Mooseheart’s Two Eaglets Get A New Home Following Weekend Storms

“They are healthy and fine.” 

That was the news from Leslie Riemenschneider, of Mooseheart in Batavia, about a pair of eaglets who are now safe in a new man-made nest, waiting for their parents to take over again. 

The drama began when the eagle’s nest with the latest brood was blown out of the tree during the weekend’s severe storms.

“It dropped 85 feet to the ground,” Riemenschneider said.

The young had to be rescued and placed in a new nest in a race against time so the parents wouldn’t leave the area. 

The eagles have called Mooseheart home the last three years, producing two eaglets each of the last two years, according to published reports. 

The eagle’s nest, or aerie, has been a favorite for area bird watchers and environmental enthusiasts. The nest is near Mill Creek on a busy stretch of Randall Road, which has signs posted indicating that emergency stopping only is permitted.

Dawn Keller, founder and director of Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation in Barrington, said she got a call Monday night from someone at Kane County Audubon. Apparently a photographer on Randall Road noticed that the nest was gone and reported that it may have fallen.

“It was very dark,” Keller said as a group of rescuers drove to the nest site. “We went out with flashlights and started searching for the eaglets that we believed were on the ground.”

She said the parents were clearly distressed, flying around in the dark sky, calling. 

“I could see their silhouettes in the sky,” she said.

Keller said the eaglets were found hunkered down in the tall grass. The team decided to bring them back to the rehabilitation center to determine whether they would be healthy enough to go back to the nest.

Remarkably, both birds were fairly healthy and did not suffer any breaks. Keller said after falling that distance and landing on their stomachs, they had the wind knocked out of them. One of the birds had respiratory problems and was unable to lift its head.

Keller said there were a lot of things to coordinate to make the reintroduction successful. One of the concerns was the parents leaving the area.

“If we lost the parents, we were done,” she said. “We didn’t want to take that chance. It was too important.”

The original nest was destroyed on impact. A replacement nest was designed made of conduit and vinyl-coated hardware cloth. It is 5 feet in diameter and held together with stainless steel cable ties. Brian Ziegler of The Care of Trees in Naperville placed pieces of the original nest inside for a familiar look and smell.

The materials were brought to the site on Tuesday where it was assembled with everyone’s help. Workers from The Care of Trees brought a cherry-picker and hoisted the nest up to the tree and secured it. 

Keller said she brought the stronger eaglet along in a carrier so the parents could see it during the process. 

“The pair has been watching the rescue operation,” she said. 

When the new nest was secured, Keller went up in the cherry-picker to place the eaglets in their new home. 

Keller said this type of nest reconstruction has never been done before in the Chicago area, where eagles have recently begun nesting again. 

She is optimistic about the success of the undertaking, and has received some positive reports from those keeping an eye on the nest.

“All indications so far are that it has gone according to plan,” she said.

You can read more in the Kane County Chronicle, and the Beacon-News.