A bald eagle was fortunate enough Sunday morning to take flight for the first time from the nest at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Plant in West Mifflin.

It happened at 7:24 a.m., to be exact.

The No. 7 has followed the eaglet, fittingly dubbed Lucky, through its young life, according to Don German, plant manager at the Irvin works.

Lucky, also known as U.S.S. 7, was born April 7 and took to the skies 77 days later. A contest to choose Lucky’s name raised $7,000 for the Tamarack Wildlife Center in Saegertown, to boot. The center took in a fledgling named Rosie a few years ago, which also hatched at the Irvin nest, after an injury.

U.S. Steel, along with a dedicated following of webcam viewers, have closely tracked Lucky’s development. So have Lucky’s parents, Irvin and Claire.

Eaglets start off dependant on their parents, according to Rachel Handel, spokesperson for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, but soon grow brave enough to try branching. They spend a week or two hopping along branches before spreading their wings.

“Sometimes, they take a wrong step and off they go,” Handel said. “Other times, it seems more planned to take that step and make that flight. Some of them land pretty softly. Some of them don’t. But it’s all part of the learning process.”

Lucky likely will stay in the area until the fall, fishing in the nearby Monongahela River, before seeking territory of its own, according to German. From there, the eaglet will leave the nest for good and could fly as far as 2,000 miles away.

U.S. Steel sponsors the cameras that track the Irvin nest, set up by PixCams with special permission from the Pennsylvania Game Commission. German views the nest as a testament to improvements in local air and water quality.

“To have an iconic company and have this iconic bird living on the property, it’s an honor,” German said. “It shows that both industry and biodiverse habitats can coexist.”

Around two million people from 22 counties have viewed the cameras since they went up three years ago, he said. This year, PixCams added three more feeds to track the eagles not just in their nest, but in the nearby habitat.

The Murrysville-based company has another camera trained on an eagle’s nest in Pittsburgh’s Hay neighborhood. Views of these two Western Pennsylvania nests continue to be rather popular, according to PixCams Owner Bill Powers.

“We livestream 40 different cameras from bird feeder cams to the elk, and nothing gets as much traction as the bald eagles,” Powers said. “People love bald eagles.”

To view Pittsburgh-area bald eagle webcams, visit PixCams.com.

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