The female bald eagle recuperating at Red Creek Wildlife Center is preparing to soar the skies once again.

“She will be released this weekend,” Peggy Hentz, founder and director of Red Creek said Friday.

Hentz said the eagle will be released near where it was found in Montour County.

Sydney Caruso, a rehabilitation assistant at the center, said Mark Catalano, with Wildlife in Need, will transport the eagle to a game warden who will then release it.

It was taken to the center Jan. 19 after found in a pasture there. It had puncture wounds and damages to both wings. Tests determined it had a moderate amount of lead poisoning. The eagle was likely in a territorial dispute, staff said.

“If we didn’t test her for lead, we would not have known she had lead poisoning,” Allison Rusinko, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, and one of three people involved with the eagle’s care, said Thursday.

“She’s 100 percent back to health that she will be perfectly fine out in the wild,” Rusinko said.

The approximate 13- to 14-pound eagle was in a smaller inside enclosure before transferred to the 100-foot long flight pen Feb. 19 used for eagles and osprey.

Donations paid for the wooden structure completed May 2019.

Caring for the eagle was a lengthy process.

Treating it for lead poisoning involved antibiotics, painkillers and calcium EDTA to eliminate the lead twice a day. The public donated $1,785 for its care.

To keep the puncture wounds free of bacteria and debris, shelter workers cleaned the areas twice daily and gave antibiotics.

In the past year, center took in seven bald eagles - all had lead poisoning, along with other conditions. Two were released, two died and three remain at the center.

Donations to help the animals are appreciated. Call 570-739-4393, make an online donation at www.redcreekwildlifecenter.com or send a donation to 300 Moonhill Drive, Schuylkill Haven PA 17972.