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Ed Clark (left), president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, and Dr. Patti Bright (right), the center's vet, remove the rescued raptor from a car to let it loose yesterday at Aulder's Flats in Caledon Natural Area in King George County.
This 28-year-old female bald eagle, which was rescued from Point Mathias in King George County in July, was released back into the wild at Caledon Natural Area yesterday afternoon. The Wildlife Center of Virginia treated the bird's injured wings.
The 28-year-old female eagle soars above Caledon Natural Area in King George County after being released yesterday afternoon by the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
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By CATHY DYSON
Yesterday's release of a bald eagle--back to the same general area where it was injured six months ago--looked like a scene out of a movie.
Even the main character seemed to follow a script.
When the female eagle was released from the arms that held her, she flapped her massive wings, circled a few times and landed on the highest perch around at Caledon Natural Area in King George County.
And there she sat, atop a hardwood tree, in all her majestic splendor.
The sky was blue, the air was crisp and the moment was nothing short of awesome to those who care for injured animals--as well as those who appreciate their natural beauty.
"For a bird this old to get this kind of second chance, it really is a Christmas miracle," said Ed Clark, president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro.
The female eagle was brought to the center six months ago after a game warden found her near Point Mathias in King George.
She couldn't fly because of a chronic infection in her elbow joint. Birds can't tolerate any kind of injury there, Clark said.
"They don't fly with a limp," he said.
Center officials initially didn't know how old the bird was, but realized she was female--because of her large size--and guessed she was in her late teens.
Eagles get their brilliant bright white heads when they're 5. After that, it's hard to gauge their age, except by their amount of wear and tear, Clark said.
This one has some "really gnarly feet," he said.
And an attitude.
Every time center workers opened her cage, she lunged at them, said Dr. Patti Bright, the center's vet, who oversaw her care. Workers didn't know how she'd fare and discussed various options, even euthanization.
"But the way she was such a fighter, we thought she has to be given a chance," Bright said.
The vet operated on the eagle and implanted antibiotic beads into the joint. That released medicine directly into the site of the infection.
As the bird healed, center officials made plans to set her free at Caledon. The park has 2,579 acres, including 31/2 miles of shoreline along the Potomac River.
Yesterday morning, Clark and other wildlife officials put the eagle in a carrier covered with blankets and put the cage in the back of a red Subaru Outback.
As the group made the two-hour trip to King George from the Shenandoah Valley, officials realized they hadn't gotten the full number off the bird's band.
The group had to stop in Orange County to pick up another state official, and Clark checked the band again during the pit stop. He wiped off "a big patch of bird poop" and again called the agency that banded the eagle.
What he discovered amazed him.
The feisty female is 28 years old. She was hatched in a captive management program and released from a station along the Anacostia River in Maryland.
In four months, she'll be 29.
"Which is remarkable, just remarkable," Clark told a crowd of about 40 people who gathered at Caledon. "In the animal world, that's ancient."
Eagles in captivity can live for about 35 years, but those in the wild typically last about 20 years, he said.
The eagle certainly didn't look like she had lost any of her youth--or vigor--when Clark took her out of the carrier. He told others, after the release, that she was the strongest eagle he has ever held, and he's been working with the birds for 23 years.
Clark put on two pairs of gloves made from elk-hide leather. The eagle thumped around in the carrier, fighting to resist Clark as he grabbed her by the legs.
When he got her out of the box, he kept one hand on her legs, another on her neck. The eagle grunted like a horse and made the high-pitched call the birds are famous for.
Bunny Maier, owner of the Wild Bird Center of Fredericksburg, stood a few feet away. She looked at the 13-pound eagle, which has enough power in its beak to break bones, and cooed at it like it was a canary.
"You're talking, yeah, pretty girl," she said, making kissing noises at the eagle.
At one point, the bird turned its beady eyes toward Clark, its beak inches from his nose. "That would be a hickey of a lifetime," he said.
Clark held the eagle for a few minutes while those in the crowd took pictures. Photographers from Virginia Wildlife Magazine and Ranger Rick, the National Geographic's magazine for children, stood next to home-schooled children and wildlife rehabilitators from the area.
Then, Clark walked to an open area. Behind him was a restored wetlands with a jagged tree line of decaying hardwoods. The trees are natural perches, several hundred feet from the Potomac and among the highest spots around.
That's why so many eagles congregate at Caledon, park manager Nina Cox said. She and others counted 72 eagles this summer, the most ever recorded at the natural area.
Clark told the group he would release the eagle on the count of three. He hoped she would fly straight, away from the crowd and toward the trees and shoreline.
He had warned the people beforehand to be ready if she picked a different course.
"If the eagle comes near you, get away from it," he said.
But the eagle did just what those in the crowd hoped, and headed for the hardwoods. A few people clapped. No one seemed in any hurry to get back into their warm vehicles, despite the freezing temperatures.
Most stood in awe, like Larry Carney of Spotsylvania County.
"This was great, wasn't it?" he said. "I had no idea the bird would take off like that, its wingspan looked like it tripled when she took off."
About 45 minutes later, the group was still watching the eagle on her perch as she checked out her surroundings.
No one left until she flew away.
To reach CATHY DYSON:
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
