This juvie was from Washington County. The nest had been under observation and the two sibs had branched about two weeks ago, so this guy wasn’t long out of the nest. A tornado in the wee hours Monday apparently grounded the bird; the nest was damaged but mostly intact, according to observers. The landowner had not been in the area after the tornado till Thursday, and when he saw the eagle grounded called GA DNR Eagle Program Coordinator Bob Sargent and area deer rehabbers John and Luanne Brooker, who often transport raptors to me. Based on the landowner’s description of the situation, Bob okayed capture, and John and Luanne got the bird to me within an hour of capture.
He arrived at LWR after Smalley’s had closed, so his vet visit would have to wait till Friday morning. His left thigh was a writhing mass of maggots and the underside of the right wing was discolored and it felt “crunchy.” I treated the thigh for maggots and started oral and topical antibiotics. He weighed about 6.5 lbs on intake—pretty definite confirmation that he was indeed male.
So now let me explain to y'all why raptor rehabbers cringe when eagles come in: Life as you know it comes to a screeching halt, because EVERYTHING revolves around the eagle from intake till transfer. I spent from app. 3:30pm Thursday to 3:30pm Saturday talking on the phone, texting, and emailing to get everything arranged to get the bird, alerting DNR and FWS that I had him, alerting my vets that I'd be in with him this morning, taking him in for the vet exam, talking to Auburn to make sure they'd take the bird during this pandemic panic, arranging transport to Auburn, letting everyone involved know transport was arranged, medicating and feeding the eagle, alerting all the proper authorities the eagle was en route to Auburn...and I still had over a dozen songbirds, a red tail, a possum, and six wood ducks to care for as well, with calls continuing and more birds coming in, in addition to my editing—you know, that little thing I do that actually pays the bills...
And yes, I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time the eagle left, but couldn’t relax until Scott and Tonya confirmed they’d made it to Auburn safely and had no problems delivering the bird. THEN I took 1000mg of Tylenol for my near-exploding head and crashed for half an hour, as that’s all the time I could spare between songbird feedings.
In slightly less stressful events at LWR this week, baby season has kicked in with a vengeance, with no less than 11 nestlings of varying species coming in throughout the week.
Monday an adult great horned owl with an open wing fracture and no neural response in either leg came in and was humanely euthanized.
Friday saw a nestling brown thrasher, a cat-attack victim, and two what appeared to be phoebes, one of whom required euthanasia for a nest injury that resulted in his leg bones fusing into a backwards-facing position. The remaining phoebe has some poop issues—struggles to poop even though its cloaca is clean. I’m monitoring this situation. Yeah, we rehabbers know our shit…