It may come as a surprise to some that the Bald Eagle local breeding population has taken off so dramatically this year in Northeast Tennessee. The 13 eagles counted on the Elizabethton five-county spring bird count for Carter, Sullivan, Unicoi, Johnson and Washington counties reflect eagles nesting in every county. This is a first ! The newest and most exciting is a Bald Eagle nest in Johnson County. It has not been made public on any list serve because it is on private land and the owners do not want disturbance. The sweep of eagle nest in the region came earlier this month when Scott Somershoe received a report, location and the photo shown above of the Johnson County nest. This year active eagle's nest have been reported in the following: Carter -- Brookie Potter Johnson -- Scott Somershoe Sullivan -- Wallace Coffey Unicoi -- Joe McGuiness Washington -- Rick Knight Hawkins -- Susan Hubley Hancock -- Jennifer Meade