This was just posted on the WBSE Facebook page:
We have some news regarding SE21. She is no longer with her parents in the reserve, the result of a nasty accident last night, when she was trapped by her wing in a tree fork. This is a not something that can be explained in a couple of sentences; please read all the information supplied before replying.
Friday 23rd ? around 7pm. The cameras were about to come back online, a small group of us (cam operators) were watching. SE21 had been eating and jumped up to the far side of right hand perch branch (RHPB) ? she was there for a while. She flew off, possibly intending to arc around back to the nest ? Dad had just arrived with another prey item. We ?think? a gust of wind may have blown her off course, during the short flight and she ended up trapped, by the wing, lower down the camera tree.
We could hear her calling, but had to wait for adjacent camera to come back up so we could see what was going on (blind spot main camera). Photo in the set supplied. What we were seeing looked very bad, SE21?s wing appeared broken. Both parents were down there with her, responding to her calls ? trying to help? Lady stayed there very close by until the rescue team arrived.
?It takes a village? ? Very appropriate wording for what happened next. Phone lines were running hot trying to find someone able to assist us. Judy managed to secure express intervention approval from National Parks and Wildlife and Sydney Olympic Park Authority. At the same time Geoff and Shirley were calling everyone we could think of that could assist. The rescue team got into the reserve at 10:33pm and left with SE21 at 11:07pm.
Saturday 24th November ? We all breathed a sigh of relief this morning to hear that SE21 had made it through the night ok. She had a lengthy car trip this morning to a vet recommended by the rescue team. Unbelievably her wing is NOT broken. The vet said it was a miracle that she survived (she was hanging partially upside-down for 4 hours). There is muscle damage and SE21 will require rehab. No idea how long.
Please note: We've always said, no climbing at night. Most importantly, we don?t intervene with the nesting process. SE21 has been on the wing for 5 weeks. If SE21 was trapped at nest height, we may be talking about a different outcome. Fortunately she was only about 6 metres (20 feet) off the ground. Just above the first fork in the tree (where we have existing support lines).
Judy will post a few words later on, sharing her experience with the events of last night.
EagleCAM Team
---------------------------------------
Note: I've attached one photo. There are a bunch more on the FB page
https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1986182921418683&id=160593680644292[attachment deleted by admin]
Author
Topic: White Bellied Sea Eagle, Sydney Cam (Read 133013 times)