The Wildlife Center of Virginia, a leading teaching and research hospital for native wildlife, released a Bald Eagle on Monday, June 28 at Beaverdam Park in Gloucester, Virginia.  

[A number of photos and videos from the eagle release have been posted on the Norfolk Eagles Support Team International website.]

      The eagle was released by Dr. Dave McRuer, Director of Veterinary Medicine at the Center.   Other individuals involved in this eagle’s rescue also attended.    

       This adult Bald Eagle was spotted on June 9, under attack by an Osprey, on the Severn River near Mobjack Bay.  The Osprey ultimately drove the eagle into the water.  The eagle was fished out of the river by Gordon West and brought to land [the Osprey followed and continued to try to harass the eagle].  The eagle was wet and unable to fly and was taken to Sarah Drake Streetman, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

       On June 10 the eagle was examined by Dr. Adine Jones of Countryside Animal Hospital in Saluda.  On June 11 the eagle was transported by Christine Clendenin to the Wildlife Center in Waynesboro.  The eagle was assigned Patient Number #10-1075 [the 1075th patient admitted during 2010].

       Upon admission, the Center’s veterinary staff found that the bird was bright, alert, and feisty.  The bird — a small eagle [7.2 pounds and likely a male] – had mild bruises and swelling on the left wing and small wounds on the left carpus.  The bird was treated with pain medications and antibiotics.  The bird has responded well to treatment and spent time in some of the Center’s outdoor pens, including a 100-foot flight pen, where it demonstrated that it can fly well and was ready to be returned to the wild. 

      The released eagle, which has been banded, is one of 16 Bald Eagles admitted to the Center thus far in 2010.  During 2009, the Center admitted 40 Bald Eagles – a record in the Center’s 27-year history. 

      It is estimated that the Bald Eagle population of North America numbered about half a million before European settlement.  With the loss of habitat, shooting, and the effects of DDT and other pesticides, the U.S. eagle population plummeted.  In 1977, there were fewer than 50 Bald Eagle nests in Virginia. 

       Today, the Bald Eagle population in Virginia is on the rebound.  There are now more than 600 active Bald Eagle nests in the Commonwealth. 

      Every year, about 2,500 animals – ranging from Bald Eagles to opossums to chipmunks – are brought to the Wildlife Center for care.  “The goal of the Center is to restore our patients to health and return as many as possible to the wild,” Wildlife Center President Ed Clark has said.  “At the Wildlife Center, we treat to release.”  

       Since its founding in 1982, the nonprofit Center has cared for more than 55,000 wild animals, representing 200 species of native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.  The Center’s public education programs share insights gained through the care of injured and orphaned wildlife, in hopes of reducing human damage to wildlife.  The Center trains veterinary and conservation professionals from all over the world and is actively involved in comprehensive wildlife health studies and the surveillance of emerging diseases.    

       Beaverdam Park is Gloucester’s largest park [1,340 acres] and surrounds a 635-acre lake.  The park includes a variety of wildlife-friendly habitat, including open fields, woods, wetlands, and streams. 

[Photo I courtesy of Lee Skluzak.  Photos II and III courtesy of Jim Deal.]