Researcher Bill Route on how to give a spring checkup to a baby eagle

Eaglet
Climber Jim Campbell-Spickler prepares to return an eaglet to its nest after National Park Service biologists measured and banded it Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul.
Jennifer Simonson/MPR News

You may have noticed more bald eagles flying around Minnesota bringing food back to their nests, because now is the time when they have eaglets to feed.

This week, National Park Service researchers are climbing up to those massive nests to test this year's spring chicks for chemicals found in the environment.

Bill Route, leader of the project, talked with MPR News' Tom Crann from Pig's Eye Lake along the Mississippi River in St. Paul where he and his team are collecting samples.

More: Scientists survey eagles for contaminants this week
Photos: Researchers give baby eagles a spring checkup

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