EMPIRE -- The female bald eagle launched itself into the air, brown feathers rustling with each flap of its 7-foot wingspan.
Rebecca Lessard swiveled her eyes as she watched it swoop between perches, her mouth stretching into a grin. She laughed a little when it crashed into another eagle on landing.
The bird is strong and healthy, much to Lessard's delight. A little more than a month ago, the weeks-old eagle was barely alive, battling what Lessard believes was the West Nile virus.
Now 20 weeks old, it has nearly doubled its weight, has a healthy appetite and has become increasingly independent since arriving at Lessard's nonprofit Wings of Wonder rehabilitation clinic in late July.
She will release the eagle back into the wild Wednesday evening in Charlevoix, a few miles from where it was discovered.
Lessard treats an average of 65 sick or injured birds a year with the goal of returning them to their natural habitats. Her Empire-based operation, started in 1990, includes both a clinic and an outdoor recovery center.
So far this year, she has treated 32 birds.
A baby vulture will arrive in the next few days, but Lessard said she recently decided to only admit bald eagles in the future since demand is getting too high.
The raptor was in bad shape when it was found at Charlevoix's Belvedere Golf Club in July, she said. It was taken to an area animal hospital, where staff called Lessard.
It was too weak then to be transported to Empire, she said. Hospital staff gave it oxygen and antibiotics.
"They wanted to euthanize her," Lessard said. "I asked them to just wait a few more hours."
Sure enough, the eagle soon was well enough to be moved to Lessard's home-based clinic. It still needed urgent care, however, as it rapidly lost weight and could barely breathe.
The bird couldn't keep food down, so Lessard adjusted its diet from two large meals to five small snacks each day.
Eventually, she said, it began to make small gains. By mid-August, it moved into its own enclosed space outdoors before joining the larger eagle pen.
The bird never was formally tested for West Nile, Lessard said, but its symptoms closely mirrored those of a confirmed case a year ago.
"I've worked with raptors for 21 years, and I've never had a bird come this close to death so many times," Lessard said. "This bird has a strong will."
That's part of the reason she started doing public release events, so others could share in the stories of rescue and recovery.
Lessard always talks about the birds' condition and rehabilitation before she lets them go.
"I end up getting 300 hugs," she said. "To see her blossom, to see her come into her own and then release them, it moves me to tears."
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