Female Common Merganser

We were more interested in seeing owls today, and there are better days ahead for the eagle migration through National Wildlife Refuge at Black Dog, so we headed up toward Lake Harriet to Robert’s Bird Sanctuary to find a pair of owls.  With temps around 10 degrees, we donned our winter gear and headed into the woods.

It was a pretty enjoyable hike.  There were tons of tracks, a couple cardinals off in the distance, and a few squirrels knocking snow onto us as they scurried from branch to branch .  We came across what looked like either a bald eagle or a snow covered trash bag high in a tree.  A bald eagle was the last thing I expected to see in the park, so I assumed it was a trash bag or something else caught in the tree, but then Kristen saw it moving. It didn’t look right though. I took a look through the camera and it’s head was sideways and it wasn’t looking around.

Eagle with lead poisoning

We walked closer. It’s eyes were closed and we noticed it was making sounds like it was distressed/crying, almost like a dog whimpering. These are usually such majestic birds, always perched proudly, with piercing, happy calls, so seeing an eagle like this is something like seeing your dad cry. It’s incredibly sad and very unnerving.

Eagle with lead poisoning

My mind immediately went to lead poisoning. The way it was moving it’s head, it’s eyes closed… it was like something we had scene on an episode of PBS’s Nature about eagles that featured a little segment about lead poisoning. We made a plan to call animal rescue and tried to decide if we wanted to walk the 1/4 mile back to the car immediately to get a phone, or check for the owl which was supposed to be right around the corner. We started walking towards the big oak trees and scanning for the owls, but we didn’t see anything and our minds kept going back to the eagle.  How the heck would someone get it down?  Would they be able to?  We could still hear it.  We walked around the curve that headed back to the car on another path. As we were walking, we heard a murder of crows going crazy. It sounded like a dozen or more, and they were making a heck of a racket. I thought they were way off in the distance, maybe a half mile away, but Kristen’s mind went to the eagle. We walked back up the trail and I realized that the crows were closer and I knew they were harassing the eagle.   As we got closer, we saw the eagle fall from the tree. We ran over. it was laying face first in the snow. Another lady who was coming from the opposite direction on the trail ran over too, maybe drawn by my barrage of obscenities as I watched it fall on to the ground. It was still alive, but not moving much at all. My first thought was to get it’s head out of the snow to make sure it could breath and try to get it comfortable. As I moved it, it stayed pretty still, only moving it’s head a little bit. I was considering trying to get him out of there, but I was worried about his talons. I moved him a little more, and he stayed pretty calm.  I decided to take him out. Kristen and I carried him out quickly. He stayed calm the whole way and would only move when I touched his feet. His talons and eyes were covered with snow. He seemed to be a little more active as my body heat helped to warm him up.

Holding a Bald Eagle

Kristen ran up to the car to get my phone so we could find out where to take him. I unlocked the doors remotely, and Kristen said, “where’s the tripod?” It had been in the back seat, but I moved it too the trunk when we left. I then saw why she asked. Our window was broken out. Luckily they were just after Kristen’s almost empty purse, and left my phone and Gitzo tripod alone.  Have you ever called 911 for more than one reason at a time? I have now. First things first, we got connected from the 911 operator to the MN Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. We got directions and were on way.  On the way, we tried to keep him warm and clear the snow from his talons.  It was unreal carrying an eagle like that, able to touch it’s beak, it’s talons; being able to see it so close after years of staring at them through telephoto lenses.

The staff at the Raptor Center was great. The medical staff immediately got to warming it up with a heading pad and hair dryer. They took the bird’s temperature and found it was 10 degrees less than it should be.  The eagle wasn’t too under weight, which was good.  The began their blood work and x-rays as we left.  Jeff Fischer, a local photographer and Raptor Center volunteer, gave us a great tour, and it was awesome to see all the birds they had saved. We’ll update the blog when we find out how the eagle is doing! We’ll keep hoping and praying that he’s OK.

Bald Eagle Landing on Ice

Immature Bald Eagle with fish

Today was a great day on the river.  I didn’t have time to edit them yet, but here’s one.  This was the first picture out of the camera, and pretty much sums up the amazingness of today.

Bald Eagle with Fish

This is the first time in 15 or so attempts to photograph bald eagles that I’ve actually seen them feeding.  Usually they just hang out in trees and occasionally fly around.  Sadly, by the time I had all my camera settings right, it was after sunset, so here’s an eagle with a fish at ISO 2200.