Return to People behind the Eagles Profile of Margaret Fowle Margaret Fowle is the mother of two young children, but her maternal feelings aren't limited to her home life; she often feels motherly toward the eagles and falcons she's helping to repopulate Vermont's skies. As a Wildlife Biologist for the National Wildlife Federation, Fowle plays a pivotal, hands-on role in bald eagle and peregrine falcon restoration efforts. She has worked for the NWF since 1997, when she was hired as a graduate intern to work on a geographic information system project. Over the years, she's taken on leadership roles in Vermont's peregrine recovery program - which will see the birds removed from the endangered species list in 2005 - and the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative. She describes her feelings about banding a peregrine chick on a cliff in short, dynamic sentences: "Awe-inspiring. Scary. Exciting. Thrilling, and conflicted," she says. "I don't like disturbing the peregrines and seeing the parents so upset, but it is amazing to be so close to them and to see their chicks on the nest ledge." Banding wild chicks requires an intrusion on the birds. "One time, we attempted to band at a site where the female is notoriously aggressive," Fowle said. "The nest ledge appears to be accessible to predators like raccoons, so we think she has to defend the site fairly often. "The mother was very aggressive the first time we visited the site, and she hit the bander with her talons a couple of times," Fowle said. "It's important to band and track these birds, but in this case, the mother's anguish was too great, and we decided not band her chicks and retreated. We have not banded there since." Fowle's feelings about the delisting of the peregrine falcon are also tinged with a parental point of view. "I feel like it is a necessary step. I worked with my colleagues on the project to set the recovery goals, and we met them," Fowle says. "For that reason, there is no reason not to follow through with the delisting, although it is daunting. But it feels a bit like I imagine it will feel to send my kids off to college - it is time to let go, but it is very hard to do. "I don't think it means we need to walk away - we need to gradually reduce the amount of effort we put into peregrines, but we also need to keep our eye on them. We need to have measures in place that ensure their long-term recovery." Fowle grew up in New York City - a long way from the peregrine cliffs of Vermont - but spent a lot of time in Massachusetts, then-rural Connecticut, and Vermont. She called local animal rescue leagues a couple of times as a kid when she found injured pigeons and sea gulls, but she didn't decide on her career path until much later. "I worked on a sea lion project after college, and lived in the Tetons for a few years, both of which really got me going, but it wasn't until I worked at the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences' raptor center that I found my passion for birds, especially raptors," she says. "The first time I observed peregrines at their breeding cliff was in 1997 - my first day as a seasonal employee for VINS," Fowle says. "I was observing from below the cliff with a spotting scope, which is how I do all of my monitoring. I was excited that I was able to see them, and thrilled to see them in the wild. "Before that, my only experience with peregrines had been with injured birds at the VINS raptor center. It was a great feeling to see these peregrines able to do what they are meant to do. The first time I rappelled to a peregrine nest site was in 1999. It was a huge thrill." Seeing this program's first bald eaglet chicks fledge in 2004 brought similar emotions, which Fowle multiply as more birds are raised and released, and expectations grow for the ultimate success of the program - breeding by birds raised through the project. "It's very exciting, and I feel privileged to be working in this effort," Fowle says. "We have a great group of dedicated, qualified, and competent people, from a diversity of entities - non-profit, corporate, state, and government - all working together. "I can't imagine what it will feel like when we see one of the eagles we released nesting in Vermont." Terms of Use - Copyright 2007 Central Vermont Public Service Copyright photos CVPS, Floyd Scholz U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife Web related issues || Site developed by Interactive Media Advertising