Solid gold

And he certainly is. This is an adult male golden eagle found up on the mountain off of Sunset Rim Road. He was spotted by three people while hiking and biking. Luckily Ward met me at the base of the road and led me to where this handsome fellow was laying. I don't know what caused his injury but his left wing is badly broken altho it is mid-shaft humerus, the easiest to fix. The bad news is that the wing had been twisted in a circle twice so I don't know how much the blood supply has been hurt.

More bad news, the pairs are now setting up to lay eggs and he probably has a mate in the area. There are a few nests nearby, anyone of which could be his home base. If his surgery does go well, it will be a couple months, at least, before he'd be ready to go back to the wild. That is way past breeding time so we've lost this season.

UPDATE: He's gone. I got up during the night to check on him and he was dead. Altho he didn't spend much time on the ground after he was injured, it was bad and just too much for his body to take in. Thanks so much to Peter, Buzzy and Ward for spotting him and calling for help.