A baby eagle is back with its parents, carrying new ID and an adventure story after a few days away from its nest a little younger than is ideal.
Alerted by park users, Victoria parks staff found the eaglet on the ground on the final Friday of June near Lovers Lane in Beacon Hill.
乌鸦传媒淲e went down to investigate, and lo and behold, we could see an eaglet that was basically almost at the fledgling stage but not quite there,乌鸦传媒� explained parks supervisor Michael Creighton. 乌鸦传媒淭his eaglet wasn乌鸦传媒檛 able to fly, so it was in a pretty compromised location just because of the amount of people walking by and there乌鸦传媒檚 lots of dogs in that area.乌鸦传媒�
So they sought advice from the BC SPCA through the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre (Wild ARC) in Metchosin.
Creighton was one of the two staffers who captured the baby in an 乌鸦传媒渆xhilarating few moments乌鸦传媒� as he popped a blanket over its head. 乌鸦传媒淚 wrapped my arms around it and grabbed its legs so its talons could not do its worst.乌鸦传媒�
Parks staff crated the critter and drove it out to Metchosin, where it spent the weekend getting a clean bill of health and a new anklet.
乌鸦传媒淲e don乌鸦传媒檛 know why the eagle ended up on the ground, but we knew he was rather young to be there, so we had to get him back up as close to the nest as possible,乌鸦传媒� senior wildlife rehabilitator Wallis Moore Reid said.
The newly formed team of Victoria Parks and Wild ARC assessed from photos how close they could get to returning the young raptor to its parents, keenly watching the work of the humans below.
乌鸦传媒淭hey were there (the parents) and the eagle was in good health, but simply too young to be on his own,乌鸦传媒� Reid said.
In what Reid called an 乌鸦传媒渁wesome collaboration乌鸦传媒�, Wild ARC and Parks staff worked together to determine where and how to get the baby back in a perch high enough for it to skedaddle back to the nest 乌鸦传媒� with a little parental guidance.
乌鸦传媒淚t was in excellent condition. It wasn乌鸦传媒檛 injured so we wanted to reunite it and get it back into the tree.乌鸦传媒� Creighton said. 乌鸦传媒淲e shut down the pathway on Monday (June 30) and got our urban forestry team to bring over their boom truck.乌鸦传媒�
A city arborist got a rundown from a Wild ARC tech to keep both man and beast safe as he lifted it to the selected branch roughly 60 feet from the ground.
The path remained closed on Canada Day as crews sought some quiet time for the youngster to hop its way back up.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e very hopeful it was a successful reunification,乌鸦传媒� Creighton said, noting it hasn乌鸦传媒檛 specifically been identified since, but there are juvenile eagles among the trees in the southeast woods.
乌鸦传媒淗e was monitored by city staff the following day and there were no signs he was back on the ground or parents weren乌鸦传媒檛 caring for him, so it was successful,乌鸦传媒� Reid said.
While in Wild ARC care, the eaglet was also banded with a unique identifier to track his tale.
乌鸦传媒淲e like to band as many of the birds as we can before they乌鸦传媒檙e released to get that kind of information,乌鸦传媒� Reid said.
The Metchosin rehab sees a fair number of eagles needing attention each year, but few of the young ones.
This one needed another month or so of parental guidance.
Anyone who sees an animal that causes concern can call BC SPCA animal help line at 1-855-622-7722 for advice.
