Martha: ?-October 3, 2006

One of the largest road construction projects on the east coast (aside from efforts to keep the Big Dig from killing anyone else) is the Wilson Bridge replacement just outside DC. The Wilson Bridge, for anyone not familiar with it, is part of the Capital Beltway and carries interstate 95 traffic across the Potomac River.

The project has been going on for some five or six years now. And it's been quite noisy, with assorted heavy equipment rumbling day and night, pile drivers pounding steel beams into the bedrock, and explosions as the old bridge is demolished.

Through it all, a pair of bald eagles have nested nearby. The eagles were dubbed George and Martha (George Washington's Mount Vernon is located just a few miles downriver) early in the project by the burly workers building the new span. Over the years, the workers have kept an eye on the pair as they hunted, performed aerobatics, and raised young eaglets, all within site of the construction. In fact, all Washingtonians have come to know of the birds through periodic news reports in the local news.

Things took an ugly turn last April when a second female eagle showed up in the area. A vicious midair battle broke out between Martha and the interloper, and Martha was left seriously injured by the confrontation. She was rescued by construction workers and shipped off to a veterinary clinic in Delaware for rehabilitation.

With his mate gone, George was left to tend to their nest alone. Alas, the eggs did not survive.

Martha was later re-released to the wild in Delaware. Amazingly she made her way back to the Wilson Bridge area and reunited with George. And for a brief few months all was well in their world.

Then last week workers noticed an injured eagle flopping around on the ground. It turned out to be Martha, and they again attempted to save her life. She was again shipped off to Delaware, where veterinarians determined that her injuries were much more severe this time. She had suffered a broken bone in her wing, apparently caused by crashing into a tree or powerlines during a recent storm.

This time there would be no recovery, and no reunion with George.

Martha was euthanized yesterday.