Nova Scotia wildlife centre waiting on good weather to release wandering golden eagle

Golden eagles are not usually found in the Maritimes, and Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth, N.S., is waiting on good weather to return this special bird to the skies.

Maybe it was sick. Maybe it was just exhausted.

Whatever the reason, a golden eagle flapped down in the middle of a road in central Prince Edward Island one late afternoon in November.

Golden eagles are not usually found in the Maritimes, and Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth, N.S., is waiting on good weather to return this special bird to the skies.

It was found on Greys Road in Belle River, P.E.I., grounded and unwilling to fly, but now seems healthy and strong.

The bird has had a remarkable journey so far.

Candy Gallant of P.E.I. Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc. got a call from the passerby who found the raptor and, while waiting for someone to retrieve it, used her coat to shoo the bird to the side of the road so it wouldn’t get hit.

The woman sent her husband home to get a big bucket or a bin to try and catch the bird because there seemed something wrong with it, said Gallant, adding she also got videos of the bird from the rescuer.

“So her husband left and came back with a big blanket, but he couldn’t find a bin, and they guarded this eagle that was sometimes running down the road, flapping,” she said.