EAGLEBABY BALD HEADED EAGLE HAS LANDED AT HEALTHY BIRD

August 23, 2007

So now imagine going out to your back yard and finding this magnificant looking species in your pond!  We were quite amazed to put it mildly!  I had taken our dog, Nicky, and gone to drop off my parcels for delivery at the Post Office.  We get home and as per the norm, Nicky bounces out of the van, but it seems today she had a purpose in mind as to where she is headed.  She bounces over to the far side of Healthy Bird Store.  We can just see the back end of this HUGE bird "trying" to take flight.  It appeared to have a hard time from what we could see.  I figured I had best go back behind the store and gazabo and see what I could see, in case he was hurt.  Mind you, I only looked quickly, but could see nothing.  Oh well, I had lots of things to get done, so I turned the water hose on to top up the pond and went into the house.  Some 20 minutes or so later I come out of the house to turn the water off in the pond.  Nicky was still outside and comes to greet me.  I turn the water off, then look back at the pond to see if it has enough water.  Now what in the heck is in the pond?  No, I'm not seeing things, there is something brown in the pond!  I walk back slowly and just imagine my shock when this is what I see!!  I quickly got Nicky into the house and call my neighbor Carol.  Poor Carol, I gave her no greeting, no explanation, just a "Can you come over here quick"!  Over comes Carol with her son Micheal.  We are all three staring at this baby bald headed eagle in my pond.  He appears to be as unconcerned as can be.  I had my camera and am snapping pictures, no concern to him at all!!  We can see no visual signs of injury, but he is quite content and going no where!  Well after a few good drinks, (and I am sure I am missing a couple fish!), he gets up to the top of the pond and then a wee little flight to jump up onto the shed that borders our properties.  I left Micheal in charge of watching to ensure if he did take try and take flight that he indeed was O.K. and no broken wings, etc and Carol and I went our separate ways to our houses, Carol  to make calls to the Wildlife folks to get them to come out and check him over and me to feed my babies I have in the brooder.  Carol comes back to say one Clinic had suggested we "catch" him and bring him in.  My comment on that idea was FAT CHANCE!!!  Not in this lifetime!!!  See the feet and beak on this guy!   The Dept of Natural Resources said they had a chap on his way out to check.  I could tell from his "baby" noises this guy was not very old and wondered if he could fledge at all.  Now mind you, he had to have come to land on my property somehow, but I can assure you, he was in no hurry to leave!  His parents were no where to be seen and could not be seen circling overhead to collect him.  At this point in time we did not even know if or where there was a nest around our location. Two hours pass and I am ready to start charging admission!!  Mind you, we do not have many neighbors, but those we do have, had their camera's with them.  He is still as content as can be and trying to get a bit of shut eye during all this commotion.  Finally the chap shows up from Natural Resources.  We all think it best to see if this guy can actually fly before trying to catch him.  He jumps up onto the roof of the shed and Buddy here jumps on over to the next roof!  If you click this link: articles new/Eagle has landed/MVI_0385.AVI wait a minute for it to load up and you will see him fly off , thru the tree and across the field he went, to land high up in a tree on my neighbors property.  Yeah, we know that he is fine, can fly, even if he appears to be very inexperienced at it.  This was about 3 in the afternoon.  Carol tells me he stayed around her place in the trees until later that evening and then flew off.   We hope and pray that he found his Mom and Dad as I highly doubt he is experienced in finding and forging for grub.   Another indication to me that he was very young, as he never showed any fear of us at all, never tried to lounge or move away within our range.  This is a young bird with no survival instincts in tact at all yet. I now have been trying to find where their nest is located around our area.   There has to be one not far away. If you'd be interested in reading more on eagles and the upbringing of their offspring, the site below is a very informative site. http://www.eagles.org/vueaglewebcs/index.html

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