Bald Eagle released on Wilmington Island

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By: Michelle Paynter - bio| email

WILMINGTON ISLAND, GA (WTOC) - Bald eagles are majestic creatures, a symbol of our nation. Saturday morning one was released back into the wild, in a Chatham County man's back yard.

Dozens of people gathered at Dave Hardie's home on Wilmington Island to catch a glimpse of the beautiful bird, but Baldy, as they called him, was kept under wraps until 9am sharp.

Hardie found Baldy in his yard back in February sitting on a tree branch and could barely fly.

"He was hit by a car here on Walthour Road," said Hardie.

He called the Department of Natural Resources and they called Auburn University's Southeastern Raptor Center.

Liz Crandall has bee taking care of Baldy ever since.

"He had a broken ulna, a fractured wing, he also had minor wounds to both feet and fortunately we didn't have to do any surgery," said Crandall.

Baldy is better now and ready to be released.

"He's part of a mating pair, we wanted to release him to his original habitat," said Hardie.

Hardie said a female bald eagle is still in the neighborhood.

Everyone had their cameras ready for the big moment; on the count of three Baldy was again free.

It flew over the marsh resting in a nearby tree. Baldy probably wasn't sure about the attention, but for many of the folks getting to see an American bald eagle in person was a special occasion.

In 1999 the American Bald Eagle was officially removed from the endangered species list thanks to work of raptor centers like the one at Auburn University.