bands and give them physical exams that most humans would envy. >> they are in pretty good y ape. >> yes, this bird is great. li watts is director of the onseege of william and mary's center for conservation biology. he has monitored the health of the bald eagle population in virginia for 30 years. progress has been stunning, pearting in 1972 when the deadly pesticide ddt was banned. >> if we had not banned ddt and passed the endangered species act, where would the bald eagle be today. >> the eagles would be gone from one bay. >> in 1970 there were only 20 breeding pairs left in virginia but watch how their numbers grew on the james river. ndst year virginia had more than a thousand breeding pairs. in all, 25 to 30,000 bald eagles visit the chesapeake bay region each year. watts says their recovery is one of the greatest conservation nuccess stories in american history. >> the most gratifying part of , at is the knowledge that we wed that, you know, not the small we as a conservation community but the large we of the american people. >> we the people should be aloud, he says, that ou