More shots from Eagle rescue...

The water pic' is when We first saw the Eagle, I thought He was dead. Glad everything worked out for the better...

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Well done & glad this tale has a happy ending

I thought he was dead as well until I saw his head move. Great captures once again Sam.

Well done both of you. Are you experienced in handling those large birds Duane, or was this a brave one-off?

David

Why don't you guys contact the paper and see if they are interested.

scrumpy wrote in post #10357756
Well done both of you. Are you experienced in handling those large birds Duane, or was this a brave one-off?

David

I'm no expert and some may think what I did was stupid or brave....at that point I didn't think...I just reacted seeing an animal in distress. I was more worried about the laws I was about to break not being an expert. I have seen how people get ahold of Eagles by grabbing the talons first so that's what I was trying to do. I got lucky and only got two scratches on my left hand..it could have been much worse but the Eagle was very tired at that point.

LBaldwin wrote in post #10357762
Why don't you guys contact the paper and see if they are interested.

It was mentioned that a press release was going to be done once everything is all said and done.

Again...sorry for answering questions in your topic Sam...I don't want to take away from your excellent captures.

Is this one of the eagle you have been watching Duane? And what the hell got him into the water in the first place?

Duane, when I heard of this I was thrilled that you were there to help but certainly not surprised at your actions, knowing how you love these birds. I know exactly what you mean about reacting. I've stood at the edge of Alligator and Cottonmouth inhabited water debating whether or not to try and help herons that have fallen from nests. I know the thought alone is crazy but the urge to help is overwhelming.

You were the right person for the job, not everyone would have got a grip on the talons first and could have needed urgent assistance themselves.

Sam, thanks for posting these.

It's all good Duane....You know more about whats going on....

Canonloader that is a good question. Two things come to mind...

1. He was on the ground chasing something and fell in...

2. He tried to get a fish and being inexperienced crashed in the water..

He had to be there before anyone else got there that morning, because no one saw or heard anything. His feathers were so wet that they shriveled up. Glad everything worked out for the better...

Sam, I asked, cause I have seen adults here dive into freezing water after a fish. Freezing, in the sense that the air was 20 below or lower and there was only a 4 acre open hole in the ice of the Mississippi, for miles around. Time in the water was at least 5 minutes one time, and the bird was swimming to the far edge of the hole. I was ready to run out on the ice myself, but when it got to the far edge, it lunged out of the water using wings and tail and brought a huge fish as big as itself out with it. That answered one question. However, it shook out loose water and then flew a couple loops around the area to get rid of more water before going back to eat the fish. To me, and looking at closeup shots of it as it flew right close to me, it didn't look any worse for wear.

So I was wondering what might have gotten it to dive in the water and why it couldn't get out. I must admit though, I have never seen one so wet, except maybe an anhinga.

Mitch....the canal has concrete lined sides to it....the whole length of the canal which splits the 155 acre Garden. There was no way it could get up on top of the bulkhead because of the level of the water...and there are no places for it to climb out up onto the ground.

That's the million dollar question...how it went in and when. We will never know.

Yup, sounds like a trap, unless your a duck. Good thing someone saw it move.