Rehabbed eagles release into the wild

What was cool about seeing a baby bald eagle up close and personal?

"Everything," said 8-year-old Warrenton resident Will Jenkins.

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Saturday's featured birds were rescued in various areas of Virginia and were rehabbing at the Waynesboro-based Wildlife Center before coming to Mason Neck this weekend.

It was the first time that the center released three bald eagles at one time. Visitor Center employee Earl Baysinger said the park typically would host an eagle release function with just one bird.

And avid raptor fan, Baysinger served as the assistant chief in the Office of Endangered Species and International Activities in the late 1960s when the bald eagle was placed on the endangered species list.

While Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th District, was one of the guests of honor Saturday, it was clear who the crowd came to see. The eagles drew gasps and cheers from children and adults as they were removed from their cages by Wildlife Center president Edward Clark Jr.

Before releasing each bird, a makeshift grass runway between the people was formed to give the eagles room to take off. This was done more for the safety of the visitors, who lined up four- and five-people deep to get a chance to see one of America's symbols of freedom.

That plan didn't work initially, though.

Instead of heading into the park past the onlooking people, the first eagle wheeled the other direction and settled into a tree overlooking the river. The final two did manage to go the correct way.

According to Clark, if the first eagle would have tried to cross the Potomac - about a mile wide at that point - it very well might have drowned. The bird's wings were stiff from being in a cage for several hours. It had also never flown in the wild.

Eagles are once again populous in Virginia, especially near the Potomac River. Clark estimated there are now more than 700 eagles nests in the commonwealth after only a few hundred existed in the entire lower 48 states by the 1950s.

The last eagle released Saturday was rescued by a state eagle biologist after a storm toppled its nest near the Possum Point Power Station in Prince William County.

Another was found on the ground near a Girl Scout camp in Stafford County and was rescued by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent. And the third - the smallest by a few pounds - was seen on the ground near its nest along the Pamonkey River in New Kent County and rescued by two wildlife rehabilitators.

Centreville resident and retired Naval officer Mike Taimi said he often used to see bald eagles when he was stationed as a reserve in Alaska. However, he had never seen one in the manner he did Saturday.

It was a special moment for the 63-year-old Vietnam War veteran.

"The bald eagle is a symbol of our nation, it represents our patriotic responsibility," Taimi said.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.