On June 10, 2005 we got two immature bald eagles from the game warden, Dave Algrem, from Waushara county. The nest tree was hit by lightning and was on fire. One bird was alreay on the ground and the second one came down with the tree.
We wish to thank Dave for taking the time out of his busy day to transport the young birds here.
You can see the horrible damage to all the main feathers. Lightning can damage the folicle on the bird and then the feathers will never grown again.
The feet of both birds had the exit marks of the lightning. They had actual holes in them. They were both put on medicine and cream to start the healing. One of the birds lost two talons also. Talons are like our finger nails and will grow back in time.
This is a photo of one of the tails. Nothing but shafts remain. We wonder what the full effect of the lightning would be, would they grow good feather and how long would it take?
This was the underside of the wing. Thunder's right wing was burnt the worst and Lightning's left wing was the worst. It would be a long time in a cage before the molt and then to see if the feathers would come in good enough for a release. Birds molt once a year, they lose the old feathers and grow new ones.
This is lightning. Just to let you see the complete damage to the feathers.
When they went to the vets the leg wounds were cleaned and checked for parasites. Each bird was x rayed to see if there were any broken bones. Lightning had a slight fracture to the left wing also, but if kept quiet it would heal on its own.
An eagle is a hard bird to handle for its size. So we got a friend to handle them at the vets office.
The summer turned into fall and winter and the two birds ate good and perched after their feet healed. It would be a long time for them in a cage before the molt started in 2006.
Spring of 2006 finds the two of them good company. Late summer Thunder's feathers are almost in and just waiting for the winter waters to freeze and she will be released at the Petenwell dam just east of Necedah Wisconsin.
In the late summer of 2006 we got in a car hit immature and the three of them spent time together just waiting for the winter of 2006 to come.
Don Baumgartner and Dr James Ziegler of Wolf River Vet Clinic examin the car hit bird.
Dr Ziegler is our wildlife vet for The Feather.
This is the car hit eagle. She will be released with Thunder later in 2006.
