THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501210176
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Love was blind for two bald eagles courting over the Oceanfront Friday afternoon.
The two birds plummeted from the sky with their talons locked, apparently in a mating ritual. They landed on Atlantic Avenue, barely missing the hood of Heather Malbon's car.
``It looked like a big giant ball of feathers, zig-zagging around, and then it went straight down,'' Malbon said. ``It fell right in front of my car, right in the middle of Atlantic Avenue!''
When she got out of her car at the 77th Street light, she saw that the ``giant ball of feathers'' was actually the two eagles, fighting viciously to free their talons.
``I'd never actually seen a bald eagle before,'' Malbon said, ``but I was amazed at how big they were. They were very beautiful.''
Malbon, a kitchen designer, stood in the middle of the street to keep traffic away from the birds and used her car phone to call for help. Meanwhile Bennie Wolfe, a Norfolk insurance adjuster, and John Leavey, a Kansas City, Kan., sightseer stopped to assist.
``They were just flopping around in the street,'' Wolfe said.
Wolfe got a blanket from his car and the two men covered the eagles and carried them to the feeder road median strip. After about 10 minutes, the big birds calmed down.
Wolfe and Leavey then braved the wrath of the frightened eagles and unlocked their talons. ``Their claws were a little bit bloody, but they didn't appear to be hurt,'' Leavey said.
One bird immediately flew off toward the south end of the beach.The other flew to a vacant lot off the feeder road. It sat, apparently stunned, for several minutes. Then it, too, flew off appearing none the worse for the fall.
The two eagles were probably participating in a courtship ritual, said Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge biologist John Gallegos. In the ritual, eagles spar with another, sometimes locking their talons and plummeting. Generally, the birds then unlock their talons and soar back up. Something went wrong this time.
``Maybe a gust of wind got them,'' Gallegos speculated.
The two eagles could be the same pair that nested last year at the refuge, the first nesting bald eagles in Virginia Beach in 30 years. The refuge eagles recently have been observed repairing their nest, Gallegos said, and 77th Street is within range of the refuge.
Animal Control Officer W.C. Pierce arrived on the scene in time to help unlock the eagles' talons. He said he really didn't believe the radio dispatcher's report that two eagles were on Atlantic Avenue.
``I thought it was going to be a couple of sea gulls, to be honest.'' Pierce said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Bennie L. Wolfe
Falling for each other
Two enamored eagles plummeted from the sky onto Atlantic Avenue near
77th Street Friday. Motorists on the scene rushed to aid the
eagles, whose talons were entangled.
by CNB