Juvenile eagle to be released at Red Top Mountain today

The state park will send the eagle back into the wild after it was rescued from the Etowah River in July.

A fledgling bald eagle rescued from the Etowah River near Hardin Bridge Road in July will be released back into the wild at Red Top Mountain State Park on Lake Allatoona today.

The young eagle has been rehabbing at the Southeastern Raptor Center at Auburn University for the past five months, regaining strength and flight muscles. Veterinarians at Auburn have deemed the young eagle ready to be released.

The eagle is believed to have been one of the hatchlings from a nest on the Etowah River, not far from where it was found by kayakers between U.S. 411 and Harbin Bridge Road. It was sitting on tree debris in the river, entangled in fishing line.

A statement posted on the Southeastern Raptor Center website announcing the plans for the release indicated no fractures were found in the young eagle. However, there were large amounts of soft tissue trauma. There was no way of knowing how long the eagle was caught up in the fishing line before kayakers discovered it.

“It was treated conservatively and with cage rest, and blood work also showed no sign of underlying disease,” said Dr. Seth Oster, an avian veterinarian at Auburn.

Chuck Waters, with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said Red Top Mountain State Park was chosen in part for its proximity to two other nests on the lake that fledged young eagles last year.

The Region 1 Game Management Supervisor said there is a strong possibility that other young eagles of the same age could be soaring in the area. He also said the site is not far from the presumed site of the young eagles’ nest.

The release is tentatively scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today near the Vaughan Log Cabin, close to the Red Top Mountain State Park lodge.