An Eagle in Passing

I was so heartened to hear this Caring for Country story from the Pilbara recently…

Horace Bynder and Julian Nott came across this poor, ragged adult female Wedge-tailed Eagle who was grounded near a roadside earlier this year and knew straight away something was wrong. They saw her ruffled feathers, were concerned about the dingos skulking nearby, and decided to help. Although half the size of a person and capable of inflicting severe wounds, this powerful apex predator showed the gentle, placid side all eagles have and allowed the men to catch her (using a stick for her talons to grip onto) and persuade her to sit in the back seat of their vehicle. Incredible! They then drove for more than two hours to Port Hedland where she was taken to a vet for a health check. She appeared fine with no broken bones or internal injuries, was given fluid and expert care while in captivity, and was cleared for release the next day. But overnight she drifted peacefully into a permanent soaring dream, her spirit kindly declining these amazing men’s gesture to return her home. 

Why did she die? How was it that such a beautiful bird found herself alone and adrift? Why was she not at her age (10++) settled in a breeding home range with food and a strong bond to a mate?

We know so little about many aspects of these amazing birds’ life cycle. There are many possible ways her story might’ve unfolded. Could she have been attacked, by another eagle, another creature? She may have been old, weak, have left or been driven from a stable territory, or perhaps she never occupied one in the first place? She may have for a decade or several wandered this vast continent, living life as a nomad, wild and free, riding the wind and feeding on the ample supply of carrion Australia’s harshness, and it’s human population, produces each year. We will never know; part of that fact is beautiful, part of it sad. But one part of her story we do know, and that is this:

She moved to another world in a gentle and peaceful way, thanks to the efforts of a couple of bloody decent Australian blokes who decided to try and help a majestic creature down on her luck. They dropped their work (with approval from their boss, who was clearly an awesome bloke too), put her well-being at the top of their priority list, then undertook a very difficult task, safely capturing her and willingly embarking on a round-trip rescue several hundred kilometres long. It didn’t end the way they hoped, but it ended peacefully. This story nearly wasn’t told because others at the time decided a ‘happy’ ending, one of survival, was the only justification for publicity. But is a peaceful passing and a tale of two remarkably kind-hearted humans not a happy one?

Australian’s for nearly a century disposed of these gigantic, majestic predators; our colonially-rooted culture despised them. Hundreds of thousands were slaughtered like flies. Knocked off. Wilfully wasted. There are still some naive and arrogant folk who hold these old-skool, archaic views, purely because they don’t understand this land properly, despite calling themselves ‘Aussies’. They don’t accept it for the giant, living, breathing, breath-taking assortment of cells, veins, arteries and organs that it is. A body battling with and fighting back with all it can muster the waves of viruses, colds and cancers Western culture has thrown at it. Many Australians, especially young men, are so ignorant of wildlife - a result of the urban upbringings our young people increasingly experience in a country with a largely peripheral population - that their care-factor is zero. But there are those, like Horace and Julian, whose isn’t. Men like this - REAL men - give us immense hope that a fresh attitude is possible.

Be inspired by this folks. Our land not only benefits from such an attitude. Now, more than ever, it needs it.

Thanks to Julian for telling me and giving me permission to re-tell this story, and to use your wonderful pictures.