I don't think she would have been because ,a) of the drought, and b) every year she always brings her new family with her for a visit once they have learned to fly.

@Triphid That is truly doubly rewarding. How is she with other people? (Over friendliness could be dangerous.)

@Petter Well, my 5 year old nephew, Henry, met her for the first about 3 weeks when he visited with his parents. We adults were inside chatting and having a coffee and he asked, as usual, if he go and collect any eggs from chickens, a few seconds later he came running inside saying, " There's a bloody BIG bird in your yard Uncle Tony, a really bloody BIG Bird."
His mum, looked shocked and asked him what he said so replied, " It is a BIG bird, you know a really BIG one."
We all went out and there she was, so I sent Henry in to get a container of 'roo meat from the fridge to feed her by hand as usual and Henry was astounded then asked if he could try.
'Lady E' spent the next hour or more getting hand-fed by Henry then having her head, neck and chest stroked by him until she just walked away, flapped her very long, wide wings and flew off.
These days the chickens have taken the last place on Henry's visit list because his first question on arrival is, " Is she in the yard today Uncle Tony, can I go out and see if she's there please."
When visited early yesterday afternoon I was out splitting firewood and copped that exact same question, about 30 minutes or so later I heard the usual whistle call and down she came only this time she went straight to Henry to get her pats and then a free feed BEFORE she even bothered with me.

Typical female, LOL, go for the younger bloke first....LOL.

@Triphid Wonderful. Move over, St Francis of Assisi.

@Petter Er, don't mention a Xstian saint (?) in the same sentence with an Atheist like me or young Henry please. We are both just people who care about animals, especially the Australian Native ones.

@Triphid It was a reference to you taking over as the patron saviour of birds and beasts, nothing to do with religion.

@Petter Okay, my apologies there, BUT I'm no patron savior of anything, I just do what I can for Australian Native Animals, mostly the birds and the reptiles, except those venous snakes that is.

@Triphid ......and a good job you are making of it. As a third generation Kenyan, I firmly believe we all should be more protective and caring of wildlife.

@Petter As a resident of this, our ONLY home, I am firmly of the idea that WE should ALL be taking care of this planet and its fragile environment and ecosystems.

I make it my personal rule, which I've been doing for over 30 years now, of replacing at least 3 seedling trees for EVERY dead tree/fallen native tree that I harvest for firewood on a friend's 93,000 acre Sheep and Cattle Grazing Property.
I started doing it back in 1987 with my daughter when she was just a toddler, stopped for a few years after I lost her to cancer and resumed again in 2006, the rough tally of seedlings stands at approx. between 7,000 and 13,000 so far and there will be at least another 20+ seedlings planted this season as well.
My friend loves the new look of his paddocks with their wind-breaks of trees and has found that his wool production has risen by around 10% over the last 30 odd years because of it.

Eye. You can only see one the other is a nostril.

Her eye/eyes might give that vicious look but she's really a sofftie at heart, trust me I spent hours getting her back from the brink of death, hand-feeding her, keeping her warm, giving her egg (raw) on a teaspoon mixed with minced meat every 2 hours at first then 4 hourly until finally she could feed herself.
When I first found her she was laying exhausted and just managing to breathe in my front garden, the local Vet, living a few houses away came and checked her over, she weighed just 2.6kgs and his diagnosis was that she was a late hatching that had taken her first flight and gotten lost and exhausted, her, I thought she was a male at first btw, chances, he said, were very slim if none at all.
3 weeks later she weighed in at a fabulous 7.58kgs, could stand and walk around by herself, feed herself ( plus give me the 'whistle' hint that she was hungry LOL,) and was starting to use her wings by flapping them at every chance she got.
12 and half weeks later she weighed in at a lovely 13.67kgs, was standing proud, as an eagle should, and taking test flapping runs on my big back lawn ( that when the Vet told me that by her size he could see that she was a female and was almost ready for release.
2 weeks later we took Lady E about 50kms out to a creek where her kind often congregate and nest, I said a sad Goodbye to her and let her return to her freedom thinking I'd most likely never she her again, haha.
5 days later while working in the veg gardens I looked up and saw a shape circling my area, heard a very familiar whistle and down she came, landing ever so gently on my bare forearm and making a very calm clucking sound while lowering head for a pat.
She's been the same thing fairly regularly ever since until, like I posted earlier, she'd been absent for months and I'd been fearing the worst.
I'm so glad and overjoyed to know now that she's alive and well and still remembers the bond we seem to have developed.