As folks across the valley get ready to celebrate the independence of the United States, they have another reason to celebrate.

That's because the country's symbol of freedom - a bald eagle - is thriving in Ohio, according to a recent survey from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The Department of Wildlife's 2024 Bald Eagle Survey showed that there were 841 eagle nests in the state, which is a drop from 910 nests last year. However, the ODNR says that the average nest success rate, which is the number of nests with eggs or eaglets, is 82% this year compared to 48% in 2022 and 73% in 2023.

Additionally, the number of eaglets per active nest was 1.6, which is higher than in 2023 at 1.2 and 0.8 in 2022.

The survey included flying over a rotation of five blocks of 10 square miles throughout Ohio - one of which was in Mosquito Lake State Park in Trumbull County, which is surveyed every year.

The bald eagle was once an endangered species, with only four nesting pairs in Ohio in 1979.

It was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2007. In 2012, it was removed from Ohio's list of endangered species, according tot he ODNR.