At the beginning of May, while making his daily rounds to feed the birds housed on our upper trail, one of our staff members was surprised to find a wild juvenile bald eagle that was in obvious distress, and had landed by our eagle cages near the rehab hospital. (You could say she checked herself in.) Recognizing her distress, our staff member quickly gathered her up and brought her into the hospital. There were no obvious injuries or broken bones, and it was surmised that she may have eaten some tainted food. She was given supportive therapy, and after about three weeks in rehab she had gone from 12 lbs. to a robust 14 lbs., and was ready to be released.
Coincidentally, Missouri American Water Company, in conjunction with the World Bird Sanctuary, Ameren UE, Missouri Conservation Department, and Boy Scout Troop 950, had recently erected nest platforms on their riverfront property in the hope that they would attract nesting pairs of bald eagles. It was decided that this would be a perfect spot to release this magnificent bird.
On May 28 representatives of the organizations involved in the placement of the nestboxes, as well as a number of government officials, including State Senator John Loudon, Representative Jane Cunningham, and Representative Al Liese, all gathered at Missouri American Water Company's plant site, where this magnificent eagle was released back into the wild.
If you'd like to read and see more of this wonderful event, please visit the links below. To view enlarged photos, click on the image.
Sign erected for the eagle release.
One of the nesting platforms erected on Missouri American Water property
Closeup of the eagle nesting platform built by Boy Scout Troop 950
Some of the many dignitaries who showed up for this event.
Staff member Joe Hoffmann coaches Missouri American WaterPresident, Terry Gloriod, on the intricacies of releasing a bald eagle
Missouri American Water Company President, Terry Gloriod, releases the eagle
Freedom!This post was written and photographed by Gay Schroer.
www.ameren.com/Community/ADC_2008EagleRelease.asp
www.ameren.com/AboutUs/ADC_EaglesBoyScouts.asp
14lbs! gracious, thats huge for a bald eagle.
ReplyDeleteShe was incredibly large!! One of the largest Bald Eagles I've ever seen!
ReplyDeletewow, what an amazing story. It is so great to hear good stories about Bald Eagles. I am so glad that she was ok after you helped her.
ReplyDeleteShe is defintely one lucky bird!!!