A male bald eagle was reunited with his family Thursday night after an only-on-the-North-Fork rescue involving police, firefighters, wildlife experts — and fresh flounder from Braun’s Seafood Co.
The federally protected bird was spotted in Mattituck around 9 a.m., unable to fly despite flapping its wings, according to Southold Town Police.
“Somebody driving by saw it in the front yard of a house and called us in,” said Sgt. Christopher Salmon, who arrived at the scene with Officer Darren Hinderliter. “It looked like it had some issues with one of its wings because it would try to fly and only get a few feet before it needed to land.”
“When I approached him, he kind of just hopped down and flapped his wings a couple of times and flew a short distance,” he told The Suffolk Times. “We realized, all right, he’s definitely injured.”
Sgt. Salmon and and Mr. Hinderliter had never rescued a bald eagle before, so the region’s wildlife community quickly sprang into action.
Jennifer Murray ofTurtleback Conservation Centerwas nearby monitoring shorebirds with Heidi Lopez, and they arrived for the capture. Ms. Murray consulted with Janine Bendicksen, director of wildlife at Sweetbriar Nature Center, who approved bringing the eagle to the Smithtown facility after seeing video from the scene.
Corralling the injured raptor came with some difficulty, as it kept hopping into brambles and from yard to yard. The eagle rescue team had to close in while avoiding its razor-sharp talons.
“The main concern is that the talons don’t grab hold of you because they can do some pretty good damage pretty quickly,” Mr. Hinderliter said. “They’re the size of my hand! It was a good team effort on getting this bird captured without further injuring it.”
Ms. Murray, Ms. Lopez and the two officers spent about 20 minutes closing in on the eagle before covering its head with a blanket and gently tucking its wings underneath it. They crafted a makeshift crate out of a plastic bin and a car floor mat and met up with Jim MacDougall of Wading River in the parking lot of the Cooperage Inn in Baiting Hollow. He took it roughly 60 miles to Sweetbriar’s Smithtown facility, which has a large aviary.
With the eagle out of their hands — literally — for the time being, the police officers carried on, and the wildlife experts shifted their focus to his nest. They knew who this bird was; many locals do.
Source: The Suffolk Times
