An Ottawa Valley woman and her young son are being credited with helping save an injured bald eagle after answering a call for help on social media. For nearly 20 years, Jenna McEwan has been involved in animal rescue. She’s helped more than her share of injured animals and wildlife but says nothing prepared her for coming face-to-face with a bald eagle. “It was surreal. That’s one of the only words I can really use to describe the situation,” said McEwan. The rescue started with a Facebook post from Safe Wings Ottawa, a volunteer-run group that helps injured birds and collects thousands more that die in window collisions each year. The post was a plea for someone to transport a bald eagle that had been found hurt and grounded on a rural property in Calabogie. McEwan saw the message and reached out. Within minutes, she and her eight-year-old son, Jack, were on their way with leather gloves and gear in tow. “At first she was very scared, and she was trying to run, but I just talked to her gently and you could see her kind of relax at one moment,” said McEwan. “As soon as a blanket went over her, she just kind of folded and let us help her.” The eagle, which Jack affectionately named Charlie, was secured in the back of McEwan’s car and brought to Ottawa where Safe Wings volunteers met and assessed her. An initial exam suggested Charlie had injuries to both her wing and hip and is believed to be about five years old. “She’s got a very swollen shoulder and we’re not sure if there’s a break there and she’s also got some issues with her left hip, so on the one side, which may also be a fracture,” said volunteer with Safe Wings, Janette Niwa. “She was also pretty thin. She was probably about eight and a half pounds, and she should be around ten. She also got food and then she got medication to reduce her pain and to reduce the inflammation.” Niwa says they suspect Charlie may have been hurt in a territorial dispute with another eagle and hit a tree. Charlie is only the third bald eagle Safe Wings Ottawa has ever rescued. “They’re not as many of them as sparrows or robins or cardinals that we all see but we do have some out in the west near the Mud Lake area and we definitely have a bunch that are out east at Petrie Island,” said Niwa. On Wednesday, Charlie was transferred to The Owl Foundation, a specialized rehabilitation centre, where she’ll undergo X-rays and a full assessment to determine the extent of her injuries. “We don’t know what her prognosis is, whether she’ll be able to fly and hunt on her own again,” Niwa said. “So, we have to wait and see what they’re going to say.” Although Charlie was first thought to be a female, Charlie is a male bald eagle. Safe Wings Ottawa says Charlie is the 277th bird they’ve rescued this year, and since 2023, the group has admitted more than 1,100 birds. McEwan says it won’t be her last rescue, but it is without question, one of her most memorable. “You see them from a distance, you see them in flight, and they look incredible,” she said. “But seeing them up close, their eyes and just how intelligent they are, it’s something that I’ll never forget.” Safe Wings Ottawa says it’s always looking for volunteers and donations to help with the research, prevention and rescue work it does on an annual basis.
