Fly Away Home : Nursed Back to Health, Eaglet Is Returned to Wild

Almost 10 pounds of aggressive feathered fury, Tommy the fledgling golden eagle didn’t look particularly vulnerable when released early Wednesday in the hills near Gypsum Canyon.

But despite his 6-foot wingspan and sharp talons and beak, wildlife experts said the 4-month-old eagle won’t survive unless his parents accept him back into the nest.

“He still needs them; his parents need to stay with him for a year or more,” said Scott H. Weldy, director of a Lake Forest bird clinic and the veterinarian who nursed Tommy to health after he was found last month, lost and weak from starvation, near a Transportation Corridor Agencies construction site in Anaheim Hills.

In a test of parental bonding, Tommy was released into the wilderness and biologists will use a transmitter attached to the bird to keep track of him and determine whether his mother and father will accept or reject their offspring.

While the future remains uncertain, Tommy “is pretty aggressive,” Weldy said. “He’s got attitude and that’s about 90% of what it takes to survive. He’s doing as good as you could ask for.”

Wednesday morning, Weldy and biologist Peter H. Bloom brought Tommy to a hilltop almost within eyeshot of where the eaglet was found.

Leather restraints were pulled off and in one motion, Weldy launched the young eagle into the air. Onlookers watched as Tommy briefly circled the area and was soon out of sight, although the transmitter indicated he was still in the vicinity.

There was no immediate sign of a reunion, but shortly afterward, a pair of golden eagles could be seen in the distance.

The fledgling was lucky that he is part of a rare species--about 1,000 golden eagles are believed to live in California.

With only four golden eagle nests in Orange County, it was possible for Bloom, a biologist who has done extensive studies on Orange County raptors, to track where Tommy came from and make an attempt to reunite him with his parents.

Because the nests are deep in wilderness areas that are difficult to reach, the Transportation Corridor Agencies paid for a helicopter to help Bloom find where Tommy’s parents are roosting.

While Bloom was searching for the raptor’s parents, Weldy focused on helping Tommy regain his weight and strength.

Time was critical because the longer the young eagle spent away from the nest, the greater his chances of being shunned by his mother and father.

“Time was important,” said Weldy, director of the Orange County Bird of Prey Center. “We pumped him full of food and brought his weight to acceptable levels.”

Tommy spent about a month at the center, tended only by Weldy, who feared that too much human contact would change the bird’s personality and make it more difficult for him to return to the wild.

In less than a month, the eagle bulked up from just over 6 pounds to more than 9 pounds.

A crowd of volunteers and media gathered early Wednesday at the center to see Tommy off.

Among the well-wishers was Tom Herzog, a wildlife biologist who rescued the distressed bird last month while working for a construction firm building a toll road in the Anaheim Hills area.

“I wanted to see what happened to him,” said Herzog, who is Tommy the eaglet’s namesake. “Large predators like this aren’t common and it’s good for the environment to keep them around.”