Bald eagle dies after rescued from ice in Waukegan Harbor despite efforts to save bird
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) -- A bald eagle that was rescued from a piece of ice in Waukegan Harbor over the weekend has died.
Official at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center, where it was being treated, said despite promising signs of recovery in the first 48 hours. The bird took a very rapid turn for the worse.
Bird-watchers had reached out to the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors after spotting a bald eagle floating on a single piece of ice
"The bird looked really miserable. It was wet, bedraggled, and when I got there, it didn't move at all. From the time I saw it to the time they got it in the net, I didn't even see it blink its eyes," said Jim Tibensky, who is a veteran volunteer bird rescue.
Tibensky, a longtime kayak racer used a technique he learned from white water rafting to push the ice, and the eagle, to shore.
"I got my bow up on the ice a little bit and then just very slowly, hoping not to dislodge the bird, paddled," Tibensky said. "It was on the opposite side of the harbor from where the people were, so I had to paddle it all the way across."
That's where other volunteers stepped in.
"They went and got some nets with very large handles and managed to scoop the bird up," Tibensky said.
They said, unfortunately, this happens often in wildlife cases they treat.
For more information on it, visit www.dupageforest.org.
