Trees at the Kennedy Space Center are favorite eagle nesting spots, but last month, the storm that brought hail and heavy wind knocked down a nest with two babies.

"I knew we made a good decision to go out and get them because they let us walk up and pick them up. A wild bird is not going to let you do that," said wildlife ecologist Becky Bolt.

Bolt happened to go out on a survey of eagle nests two days after the storm. She found the nest, but by that time, the baby bald eagles were pretty far gone.

"They're so big, and their talons are like this, and they’re golden and their heads are big. I'd never had that much contact with a wild eagle before," said Bolt.

There are 15 eagle pairs in the area.

Every eaglet is precious, according to ecologists. They took the eaglets to a bird rehab center, and in just a couple of days, one was back in the rebuilt nest.


"They have a tree climber that’s a licensed, bonded professional climber, and he took a box made by the Boy Scouts into a nearby pine and then carried the bird up there," said Bolt.

The second eaglet has blindness in one eye, unrelated to its fall and would not survive in the wild. It'll be kept in captivity and used for education.

The first eaglet is just learning to fly, its parents are feeding it, just as it may have the chance to do some day to its own pair of little ones.
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