The Eagles Have Landed

By Mary Casey-Sturk

Milford-based Cardinal Land Conservancy is on a mission to preserve natural habitats, waterways, agricultural lands, and open spaces in Southwest Ohio. 

It accomplishes this by purchasing land and working with landowners to create conservation easements. Supported by donors, this non-profit organization knows the importance of protecting land and keeping it in its natural state, for the benefit of the land, the wildlife living on it and residents. Currently, they serve Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland and Warren Counties. 

Cardinal also operates Bahr Farm in Springfield Township. Here, tenants lease six acres to grow produce for local residents. The group, Our Harvest Cooperative, has been on the farm for a dozen years. The farm also has a fishery and a swath of the land is used for cattle.

What is a Conservation Land Trust?

“A land trust is a formal organization that, at the request of the property owner, assumes ownership or control of a piece of land. The property owner must relinquish some control over land use and development in order to join a conservation land trust. A conservation land trust works to safeguard natural resources, historical or cultural places, and wildlife against development that could disturb them or cause pollution,” reads a statement by the Cardinal Land Conservancy.

What is a Nature Preserve?

They also note, “A nature preserve is defined as a tract of land managed so as to preserve its flora, fauna, and physical features. Cardinal nature preserves are selected for a variety of reasons including plant and animal diversity, proximity to rivers, lakes, stressed watersheds, and ease of access. These preserves are owned by Cardinal and managed by our stewardship staff and dedicated volunteers. Purchasing nature preserves is one way Cardinal protects waterways, biological diversity, and places for people to connect with nature.”

Cardinal currently holds the title to 13 nature preserves. This includes the Bortz Family Nature Preserve. 

Bortz Family Nature Preserve

The Bortz Family Nature Preserve is an important and valued ecological floodplain where the Little Miami River meets the Ohio River. It is home to plants and flowers that thrive in these conditions, including the threatened Virginia Mallow. And as challenging as flooding along the Ohio River is, it is also good for the fish that find nutrients on their brief inland journeys. The endangered Indiana bat is likely on this land as well as several endangered species of mussels. With 1.8 miles of trails and 119 acres, visitors can enjoy the property as well as the wildlife.  Located off Kellogg Avenue, it welcomes people year-round but check in advance as the land can flood when the rivers are high. 

According to the Cardinal website, “The protection of this property was made possible in part by Towne Properties who gave us a bargain sale, and the Bortz family who provided a generous donation to help take care of the preserve.”

Hyde Park Living met with Hyde Park resident Bill Hopple, who is the president of the Board of Directors of Cardinal Land Conservancy on a sunny afternoon at the Bortz Family Nature Preserve. Andy Dickerson, its executive director, joined us and both spoke with enthusiasm about the importance of land preservation in our community.

HPL: Why is it important to preserve land? 

Hopple responded, “Climate resilience is the newest objective, biodiversity, maintaining diverse flora and fauna and from the health standpoint, for humans, more and more research showing the critical importance of spending time in nature for adults, children and for medical reasons. Research has shown that patients in a hospital with a view of greenspace heal faster than those without access to the outside, the view.” 

HPL: What can we do to be better stewards of the land? 

“By supporting organizations that are doing the actual land preservation, but also by planting on their land native plants that require much less water, are more resistant to drought and they can be just as beautiful. Nurseries are getting the idea and are raising and selling many more native plants,” Hopple said.

Dickerson shared more about Cardinal’s mission. “We have conservation targets, it’s a way for us to have a focus, that is key environmental features around the region, things like wetlands, habitats for endangered species, birds, environmental sensitive agricultural. We’ve mapped out and know where these places are, those are the ones we’re trying to protect them. Here (at the Bortz Family Nature Preserve), look at the age of the trees, they are all great big bottomland swamp trees, cottonwood, silver maple, it’s amazing, like going back in time.” Adding, “these backwater habitats are super valuable to the Ohio River system.”

The Eagles Have Landed

“I know he’d be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly.” John Denver, “Rocky Mountain High”

What might surprise you is that this area also contains an American Bald Eagle nest. The parents Bonnie and Clyde, can be viewed on Cardinal’s Eagle Camera every January through June raising that season’s young. The camera stays online until the eaglets have fledged and for the last few years, viewers have not been disappointed in this opportunity to peek inside the nest and see eaglets hatch and grow. Please note that the nest is typically in an area off-limits to visitors, so be respectful of the marked boundaries for their protection and privacy. For the last four years (since the eagle camera was set up), they’ve successfully raised young. 

Dickerson shared, “When we bought the land in 2020, I didn’t know there was an eagle nest on it. An employee at the marina told me about it. I couldn’t find the nest, later realizing it had been moved (rebuilt by the eagles).” Eagles are known to make a new nest if a partner dies. 

Keeping avian romance alive, “Clyde brings Bonnie sticks as part of their courting,” shared Dickerson. 

On feeding the eaglets, “They’ve shown their young a wide variety of food sources, it’s getting them used to not going hungry: If there’s a turtle, there’s food. Snakes, birds, squirrels and more have been seen in the nest,” said Dickerson. 

Lucky visitors to the area might spy an eagle hunting along the rivers, but everyone can enjoy watching the eagles raise their young on the Eagle Cam.

Update: Since this story went to press, Bonnie and Clyde’s 2025 eggs (2) hatched on March 19 and 20th.

To view the Eagle Cam or learn more about the Cardinal Land Conservancy, visit cardinallandconservancy.org. 

Left to Right: Images from the Eagle Cam from various years (provided). Bill Hopple (L), president of the Board of Directors at Cardinal Land Conservancy and Andy Dickerson (R), executive director. Photo by Mary Casey-Sturk