2 of 3 young eagles raised in Norfolk released into wild

CHARLES CITY COUNTY
 
No one knew NX was having trouble.
 
At least none of the 1,000 or so fans who came to see her off on Wednesday - an Eagle Nation pilgrimage that wound its way from 24 states and Canada all the way to the banks of the James River, just to witness the Norfolk Botanical Garden eagles in their first sweet moments of freedom.
 
Cared for by a wildlife center in Waynesboro since their mother was killed by an airplane in April, the young eagles have collected quite a following, thanks to the wonders of Facebook and a wildlife camera that invited millions of viewers into the birds' lives since they arrived as eggs.
 
But while her brother and sister seized their chance to soar - wings straining for lift, hooking out over the silvery river, up into the endless blue - NX (the letters on her leg band) only cleared the treetops before landing in a field.
 
There, beyond the misty eyes of the adoring crowd, wildlife officers tried over and over to convince the 4-month-old eagle to fly.
 
"She seemed to have trouble figuring out the concept of 'up' " said Stephen Living, a biologist with the state game department.
 
NX was the only one of the trio outfitted with a tracking transmitter, but biologists didn't believe its weight - about 3 ounces nestled on the back of an 8-pound bird - was giving her problems.
 
"She just seemed hot and flustered," Living said. "We decided to take her back to the wildlife center and try again in another week or so."
 
It was just one more twist in the tale of "the NBG eagles" - as they've come to be known across the globe - and an indicator of a future that's far from certain.
 
More than 70 percent of wild eagles don't survive their first year. Being raised in captivity - with no parents to learn from - will make it even harder for these eagles to master their new world.
 
But at least they'll have a chance. Had they been left in their nest at the botanical garden, three mouths would have been too much for their father to feed. It's likely at least two of the babies would have died long ago.
 
Instead, that tragedy turned them into stars. For six years now, the garden's eagle nest has been watched by a wildlife camera that feeds into the Internet - a window that's grown more popular with each new clutch of fuzzy chicks.
 
"There's something especially cool about seeing an eagle's nest in the top of a pine tree," said Pete McElven, director of digital media at WVEC, the TV station that sponsored the cam.
 
This year, before the mother's accident, 3 million people were tapping into the eagle cam monthly, making it one of the most-watched wildlife cameras in the nation.
 
Interest wasn't limited to those with a patriotic fondness for their national symbol. People peeked into the nest from Europe, Russia, South America, the Middle East, China and as far away as Antarctica.
 
Which made the heartache all the more widespread when the mother eagle did not return to her babies.
 
"What they're watching is real," said Perry Mathewes, the garden's education program manager. "And that happens in the real world."
 
No one expected the outpouring of grief. The garden was flooded with emails and sympathy cards. Mourners brought flowers, left rosaries and tied yellow ribbons around the eagles' tree.
 
The emotion and the eagle cam followed the 5-week-old babies to their new home at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, where well-wishers continued to tune in. They watched the staff's every move, from vet checks to the feeding of rats and live fish.
 
"We've never experienced anything like this," said Randy Huwa, the center's vice president. "People have formed a special attachment to these birds because of what happened to their mother."
 
On Facebook and in chat rooms, the viewers made friends, formed alliances and gelled into groups that raised money to help cover the eagles' care. Many met for the first time on Wednesday.
 
"We've got about 500 in our group," said Connie Hiebert of Virginia Beach. A logo on her shirt read "Norfolk Eagle Support Team International." A stick-on tag bore her screen name - "Spudsmom" - so her digital pals could recognize her.
 
"You just get to where you feel like you know these eagles," Hiebert said. "We watched them all being born. We even saw their parents mating and him feeding her while she sat on the nest. Watching them fly free today feels like full circle."
 
That sentiment was echoed in surrounding hotel rooms, a fact innkeepers were grateful for even if they didn't understand.
 
"I've got guests from Pennsylvania and Florida," marveled Dot Boulware, owner of Edgewood Plantation bed and breakfast. "All that way to see some daggone birds be released!"
 
State biologists hope that attachment grows into a passion for the rest of the NBG eagles' kind. Bald eagles are making a comeback in Virginia, with breeding pairs climbing from about 30 in the 1970s to around 900 now.
 
Their lives, however, remain precarious. Only 1 in 10 will survive to age 5, when bald eagles acquire their trademark white head and tail, the sign of a mature bird that's old enough to breed.
 
That's why NX was outfitted with a transmitter. Strapped to her back, the $3,000 device can relay her position for two years before its battery dies.
 
If the transmitter keeps working - and if NX survives - wildlife experts will use the information to determine where and when eagles roost and hunt, and how they use airspace.
 
"We've never had that kind of continuous data before," said Living, the biologist. "If we can learn more about their flight behavior - how high and when - maybe we can reduce the strike hazard between eagles and planes."
 
In other words, NX might help her species avoid the fate that took her mother.
 
But first, she has to get off the ground.
 
Joanne Kimberlin, (757) 446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com