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 
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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