I had only ever dreamed of holding an eagle, but that dream has come true in spectacular fashion!
My whole life I have been enamored with eagles and birds of prey and when we moved onto our property in 2009 we found there to be Bald Eagles nesting just to the south of us on vacant property. For a few years they continued to nest in the tree but at one point while walking around beneath the tree I found a barely feathered dead baby at the base. Though it was young the carcass was fairly large, a bit smaller than the nearly fledged one I saved later on.
I have read that eagles will leave a nest if they lose young, almost like the nest or tree is cursed. After this the eagles made their nest in a tree at the top of our hill, over looking our house and farm. They have remained in this nest for about 5 years now and we see them flying through the yard and over the farm regularly. It is an amazing thing for me to hear the cry of eagles at least 6 months of the year. They usually take off for a couple months after they fledge out their chicks so I have periods where I don't get to see or hear them.
This is the story of the fledgling Bald Eagle that I helped in July of 2017. I have condensed the various updates and the 2 posts into this one story and added in A LOT more of the story with extra photos. These are the links for the original posts on Steem that I made as it was all happening.
I rescued a Bald Eagle yesterday! Lifetime Achievement - Unlocked! Pics/Vids/Story/Updates in comments
Bald Eagle Juvenile came to say hi this morning - 48 hour Update - Pics/Videos/Story
July 9th, 2017 6:50pm
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! The sheep also got quite curious and one of them walked up to investigate. The eagle got a bit scared and flew itself into the corner of the fence. While videoing I made my way over and shooed the sheep away.
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 figured if it was by its sibling then at least it is not entirely alone and my hope was it would 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.
12 Hour Update
July 10th, 2017 - 6:00am
I hiked back up to check on it as its sibling was chattering away in the nest above. It seemed 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 was ample space between the trees to allow for a parent to reach it if they were 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.
14 Hour Update
July 10th, 2017 - 9:00am
I heard the dog barking like crazy and when I looked right out front the house, the eagle had landed on the ground not 10 ft from where I was sitting at my computer. As I walked out the door I saw 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 where it was and that it wasn't in an animal pen.
I decided the best was 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 then I kept an eye on it as it moved around the yard and stayed in the shade. At least down here there was water and shade for it, so I didn't need to move it unless it had put itself in a dangerous position. But it was flying well enough now that I was not really concerned.
18 Hour Update
July 10th, 2017 - 1:00pm
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 basics done without bugging it too much.
It had become more active as the temperature had fallen and a short bit later 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 blended in so well that it took a while to find. I assumed it would perch there for the night as it was under cover and protected.
36 Hour Update
July 11th, 2017 - 8:30am
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.
I walked out and stood below it taking pictures. It was just hanging there not seeming to be upset. I figured I would try and give it something to grab onto so I went and grabbed my push broom and slowly held the brush end up near it. The eagle wasn't going to have it and dropped to the ground. It was fine, just still learning to fly. It appeared that it made it about 20 to 30 ft up the pine tree so it was getting better at flying since it was getting more elevation. The eagle then sat in the grass about 30 ft from where I sat.
This video was taken out my living room window that morning after a rather wild crash landing by the eagle into then out of the pine tree.
July 11th, 2017 - 9:00am
After the Bald Eagle sat on the ground for a little while, I noticed it had moved a little closer to the house. About 5 minutes later I saw it hop walking closer, and closer, and closer, and then climb onto the railroad tie. It sat in the sun and faced the house. I watched as it put its head down and went to sleep for a few minutes. It spent a bit of time preening, looking, and listening.
At this point in time it had been a couple of days that the eagle had likely had nothing to eat and with it expending so much energy in learning to fly I made a decision. I went to our deep freeze and pulled out a piece of frozen tilapia. I thawed it in water quickly and then I went to my window and lobbed the piece of fish near the eagle. Right away it turned and began to devour the piece of fish. This made me feel good that I had it eating. This was it eating the fish I had thrown to it.
I am very aware of the need to not create a large connection between the bird and myself regarding food source. It is a wild bird and needed to remain so. With this in mind I only tossed 1 more small piece of fish to it to give it a little more sustenance which it ate readily. After it finished the second piece of fish it sat and stared at the house again for a while until it seemingly gave up on getting more food and turned and started to move off.
The Bald Eagle eventually ended up hop walking over to and under our trampoline and hanging out there for a while. I was in the garden and about 11am I heard the siblings come back and fly over crying and screaming and looking for their lost one. I went and shewed the eagle out from under the trampoline and it ended up flying into a maple down by the creek where it caught a branch and hung upside down again. It dropped to the ground and I tried to coax it uphill towards the nest.
I figured I had better be prepared so I ran and got my sack/hood and the glove then returned to where it sat in the grass by the creek. I put the glove on and rolled up the sack to make it easier to apply. I had to follow the eagle around the yard a bit and it started to get annoyed.
THIS WAS A WILD MOMENT!!!Sitting on the ground it spread its wings out, hunched its back, opened its beak and coughed at me. I am quite sure it was not pleased but I couldn't have this eagle in my yard for days.
It had pseudo flown to be on the driveway, taking this defensive posture, and I was holding my gloved hand out to it slowly inching closer. It coughed at me more, I get closer, it twitches and shifts, I get a little closer. I end up about a foot away from it, nose to beak, and it is relatively calm considering the circumstances. I had the bag in my left hand and my gloved right hand extended and slowly I inched closer until I lunged with the bag got it over its head.
This time the eagle was not as accepting of my bagging its head so it rolled onto its back and luckily my gloved right hand was close so its talons grabbed it, instead of any of my soft fleshy parts. During the bagging process the eagle had gotten a talon caught in the bag so the bag only was over its head and not down its wings. This allowed for the wings to be free and for an awkward few moments. I stood quickly and adjusted so it could grab my gloved hand and stand, which it did. The wings were half folded and half out, and I'm sure we looked a mess, but I carried it up the hill like that.
Being by myself there was no possibility for camera work as I only have 2 hands so fortunately/unfortunately I only have the memory of the defensive pose and the cough. In all truth it reminded me of a Skeksis from The Dark Crystal. Only once I got to the top of the hill and had let it go was I able to get video again, and only this short one as I wanted to let the siblings and it talk as soon as possible.
That evening I hiked up the hill to look but I did not see it anywhere. Two of the eagles flew over me and landed in the nest, then flew back south to one of their perch trees. I have no idea who is who of them so I won't know for sure, but if I don't see it again I'm pretty sure that will be good as it should be off with it's kind. Only time will tell, and hell, it could be back in the morning.... who knows.
Final Update
July 21st, 2017 - 7:00am
The story ends with an incredible experience in of itself. It was 10 days later after the last time I had seen the eagle and wifey was getting ready to go to work in the morning. We had the windows open in the house and had been hearing an eagle cry somewhere nearby through the screens. It kept on for quite a while and when she was leaving for work she came back inside and made me come outside the house. Right outside the house sits a few very tall pine trees. As I went outside and looked up I heard the eagle screeching from the top of the tree. It was my eagle!
It sat in the tree and screeched and chattered at us. We yelled up at it, "Hello eagle! Good to see you! You can fly!" After it heard or saw us acknowledge it it stopped the screeching. I ran inside the house quickly and grabbed my pair of binoculars so I could hold one side up to my phone camera. That is the bottom picture above with the vignetting. I got a bunch of shots but this was one of the clearest. After a while it seemed content enough took off and flew out over the Little Spokane River.
Stupidly cool!! The eagle came back to thank us and to say goodbye. I am sure of it. I have not seen the eagle since that last time but what a way to part ways!
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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