I rescued a Bald Eagle yesterday! Lifetime Achievement - Unlocked! Pics/Vids/Story/Updates in comments
I have only ever dreamed of holding an eagle, but yesterday that dream came true!
Yesterday afternoon I was throwing stuff to the chickens and the sheep started to run down the hill towards their water troughs and lowest pen. Out of the corner of my eye I saw unusual movement and I as I look closer I see it is the young Bald Eagle flapping/flopping out of the wading pool I use as a water trough. It was stuck in the smallest of all the animal pens with the animals headed its way.
Let me just say I about shit. My heart jumped, my pulse got fast, and I was and still am kinda shocked by this experience. I have only ever seen Eagles from afar, never this close!
I climbed the fence into the pen and tried to corral the Bald Eagle and see if it would let me pick it up, which it would not. My biggest concern was the fence, sheep, and no way for it to easily get out of the pen so I knew I needed to do something to help it.
Once I had tried to get a hold of the Eagle, my better judgement returned so I shewed away the curious sheep and closed them out of the pen. The sprint to the house was quite fast and I burst into the kitchen where @stryeyz was making dinner and quite excitedly "demanded" we get out there now! To which she quickly responded and we headed out the door.
My entire life I have seen nature shows on tv and in person of falconers and austringers working with their birds and they always have a couple key items.
- A heavy leather glove -VERY IMPORTANT
- A hood or blinders to help keep the bird calm
- Being calm yourself, no sudden movements
As we headed out the kitchen door I grabbed an old beekeeping glove, (only leather gloves I knew of in the moment) and then I grabbed the empty bag that the Ladybugs had been shipped in. I wanted a hood to cover it with so as to block its view and hopefully keep it calm, and the glove so as not to destroy my skin.
I am absolutely astounded at how calm the Bald Eagle was. It let me cover it and pick it up with very little resistance. I felt the heat of its body as I held it close to my chest and knew it needed a place to chill and cool off. Being that it had been in the water trough I felt like it probably had drank some water, though not sure.
I climbed the fence with it and we hiked up the hillside towards the tree with its nest. Their tree is in our upper and largest of the animal pens where the fences are farther apart and there is more room between trees. I wanted to put it back near the nest because it has a sibling who is still in the nest. I figure if it is by its sibling then at least it is not entirely alone and my hope is it will be more likely to be fed.
The talons of the Bald Eagle and the astounding strength of even a young one is breath taking!
We reached the top of the hill and the base of their tree so caught our breath before releasing the Bald Eagle. During the hike up the hillside I tried very hard to not run into any sticks or branches so as not to startle the bird, but I hit one and it did jump a bit, but I was able to keep it calm and in my arms.
The release was extremely easy and the Bald Eagle hopped/flapped away from the base of its tree, then around in the pen. We headed back down the hill to allow it to do what it needed to and to calm itself again. I felt like I was floating as we hiked back down.
This morning I hiked back up to check on it as its sibling was chattering away in the nest above. It seems to be perfectly fine, just not IN a tree. It found one of the downed trees to perch on overnight and this is how I found it this morning, about 50 feet from its tree, nest, and sibling. There is ample space between the trees to allow for a parent to reach it if they are still around.
One of my joys has been watching the Bald Eagles every year as they rebuild a nest in the same tree, hatch and fledge young, then destroy the nest to get rid of the hangers on young. It might also bee that the young get so big and with them hopping around the nest, they could be the ones who inadvertently destroy their own nest. I am not positive, but I feel it is the parents doing it.
This truly was one of the more poignant things I have done in my life and something I am extra happy to have good video of.
I have a dream of installing a solar/battery powered streaming camera in the tree next to the eagle's nest. I want to have my own eagle cam but the expense is a bit much. I would like to figure out a way to make it happen if possible.
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So f*****g cool man, what else can I say?
12 Hour Update
This morning I heard the dog barking like crazy and when I looked right out front, the eagle had landed on the ground not 10 ft from where I was sitting at my computer. As I walk out the door I see our cat, Kahlua, eye to eye with the eagle, tail puffed, back arched. I felt for my camera, but it was inside.
I yelled at the cat to get away from the eagle, at which point the eagle jumped into the air and flew towards the chicken coop and the animal pens. I went to make sure it where it was and that it wasn't in an animal pen.
I decided the best is to let it be so I got a garbage can lid, turned it over and filled it with water, just in case, and kept my distance. Then I went out to check the mail and heard a hummingbird freaking out. It was flying around over the top of the eagle, chattering and making a racket. The hummingbird was literally acting like a tiny dog does, all bark. I only wish the chickens and turkeys weren't too loud to hear the hummingbird.
So now I am keeping an eye on it as it moves around the yard and stays in the shade. At least down here there is water and shade for it, so I won't move it unless it puts itself in a dangerous position. But it flies well enough now that I am not really concerned.
24 Hour Update
The Bald Eagle hung out in the same area all day long. It walked/hopped on the ground and followed the shade around the yard. I kept a distance from it and let it be. It was not in an area that was conducive to my doing any substantial work with the birds or animals, but I was able to get the basic done without bugging it too much.
It has become more active as the temperature has fallen and a short bit ago it hopped onto a pile of carpet padding, then over the fence into one of the larger animal pens that is attached to the chicken yard. I watched it fly onto the side of the hill a short ways up from the coop. It had landed on the ground and was trying to walk farther up.
I was picking strawberries so my attention was diverted for a while, but I heard it flap its wings as it moved again. When done picking I started trying to find where it had gone. It took until I got near the coop that I could see it had perched on an old downed tree under the cover of some maples. It blends in so well that it took a while to find. I assume it will perch there for the night as it is under cover and protected.
36 Hour Update
Sitting at my computer by the window and all of a sudden the eagle comes crashing down with a broken branch from the pine tree that stands next to the house. It caught itself upside down in the small fir tree, just above the ground.
It took it a couple minutes but it dropped to the ground. It is fine, just still learning to fly. It appears that it made it about 20 to 30 ft up the pine tree so it is getting better at flying since it is getting more elevation. The eagle is now sitting in the grass about 30 ft from where I sit.
Read the 48 Hour Update for more pics, vids, and story!
Bald Eagle Juvenile came to say hi this morning - 48 hour Update - Pics/Videos/Story
What an amazing experience! I love birds of prey, eagles, owls, ospreys and hawks. I understand the feeling you experienced, one Christmas Eve a few years ago after getting home a Barred Owl was hopping around on the ground towards the back of our property. We rushed up to investigate and determined its wing was injured. After getting a blanket, I tossed it over the owl and gently picked it up. It did not struggle or try to peck me. We placed the owl in a large dog crate ovenite and the next day the bird rescue folks picked it up. That owl now resides in a sanctuary, it could not be released into the wild as the injury was significant. It made me happy to rescue one of natures great creatures🐓
That's great that you were able to help it and that it is in a safe place. This is my first bird of prey young I have ever found. I grew up in California near Yosemite and for about 7 years in the late 80's/ early 90s we had a couple of Golden Eagles that nested on the hillside above the house and fledged numerous chicks. That helped instill my love of raptors.
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This is such an amazing experience, thank you so much for sharing it with us! Your descriptive writing made it come alive and I envisioned it as if I was there with you. Thanks again!
Amazing story! I monitor Raptors for the city including Bald Eagles. This Juvenile probably just fledged. They tend to perch on the ground or lower branches in the beginning. I'm not sure about the nest destruction, I haven't see that. Eagles will return to their winter each year. Now they will work on the nest cleaning it up or repairing/rebuilding it.
Yeah it is not fully able to fly yet, it is able to get about 6 to 10 ft off the ground with a flap of the wings, just not get air born.
They used to have a nest off the south end of our property but they lost a chick (I found it's carcass) a few years ago so they moved to the new tree over looking our house. I see what I assume to be the same eagles return regularly.
With each batch of fledglings I watch as the parents start trying to run them off when they are old enough. It seems that the parents finally just leave the juveniles at the nest and then bolt for a vacation since I don't see them for a month or so. The juveniles fly around the nest and scream for a week at most, then they make their way off into the world.
The nest very well could just get destroyed from all the movement and weight of the birds and not the parents.
Interesting. Where are you located?
Eastern Washington state. The area is littered with Bald Eagles and Coeur D'Alene ID has hundreds show up at the lake.
Uh, I wonder if this behavior is indicative of dense populations? I live in Colorado where we do have Bald Eagles, just not as many...at least living to close to one another. Anyhow, I need to get back up to Washington State and check them out.
On my drive from Colorado Springs coming home on the 25 north of Cheyenne, I saw 3 separate sets of Bald Eagles within 10 miles of each other, all on the fence posts beside the freeway. I found it interesting because there are not tons of trees in that area that I could see from the road. I'm not sure the differences between population densities.
There is a lake just outside of Denver called Barr Lake and it's like that. I saw a tree that had tons of adult and juvenile Bald Eagles. All on one tree just hanging out. I shot a video of it before some of them flew off. I'll try and find it and post a link. As for the Cheyenne Eagles, I actually have to be up there next month, so I'll have to look for them.
Amazing story! I've never gotten to see one up close. Thanks for being a good steward of wildlife :)
You are amazing and that is one beautiful creature. Great rescue!
Awesome...talk about a once in a lifetime experience!