Healed eagle soars again after St. Pete rescue

Dianna Flynt warned him once she took off the mask he would have a fight on his hands.

"He's going to be squirmy," Flynt told David Moore, who was holding the eagle. "He's going to be a little mad."

When she pulled the brown leather flap away from its face, the bird's eyes looked toward the horizon and its beak opened. The animal went from confused to determined.

"He does come to life, doesn't he?" Flynt joked.

Its muscles tightened. Moore, who had one hand over the back of the animal's neck and another wrapped around its ankles, was ready to let the bird go.

"May you always be in the wild moving forward," Moore said.

Then he tossed the eagle into the air.

Eagles and other birds of prey that are lucky enough to be reacquainted with the wild usually do one of two things during their first flight. They either find the wind current and ride it high or they find a tree and perch for a while, Flynt said.

"It's like they scratch their head and think, 'Where am I?'" she said.

That's what this eagle did. It flew upward and settled near the top of one of the closest oak trees.

"It was a majestic animal," said Moore, the executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. "It was very powerful."

He was invited by the Audubon Center for the Birds of Prey to release the bird Saturday morning. A gathering of Audubon members and bird enthusiasts met at the Audubon's Ahhochee Hill Sanctuary in Lake Lindsey.

The bald eagle was the rescued four days before Thanksgiving by an Audubon EagleWatch volunteer in someone's backyard in St. Petersburg, Flynt said.

"We have no idea why he was injured," she told the crowd. "It could've been smacked by a car or it could've been smacked by another eagle. He very well could've been."

Such birds frequently lash out during this time of year. Territorial disputes are common, particularly in Pinellas County where there is a large number of nesting areas, according to the Audubon center.

Another bird, a female, also is being rehabilitated at the Audubon facility in Maitland. She was first brought there in 1996, was banded and released. She recently was found again in Pinellas County, 13 years later. She was injured this last time during a territory fight, Flynt said.

The one released Saturday was the 377th rehabilitated eagle released to the wild in the last 30 years, according to the Audubon center.

It suffered a fractured shoulder blade, but the healing process was quick, Flynt said.

When it first was brought to the designated flying area following its surgery, it immediately flew from the ground to the highest perch in the 20-foot high enclosure, she said.

That was a week ago.

It became frantic and was ready to stretch its wings again Saturday while Moore held it.

"It was thinking, 'How am I going to escape this person?'" Flynt said.

She thinks there is a good chance it would return to its habitat in Pinellas County. Eagles fly long distances so it probably knows the area around Ahhochee Hill, although it would take some time for the animal to collect its bearings, Flynt said.

Those with the Audubon did not want to release him in Pinellas because he might have been the target of another nesting eagle pair, they said. He might not have survived a second territory fight.

Those who saw him fly the short distance to the oak tree kept their eyes glued to where he was perched. The thick branches prevented them from locating him, but they stood and waited for a while. They wanted one more glimpse of him soaring above the treetops.

The eagle was in no hurry to leave its perch. They gave up on seeing him again.

"That's really the plan," Flynt said. "We don't ever want to see him again."