MILLVILLE – Jane Galetto gently stepped onto her frozen dock by a bend in the Maurice River, binoculars around her neck, a telescope positioned ahead of her and a bald eagle dunking its talons in the distant water looking for fish.

Galetto\’s Brittany Lane home is a perfect vantage point for observing the rebound of New Jersey\’s eagles, which reached a record population of 333 birds and 82 eagle pairs actively laying eggs last year, according to an annual report released by the state earlier this month.

That\’s a dramatic increase from 30 years ago, when only one nest remained in the state – with New Jersey\’s population of eagles nearly wiped out by habitat loss, human disturbance and the widespread use of the pesticide DDT.

By incubating eggs and introducing birds from outside the area, including Canada, state conservationists and dozens of volunteers have brought New Jersey\’s eagles back from the brink.

The eagles are widespread along the Delaware Bay and are scattered in Cape May, Atlantic and southeastern Burlington counties, with at least one nest in every county but three in northern New Jersey. The species was taken off the nation\’s list of endangered species in 2007, and even though they remain endangered in the state, people