Barbara Walker, a Clearwater Audubon Society board member and EagleWatch volunteer, went to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary on Jan. 28 expecting to see an adult bald eagle found injured in a Seminole neighborhood the previous day. Sadly, it was already dead. She quickly learned even worse news about the cause of death; the eagle had been shot. This photo was recently released to publicize a reward of $4,475 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the party responsible for the shooting. "We hope that someone out there knows who did this," said Walker. The money was pledged by the SPCA, Clearwater Audubon Society, St. Petersburg Audubon Society, Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, Florida Voices for Animals, Concerned Citizens of Tarpon Springs and private donors. Additional reward money may also be available through federal and state wildlife agencies. Anyone with information should call Janet Rider with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (352) 429-1037 or e-mail her. Another bald eagle was killed this year in Florida, also in January. The immature eagle was found shot in a borrow pit in the Apalachicola National Forest. The killing of a female eagle in Manatee County in January 2008 also remains unsolved, and a total reward of $14,000 may still be available for information leading to a conviction in that case. The female eagle was found dead on her nest, and two baby eagles incubating in eggs underneath her also died. Earlier this month, a Hudson man who shot a bald eagle in Ruskin last year was fined $500 and sentenced in federal court to six months in prison followed by a year's probation. Eagles are no longer considered endangered, but are still protected by federal and state law. People convicted of killing an eagle face up to a year in prison.

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