Fourth of July Issue

Photographer’s Passion Takes Flight
Bob Behrent remembers seeing his first bald
eagle.
“About 15 years ago,” Behrent, 74, said, “I was
in Alaska—the state that has the most number of
eagles. The interesting fact about eagles is they’re
only in North America.”
The Ledgewood resident aimed his camera and
captured the image.
“Eagles are a symbol of our nation,” he said,
“and a powerful symbol because it’s a powerful
bird.”
In May 2014, Behrent was on a boat with wife
Mary on Lake Hopatcong when he spotted a
familiar sight flying over Halsey Island heading
toward Byram Cove.
“I saw this bird with a white head and tail,”
he recalled. “I said to my wife, ‘That’s an eagle!’
I tracked it and found there were two nests near
the lake.”
Behrent discovered eagles nesting north of
Hopatcong State Park (in what is now Mariner’s
Pointe) and Halsey Island.
“We have almost 300 pairs around the state
now,” he said, “and there are four definite nesting
sites on Lake Hopatcong—in the Woodport area,
Halsey Island, Byram Cove and near Mariner’s
Pointe, where the eagles rebuilt their nest after
abandoning it during the recent construction.
“They’re very territorial and don’t cross into
another’s territory. For example, one group hunts
in King Cove, but
stays south of Bertrand
Island.”
A recognized expert,
Behrent gives eagle
presentations on Miss
Lotta lake cruises and
recently added a virtual
A meerkat in a private
habitat in the Mojave
Desert near La Quinta,
California, April of 2010.
Story by JACK DE VRIES
Photos courtesy of Bob Behrent
Mount Denali in Denali National
Park and Preserve in Alaska.
presentation hosted by
the Lake Hopatcong
Foundation. The first
online lecture, The
Bald Eagles of Lake
Hopatcong, is scheduled for Thursday, July 16 at
12:30 p.m.
Behrent said young eagles start out as brown
birds and have black beaks and black eyes. By
age 5, they take on their familiar look with white
heads and tails, and yellow beak and eyes. They
can live 20-40 years in the wild, and 50 years in
captivity.
Behrent notes there are 50 different species of
eagles. In the past, he said, they were hunted—not
as a food source, but for sport.
New Jersey’s increasing population and building
also encroached on their habitat.
“Back in the 1960s,” he said, “we got down to
two known pairs of bald eagles. Since that time,
we have almost 300 pairs around the state.”
In fact, according to the Smithsonian
Conservation Biology Institute, there were
just 417 pairs nationally in 1963—down from
anywhere from 25,000 to 75,000 when they were
chosen as the country’s national symbol in 1782.
Eagles are not Behrent’s only interest. He is
also an accomplished wildlife photographer and
traveler, and his photos are displayed at the Lake
Hopatcong Foundation offices and Tiny’s Tavern
in Lake Hopatcong. More of Behrent’s photos
are featured on the Miss Lotta cruises, and the
Lake Hopatcong Memories and Lake Hopatcong
Photographers Facebook pages.
“Eagles are more of a home project,” he said.
“I have a house in Las Vegas, and there’s a lot of
natural wildlife on the desert in state parks and
federal lands. I’ll look for bighorn sheep, coyote
and hares—the big jackrabbit type with the large
ears.”
Behrent uses Nikon D300 Series cameras—one
with a huge 850 mm lens mounted on a tripod
for long distances, the other equipped with a 400
mm zoom lens.
He’s visited Wyoming and Montana to
photograph bison, buffalo, bears and occasionally
wolves. In January, he heads for Florida and the
swamp areas—like Shark River in the Everglades,
Big Cypress and the Ten Thousand Islands
National Wildlife Refuge—to capture photos of
alligators, snakes and “some of the most beautiful
birds you can find.”
Behrent added: “When it comes to wildlife,
if it’s not living in someone’s house, I’ll take a
picture of it.”
His interest in the outdoors began early.
Growing up in Irvington, N.J., Behrent was
influenced by his grandfather who introduced
him to fishing and Lake Hopatcong.
His passion for the outdoors would later help
sustain his family.
When he was 11, Behrent’s father died. To help
his mother and earn money for himself, he started
a worm business with late friend Curtis Spillane.
“We would go out and get night crawlers when
it rained,” he said. “We found out sporting goods
stores in the area were selling what they called
‘Georgia Red Worms.’ We called them manure
worms—the liveliest little creatures you could
imagine.”
Wearing boots and using sticks and shovels, the
boys would dig up the worms in the manure piles
at a nearby dairy farm in Union, N.J. Behrent’s
business made enough money to help his mom
and buy his first boat, a used 12-foot aluminum
runabout, which his grandfather would tow to
Lake Hopatcong.
After graduating from Irvington High where he
was part of the wrestling team, Behrent got a job at
a wholesale distributor of electronic components
because there was no money for college. At first,
he swept up and “did a lot of dirty work.” Two
years later, he was in sales.
“I had the personality,” he said, “and was good
with people.”
Behrent later became the company’s national
sales manager. He also learned the technical side of
the business by building components, systems and
sensors, ultimately founding his own electronics
business, Bomar (for Bob and Mary).
He ran his successful business for 25 years
before selling in 2013.
A true Renaissance man, Behrent is the author
of three books: “Planes, Pranks and Pepto-Bismol:
Tales & Tips from a Seasoned Road Warrior,”
“Planes, Pranks & Pepto Bismol Too,” and “The
Guardian of Haunted Hill: A Paranormal Murder
Mystery.”
He got involved with paranormal research
through his knowledge of electronic equipment
used in ghost hunting. A skeptic at first, Behrent
admitted there are some things he’s experienced
that cannot be explained.
He is also proficient at woodworking and
carving and maintains a backyard koi pond. Not
content to simply observe his fish, Behrent builds
his own pond filters and even took a koi health
course at the University of Georgia’s College of
Veterinary Medicine campus.
He can anesthetize and perform surgeries on the
fish—even necropsies to find out why they died.
“I’ve had a lot of hobbies,” he said, “a lot I still
keep.”
Married to Mary for 37 years and the father of
three daughters, Behrent has lived on Ledgewood’s
Mooney Mountain since 1979. Lake Hopatcong
and its eagles are special to him.
“Cruising around on a boat is just so nice,” said
Behrent, the owner of a 25-foot Premier pontoon
boat, Sagittarius². “I love being out in the sun, the
fresh air.
“We’ll pack a lunch, go out on the boat and
drop anchor somewhere, and watch the birds.”
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