Bald eagle has humans to blame, and thank

It was inevitable. With the successful recovery of the bald eagle that began after the low point in the 1970s, we should expect more eagle-human interactions that don’t work out so well for the bird.

Last year in the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s southeast region, 94 nests were recorded, eight of them in Berks County.

That number of Berks nests has been fairly stable over the last decade, but some of the nest sites have moved around a bit as weather or tree collapse has destroyed the large and weighty nests that eagles add to every season.

We would think that bald eagles prefer nest sites in remote locations away from human activities.

But apparently bald eagles don’t work that way and have adopted some unusual locations for their nests.

For several years, a Marion Township eagle pair nested in a tree overlooking a backyard swimming pool.

The most recent out-ofthe-ordinary Berks bald eagle nest site has been along the Schuylkill River just off of Route 61 in Hamburg.

Commuters have been surprised and delighted by the sight of these birds flying overhead or perched in trees along the road.

But the inevitable happened on June 24 when a bald eagle fledgling smashed into the windshield of an SUV traveling on 61.

The occupants of the vehicle were uninjured, but the eagle ended up against a fence down a 30-foot embankment by the wastewater treatment plant.

Passers-by quickly called Peggy Hentz at the Red Creed Wildlife Center near Schuylkill Haven, who responded with rehabilitation specialist Allison Rusinko to retrieve the bird.

Peggy had been aware of the nest and had concerns about the eaglets, particularly when she heard reports of them perching on the guardrails.

When they got the eagle back to Red Creek, they discovered the bird had suffered a concussion with a large patch of skin hanging loosely from its scalp. A swollen area near the bird’s elbow indicated the possibility of a fracture, but an Xray revealed that there were no broken bones.

Although it was good news that the wing wasn’t fractured, the eagle did suffer torn tendons, muscle and ligaments at the joint, an injury, according to Peggy, that would take two-to-three times longer to heal than a fracture.

Nicknamed Ms. Feisty, the eagle progressed slowly throughout the summer.

After recovering from the concussion, she was placed in a flight cage at Red Creek but did nothing more than hop around the enclosure.

By early September, she took wing for the first time and soon was flying laps around the cage.

By that time it was too late to return Ms. Feisty to the Hamburg nest site as the adults and other juvenile eagle had dispersed.

Upon the recommendation of game commission biologist Patti Barber, Peggy decided to release the eagle at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Kleinfeltersville, Lebanon County.

The resident eagle pair did not produce young this year and had allowed other juvenile eagles into the territory without driving them away.

Early in the morning on Sept. 22, Peggy and Allison took Ms. Feisty to Middle Creek and released her.

“I unzipped the carrier, expecting Ms. Feisty to blast past me,” Peggy said. “She hesitated. A minute later she stepped out, looked around, spread her wings and launched. She flew straight and strong, and then circled back before landing on a distant fence.”

“Only a decade ago, an eagle release was a rare occasion,” Peggy continued. “Even though today it happens much more frequently, each release still makes my heart soar with the bird and brings a feeling of exuberant joy.”

COURTESY OF PEGGY HENTZ This juvenile bald eagle that was struck near its nest site by an SUV along Route 61 in Hamburg was recently released after its recovery at the Red Creek Wildlife Center in Schuylkill County.