For the birds

Infused with a windfall of cash brought by overnight celebrity, the Wildlife Center of Virginia is taking on several new projects this year.

A sudden surge in interest in the center came three years ago when an eaglet with a crooked beak arrived, said Ed Clark, the center’s president.

The bald eagle already had captivated a global group that viewed his original nest through a continuous online video feed. Then the group focused its interest on the Waynesboro facility when the eaglet was transferred there for care.

All eyes trained on the center again in April when three eaglets from the same nest were delivered here after their mother was killed by a US Airways jet.

The day the three eaglets arrived, the center’s website crashed when more than 30,000 people tried to access it. The following day, the site received 40,000 hits, Clark said.

“We got more than 150,000 visits in five days,” Clark said as he sat in his small office, surrounded by eagle memorabilia sent by adoring fans. In his collection are eagle slippers, a scarf made of material depicting eagles and a shovel with a hand-carved eagle head featuring a crooked beak.

“We’ve just got our eagle fashion here,” Clark said.

The slippers came alongside more than 500 cards and $10,000 in donations for the center when the online community learned Clark’s birthday was coming up.

Once the website was up and running again, staff added a link to allow visitors to make donations through PayPal.

Each time a donation was made, a member of the staff received an email.

“The emails were coming in so fast, the screen looked like a stock ticker,” Clark said.

In just a few days, the “eagle peeps,” as the group has dubbed itself, donated more than $30,000. And the cash, cards and gifts continue to arrive.

The donations will fund construction of a $30,000, 85-foot enclosure in which birds may become reaccustomed to flying before being released back into the wild. It also will include an artificial nesting space for young birds.

“Seeing the older eagles fly helps the young ones remember that they’re eagles,” Clark said.

The three eaglets were last housed in a similar structure before their release last month. One of the three, identified as “N.X.” in the center’s two-letter tracking system, was not released successfully due to behavioral issues and requires additional time at the center.

A new high-tech camera provides a live web feed of N.X. and K.S., another bald eagle who shares the space. Purchasing enough bandwidth to provide the feed for one year cost $35,000.

As part of a comprehensive strategic planning process, the center last fall sought more of an online presence, Clark said.

With that goal in mind, the organization plans to install a fiber optic cable system in the coming months with numerous docking stations. The center bought two additional cameras and plans to add more.

“What we want to do is set up this network and move the cameras around,” Clark said.

Clark said he envisions scheduling web programming of procedures and other educational forums for viewers.

In addition, plans call for a new, more luxurious $25,000 enclosure for Buddy, the eagle with the crooked beak.

“He’s definitely used to being around people and interested in what people are doing,” said Amanda Nicholson, the center’s director of outreach. “He’s a little on the aggressive side sometimes. You could say he’s going through his teenage years.”

The bird’s condition has made him unable to survive in the wild, so the center is now his permanent home, Clark said.

“Building these enclosures is going to have a huge impact on us,” Nicholson said. “It’s going to help with the care of a lot of different raptor patients.”

Increased scrutiny brought by the sudden fame hasn’t come without headaches, though, Clark said.

For example, a veterinarian once received hundreds of calls in the middle of the night on the center’s emergency line when the camera caught the image of a bear walking past the eaglets’ enclosure.

“We’re in the middle of the woods,” Clark said. “There are going to be bears. We’ve had to do a lot of education and training about what’s really an issue and what’s just normal eagle stuff.”

Still, Clark said he’s mostly pleased by the opportunity to collects thousands in donations to aid the center’s mission and to educate such a large following about wildlife.

“It’s a huge hassle, but it’s a high-class problem,” Clark said. “Our mission here is to teach the world to care about and how to care for wildlife and the environment, and we’re doing that.”