Cindy died instantly when she was accidentally electrocuted Wednesday while carrying a long, wet tree limb to her nest, said Jim Weller, founder of the nest monitoring group Eastwood Eagle Watchers.
Weller said Cindy and Jim came to Dayton in 2008 following the remnants of Hurricane Ike and were the first breeding pair in the area since 1938.
While eagles form lifelong pair bonds, Weller said eagles are resilient and that Jim will look for a new mate once he realizes Cindy is gone.
“I was out (Thursday) and Jim was sitting in a tree all by himself. He was obviously looking for his mate,” Weller said. “It’s going to be hard to see Jim go through this trial, looking for his mate that’s not coming home.”
FIRST REPORT (Nov. 30)
A bald eagle that nested near Dayton’s Eastwood MetroPark has died.
The bald eagle, Cindy, was carrying a wet tree limb when it hit or landed on a power line, according to MetroParks officials. The eagle was electrocuted and died instantly.
Cindy, along with a male bald eagle named Jim were nesting near Eastwood MetroPark. Boonshoft set up an EagleCam project for people to track the eagles.
The Raptor Center at Glen Helen picked up the eagle.
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