Tulsa's eagle fledglings doing just fine

A gamble to rebuild an eagleâ€™s nest appears to have paid off. There's a new development that gives the eagles a good chance at survival. <br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says James Raus

Tuesday, May 4th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A gamble to rebuild an eagleâ€™s nest appears to have paid off. There's a new development that gives the eagles a good chance at survival.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says James Raus spent a few minutes Tuesday morning watching over an eagles nest. He's just one of the dozens of people keeping up with 2 eagle fledglings who live in a cottonwood tree along the Arkansas River. "Watching them grow up and they went from the size of a crow and now they look about 3 feet tall."

The eagles almost didn't get the chance to grow up. Their nest blew down in a storm - but was rebuilt last week by the Sutton Avian Center. The two eagles now live on a man made perch built of 2 x 4's and saplings, lashed together with rope. For days they waited - and people watched - to see if the parents would return to help their young. And now they have. Two adult bald eagles now roost in the tree - flying away and returning with small turtles for the young. With the parents back in the picture, the baby eagles have a reliable food source.

Soon they'll be flying and getting their own food. The hope is they'll one day return to this area and reproduce. "I didn't think they would take to the nest again, but it looks like everything is going good."

James Raus plans to keep watching - hoping to see them learn to fly and live on their own. He's glad someone stepped in to save them - so everyone can enjoy the view.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service helped plan the new nest and wasn't sure if anything like it had been tried before. Now that it's been successful, it's sure to be repeated.