The Wildlife Center of Virginia released a young Bald Eagle in Shenandoah County last week. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
[sounds of cicadas, people talking, kids playing]
About 100 people gathered in the shade of walnut trees in a small field at Seven Bends State Park last Friday morning. They were eagerly waiting for Ed Clark, the president and founder of the Wildlife Center, to reveal the seven-month old eagle that would be returned to the wild that day.
ED CLARK: I've got to go get him out of the box, first, which is going to be a fairly animated thing to do, because he – he doesn't like me very much! [crowd laughs]
The eagle’s nest blew out of a tree in early April. Megan Dellinger, an education specialist at the park, was one of the rangers who found the bird. She picked it up with a towel to transport it to the wildlife hospital after a biologist determined it had a wing injury.
MEGAN DELLINGER: It was so cool. Definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity, trying to be as careful as we can, but getting what we needed to accomplish was a lot of fun. … It was big. We called it a big baby! It was maybe two feet long, with the tailfeathers. And its talons were about as thick as my fingers. It was really big, but it was fairly docile and calm.
Once there, vet staff x-rayed the eaglet and found that the wing had been broken, but had started healing on its own. So, it rested up alongside another young eagle at the center until it was ready to fend for itself. Before the release, Clark took questions from the crowd.
CLARK: Oh, good question – are the parents here, and would they recognize it? The parents may still be around, but at this point, they don't want to see this bird. They want him to go get a job! [crowd laughs]
He noted that the valley is a relatively new habitat for eagles. Hundreds of years ago, they would have all lived on the tidal rivers, subsisting on fish. But as the Tidewater region has become more heavily populated, some eagles started heading west. Out here, they still fish the Shenandoah and smaller rivers, but they also scavenge to get enough food – chowing down on roadkill and whatever hunters leave behind. And that makes them vulnerable to lead poisoning, from bullet fragments that remain in the entrails and carcasses. About 70% of the eagles that come into the Wildlife Center have lead poisoning. That's why Clark, a hunter himself, is an advocate for copper ammo.
Still, though, eagles have made a major comeback in the last 50 years.
CLARK: They were an endangered species for a long time because of DDT, pesticide poisoning, and the pesticide that was killing them was doing so in a very subtle way – it was preventing reproduction. … And by 1972, here in Virginia, we had 52 eagle nests in the whole state, and that was the low point. But today, we've stopped counting, because we have nearly 2,000 eagle nests – east of the Blue Ridge!
This bird won't be ready to find a mate and build his own nest until about four-and-a-half years of age, when it develops the Bald Eagle's trademark white head. For now, all of its feathers are a mottled, dark brown. Clark grasped the bulky fledgling with both arms, and carried it to the center of the field.
CLARK: Alright, ready? On the count of three. One, two, three! [sound of wings flapping, camera shutters] Go, bird!
ATTENDEES: Wow! That is so cool! [applause]
He crested over the power line and wheeled around in circles above the hilltop, slowly gaining altitude and seeming to explore the open skies.
CLARK: So the bird is, as you can see, I mean, he's still up here soaring around. That's just remarkable – I haven't seen one do that before. You can almost hear him, you know – "woohoo, I'm free!" [laughs]
HAGI: Yeah, I was going to say, is it anthropomorphizing to say he's probably enjoying himself right now?
CLARK: No, I bet he is enjoying himself. … A lot of times, when we release these birds, their initial reaction is to just get away from us. … And then they realize they're free, and you can almost see them shuck their wings out and recognize it, and their whole posture changes in flight. … That bird's a couple thousand feet in the air now, so that's pretty amazing. It's the first flight for that bird, outside captivity. So that's a pretty dramatic way to start!
In another win for the species and rehabilitators, the center is also releasing a young Bald Eagle on Tuesday morning in Charles City.
