They don’t have names — just numbers — they don’t have the trademark white heads and they didn’t even want to fly when they were first released. But for the first time in 15 years, two bald eagles under the care of the Wildlife Center of Virginia were released into the wild at Pocahontas State Park in front of about 400 people.
Both birds were found in distress earlier this summer: one in Hopewell and one in Chesterfield County.
According to the Wildlife Center, one of the fledglings seemed to have fallen out of its nest after eating lead and probably suffered a broken pelvis. The other was found emaciated by the side of the road. Rehabilitation of the eagles involved teaching them to hunt and making sure they could get around.
“We test them being able to chase live mice, and we make sure they’re flight trained,” said the center’s president, Meg Gammage-Tucker. She said the eagles should feel at home in the park, as it has a fairly large lake full of largemouth bass and bluegill.
“Our thought is that because bald eagles are fishing eagles, they’re going to naturally home in on the lake,” she said.
The two birds weren’t given names – they’re simply designated numbers based on when the center takes them in. In this case, the two eagles are 25-1557 and 25-2253. Gammage-Tucker said that’s done deliberately to prevent people from getting too attached to creatures who are being released into the wild.
Bald eagles hatch as white, fuzzy eaglets and fledge within about 12 weeks. Bald eagles don’t gain their trademark plumage until sometime between 4 and 6 years of age. Fledgeling eagles aren’t always easy to spot due to their mottled gray, white and brown plumage, and both of these eagles were estimated to be about a year old.
Center officials said it was the largest turnout for an eagle release in more than a decade. “People love it,” said Nate Clark, the manager of Pocahontas State Park, “It’s such a cool story, and it’s so rare to see these animals up close.”
