Two bald eagle chicks were reunited with their family Tuesday, thanks to a group of volunteers in Manatee County.
The eaglets, along with their nest, fell from a tree at a county preserve late Friday afternoon. Wildlife officials say the branch holding it up snapped and sent everything tumbling down 60 feet.
Miraculously, the 7-week old birds weren’t injured.
Ed Straight, president of Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center Inc., said his team immediately began to build a new nest.
"We got our heavy gloves and headed here as fast as we could get here,” said Straight. “Because we know baby eagles on the ground are susceptible to other types of predators."
The volunteers said they wanted to make the new nest as natural as possible, so the parent eagles would feel comfortable returning.
"We started layering it with Australian pines, some of the old remnants from the nest that had fallen,” said Park Ranger Randy West. "Which was absolutely perfect. It looked like it had been there for years."
West said the mother and father eagle were seen circling close to the nest on Monday and by lunchtime Tuesday, they both returned with food for their little ones.
"It was overwhelming,” West said. “It was a great feeling."
"We take in orphaned wildlife and rehabilitate them and put them back in the wild,” Straight said. “But nobody can do it better than the parents."