It was late Tuesday afternoon on Feb. 4 when Mike Eisenhower, assistant foreman for Norfolk Southern Railway, received a call alerting him to an immature bald eagle on the ground along the railroad tracks just south of Sunbury.

Eisenhower and his crew were working north of the location as part of a Hazmat spill clean-up operation when the information was relayed to him by the engineer of a northbound train. After making his way to the bird's location, he called the Pennsylvania Game Commission.Northumberland County Wildlife Conservation Officer Jason Kelley was at the scene of a raging barn fire late on that same Tuesday afternoon. Kelley was on law-enforcement patrol near Dornsife when he observed smoke billowing out of an equipment barn located just yards away from an occupied home. He alerted a woman in the house - who was unaware of the fire - and called the fire department. While Kelley was on scene with firefighting personnel, he was contacted by a Game Commission dispatcher concerning the injured eagle.Officer Kelley met Eisenhower at the railroad tracks along the frozen Susquehanna River and the two peered over the steep embankment. The eagle had made its way onto a branch about five feet above the river ice, its right wing drooping and twisted. The men carefully navigated the icy embankment, used a snare pole to pluck the bird from its perch and lifted it to level ground.It was nearly dark when Kelley boxed the bird and started off to the Carbon County Environmental Education Center near Summit Hill.CCEEC Chief Naturalist and Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator Susan Gallagher transported the eagle to veterinarian Dr. Frank Bostick of the St. Francis Animal Hospital in Tamaqua and, after an X-ray and a thorough physical evaluation, weighed the options."This immature female eagle was severely dehydrated and it sustained a mid-shaft fracture to the right humerus," Gallagher said. "The bird likely spent several days on the ground and lost significant weight, but the fracture is located on a section of bone that may respond to treatment. If an upcoming invasive examination reveals no major calcification or necrotic tissue damage, she may be a candidate for a splint and rehabilitation."Gallagher and her staff retain a positive outlook and are treating the eagle with IV fluids and antibiotics."Mr. Eisenhower watched over the eagle until I arrived, making sure this bird got the attention it needed," Kelley said. "Regardless of the outcome, it is encouraging when concerned individuals take the time to help wildlife."The bald eagle was removed from Pennsylvania's threatened list and upgraded to "protected" status during a recent meeting of the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners. Eagles will continue to enjoy protections provided by the federal Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act.The removal of the bald eagle from the state's threatened species list caps a remarkable recovery for bald eagles in Pennsylvania. In 1983, when the Game Commission launched what would become a seven-year restoration program, only three known nests remained in Pennsylvania, all of them along the Ohio border. In 2013, there were 271 bald eagle nests documented in 57 Pennsylvania counties, with an average of 1.2 fledglings per successful nest.