Eagles OK'D for takeoff

Back in May and June a couple of fledgling bald eagles ran into trouble and wound up on the ground before they could fly.

After a storm toppled its nest, one of the eagles was rescued by state eagle biologists near the Possum Point power plant along the Potomac River.

The other was found on the ground near the Coles Trip Girl Scout camp along Aquia Creek in Stafford and was rescued by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent.

The birds were taken to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro to recuperate.

The two local eagles, along with another fledgling found on the ground near its nest along the Pamunkey River in New Kent County, will be released at noon Saturday at the Mason Neck State Park visitors center in southern Fairfax, said Edward Clark, president of the wildlife center.

The public is welcome to attend the release of the birds, Clark said.

The Possum Point eagle was thin and dehydrated when it was admitted to the rescue center on May 27 with a fractured left wing.

It was treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and pain medication. On May 31 center veterinarians operated and successfully placed a pin in the eagle's wing.

It has recuperated enough to be released.

The Stafford eagle was admitted to the center on June 9, and veterinary staff found it thin but healthy with no broken bones.

Young eagles practice flying by stretching their wings and they allow the wind to "lift them up a little bit" while they remain in the nest, Clark said.

Later on they walk out onto a branch near the nest, spread their wings and "pretend to fly" in a practice called "branching," Clark said.

"It's kind of like a kid making motor noises with his mouth as he drives his bike around," Clark said.

Sometimes the wind blows them out of the nest or off the branch.

Sometimes the birds simply jump from the nest before they're ready, Clark said.

"They're classified as 'early jumpers,'" Clark said. "They jump out of the nest before they're able to fly out of the nest."

"They wind up on the ground without the capability to get back to the nest or get to a place that is safe, and that can be problematic," Clark said.

The wildlife center tries to release birds back into the area where they were found.

"There seems to be a very strong imprinting of territory on the birds," Clark said. "We've had birds that have come from areas off the Potomac River that were as old as 27 and were found within just a few miles from where they were originally banded."

Mason Neck offers a large tract of public land that is protected as a state park along with the nearby Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge along the Potomac River, so it's a prime spot to release eagles, Clark said.

Additionally, Clark said, the area is populated by plenty of eagles for the young captives to emulate as they re-enter the wild.

"It's very, very important for these birds to get around other eagles as quickly as possible. When they first are on their own, a lot of the food they get, they get from stealing scraps from others -- mugging ospreys or whatever else," Clark said.

Young birds released into the wild generally watch other eagles and eventually learn to fish for themselves.

Clark said that one in three eagles in the wild that leave the nest ready to fly will survive to adulthood.

"We don't guarantee the animals that we release a risk-free existence. All we guarantee them is a chance at a natural survival rate," Clark said.

Eagles mature fully at about five years, Clark said.

So far this year the center is on track to receive twice the eagles it rehabilitated last year, Clark said.

"The bad news is that we're getting a lot of eagles in here that have been injured from a variety of reasons. The good news is, that's because the population has increased so much," he said.

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.