On Thursday, July 30, 2009 Bandit was enjoying his morning breakie when a large branch cracked and fell from the tree. The noise and movement of the branch startled Bandit who did the responsible thing and flapped away from the apparent danger. Unfortunately Bandit was not ready to fledged and ended up, unhurt in the grass next to the tree. He was on the road side of the tree, which was not the safest place to be. Below is Bandit right before the limb broke.
There were no other trees in the area as his tree was in a farmer's yard. He could flap, but not fly. Left on his own he might have climbed nest tree, if he could have gotten back over the fence. But he could have also wandered into the road or face many other dangers including coyotes. He was not in the best situation. Fortunately there is a local rescue organization, O.W.L. (Orphan Wild Life), five minutes from the nest. They were called and promptly arrived at the nest tree. They were able to find and capture Bandit. He was taken to the facility where he was evaluated. He will live there until he is strong enough to fledged.
He weighed in at 3.8 kgs or around 8 pounds.
He was very polite during his physical.
Got some temporary bling so he could be identified while in the facility. He will be banded with a permanent band before he leaves. Just look at that talon.
It turns out Bandit's small nest has not been the best for exercising and building flight muscles. The physical revealed his muscles are underdeveloped for his age, but he is a healthy eaglet. Bandit was placed in a large enclosure with a "Buddy" eagle that is at O.W.L. growing out flight feathers. This enclosure has different branches so Bandit can practice grabbing them and build up flight muscles by flapping his wings. This is the first time Bandit has had a branch small enough to wrap his talons around.
The buddy eagle provides companionship for Bandit, but Bandit thought he might be a stepdad. When a meal was brought into the enclosure, Bandit squawked to be fed from Buddy. Buddy declined the offer. Bandit will be in this enclosure until his chest muscles are strong enough for flight. He will then transfer to a very large flight cage where he can practice his new skills. When he is strong enough he will be released near where he was captured.
Ground reports from the rescue of Bandit said mom was nearby during the rescue. She watched the rescue, commented, but did not interfere. Over 24 hours later I saw dad arrive at the nest with a morning meal. I guess mom hadn't informed him that Bandit had left the area. He arrived with breakfast in a talon and panting from the trip. He stayed on the nest for about 30 minutes.
Looking all around, but never called. He eventually flew off, taking the breakfast with him.
Nobody can really say what the parents think. They may believe the eaglet has fledged. O.W.L. is close enough they may hear Bandit call from his outside enclosure. Last year this pair had 2 eaglets in this nest. One fell from the nest when he was around the same age as Bandit. He was rescued by O.W.L. The other eaglet fledged from the nest. It was reported that the parents did stay in the area until after the younger eaglet was released from rehab. Eagles in this area travel north to the salmon runs in late summer and return to the Delta area in late fall, early winter.
This is the nest where dad brought a teddy bear to the nest last year--2008. Click to see the video. It may take a few seconds to load
Here is a spliced 2008 video of this nest to show the younger eaglet's fall from the nest, then the older eaglet's fall from the nest and the climb back in.
The last eaglet did fledged from the nest. This last clip shows mom back in the nest to grab a large fish she had left for the eaglet.
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