Photo by Marily Woodhouse
On July 6th, members of the public reported a dehydrated fledgling bald eagle in distress in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. Kate, a dedicated kayak and paddle volunteer with experience in handling raptors, and Russ Weatherbee, the Whiskeytown’s wildlife biologist, promptly responded to the call. They successfully rescued the young female bird (since named Fortune), with Kate providing immediate care by giving her water and cooling her down with a fan.
Following this, Fortune was transported to Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue for care and recovery. Fortune came to the Rescue severely underweight and dehydrated, prompting caregiver and Rescue Director, Marily Woodhouse to give her fluids and a few weeks to recover, helping her get to a healthy weight. Fortune was released back to her nesting site at Whiskeytown and while she didn’t fly away due to it being a bit steep, she did hop back into her habitat. If you’d like to see a short video showing Fortune’s release, click here!
This summer has been a particularly challenging summer for Northern California eaglets. Marily mentioned that she’s seen more eaglets needing rescuing this summer than ever before – at least seven have come into her care so far. It’s thought that the intensifying heat has caused a lot of stress in the eaglets, leading to many falling from nests and being injured, dehydrated, and, unfortunately in some cases where they aren’t rescued in time, to die. Please see a more in-depth article on the SEA website discussing the links between climate change and how it affects raptors.
To donate essential funds to Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue and help rescue and rehabilitate our area’s raptors, please CLICK HERE