scott Thomas, a raptor expert who has been monitoring birds of prey in Orange County for 20 years, to the Riverside Press-Enterprise in June. “It's a range expansion, back into where they were supposed to be.” Those two eagles got busy and have raised chicks over multiple seasons. They're OC's most welcome anchor babies.
