A few weeks ago TW@L featured an eaglet that was a surprise to everyone—everyone except the man who found it on the ground on his property in the Snowflake, AZ area. A nest, unknown to officials, had been his secret joy to observe. When the youngster fell from the nest the landowner called for help. The eaglet was brought into Liberty Wildlife. Assessments were performed, and it was discovered that in the fall she had fractured her pelvis. Young bones heal quickly and after a short period of quiet care for her she was moved to an outside flight cage. She conquered flight; nothing wrong with the wings, and to our delight showed there was no problem with the legs. Soon it was time to take her home. Unfortunately her nest mate had fledged and the parents and fledgling had moved on. Move to plan B….
Game and Fish officials made the decision to take her to the one nest in the state with a fledgling remaining—Luna Lake in the far eastern part of Arizona. She was weighed, measured, banded and readied for the trip to her new home. But, as luck would have it, they found the baby from the Luna Lake nest had fledged the day before. In a situation like this the jury is still out---success isn’t certain. Nest watchers were prepared to stay on top of the situation.
She was placed in the now empty nest—maybe the new “foster” parents would still look after her—maybe not. Everyone watched with some amount of angst as she sat for just a nano second in the foreign nest. Then she lifted her big body up on very majestic wings and took off for the hills—flying strong and confidently out of sight. More angst!
Good news! We have since received word that she has been seen with her foster-sibling, parents watching over both of them and delivering fish for both to devour. When the youngsters separate, one parent will peel off to stand guard over one while the second parent follows and watches over the second one. The last report had the two new flyers zipping around the lake with the proud parents close by watching their every move.
Isn’t it wonderful how caring these parents can be, genetic offspring or not—without a hiccup in the adoption and fostering process. I love it when we win!
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