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Travel + Leisure
9 hours ago
- Travel + Leisure
This Scenic Train Has Dramatic River Canyon Sights—and an Open-air Car for Cinematic Views
For more than three decades, the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad has operated as a piece of living history, preserving railway scenes of the past and offering passengers the chance to step back in time—trading interstates and inboxes for the unhurried rhythm of steel wheels on track. The train departs from the town of Romney, West Virginia, population just over 1,800, and rolls into what locals call the 'Trough," a remote, roadless stretch of river canyon best accessed by rail. From the open-air car of the train, the view is cinematic: the Potomac River moves slow and constant while a steady scroll of century-old farms and rusting barns come in and out of view. If you're lucky, you might even spot a bald eagle tracing lazy circles above the water. There are many ways to experience this heritage railway, the most popular being the aforementioned Trough Trip. It's a three-hour journey through the Trough to the Sycamore Bridge and back. On one Friday a month between May and September there is also a Sunset Trough Trip, which operates on the same route but departs at 5 p.m. to catch the summer sunset. For a longer ride, hop on the All Day Petersburg, which runs from Romney to Petersburg, West Virginia, over the course of nine hours. This extended trip is only available from May to October on the last Saturday of the month. Upon arrival in Petersburg, riders have time to enjoy the shops, restaurants, and depot before hopping back on the train for the return journey to Romney. The train also runs in the opposite direction, northbound to Green Spring on a short, 1.5-hour journey that showcases the state's beautiful farmland and rock cuts. There are several classes of service on the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, starting with Standard Coach. From there, the rate increases based on what tier of dining you want to add to your trip: standard, premium, or superior. Standard Coach tickets include access to concessions, while the Standard Dining includes a boxed lunch. The Premium Dining fare includes a seat in the railway's vintage 1947 passenger cars (which are climate controlled) and a three-course meal. Meanwhile, the highest tier, Superior Dining, includes a four-course meal served on Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad china in a beautifully restored lounge that is climate controlled. The Trough Canyon and Sunset Trough Trip start at $74, while the All Day Petersburg trip starts at $114 and the Green Spring Special at $49. Reservations can be made at
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
US vet uses cod skin to save bald eagle in time for Fourth of July
A veterinarian saved the life of a badly injured American bald eagle using a pioneering fish skin graft procedure more commonly used for human wound, releasing the bird back into the wild in a symbolic act ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. The adult raptor named Kere was found by a park visitor in Hayward, Wisconsin, in August, with one of its legs ripped open from knee to ankle from an unknown injury, and appearing severely underweight. With a deep infection already set in, and no healthy skin to work with, Dr Kimberly Ammann, founder and chief vet of the Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital in Spooner, said she initially figured euthanasia was the only option. But the bird's claws were still functioning, and Ammann remembered learning about the potential of skin graft procedures from her veterinary training. 'I thought if I could get it to heal she could survive, because her toes worked, her foot worked,' she said. A Google search led her to Kerecis, an Iceland-based company that has advanced the use of Atlantic cod skin for grafts on humans with advanced or challenging wounds, but which had never previously been asked to help with a bird of prey. Kerecis sent over sterilised, dehydrated and descaled fish skin patches, and with the assistance of technical advice from the company, Ammann set to work repairing the eagle's leg. She said the patch took well, and with follow-up procedures to add fragmented fish skin to fill gaps and promote tissue regeneration, Kere – who was named by Amman and her staff to honor the company's support – improved quickly through a 10-month rehabilitation period. 'The only reason this worked is because she was such a good patient,' said Ammann, who treated 75 injured or sick bald eagles at her hospital last year. 'She insisted on watching everything I did. I could not put a hood or a towel over her. Her wings were restrained but she never resisted and was so tolerant of all the time it took. She was stuck in an indoor room to keep it clean, no water, no bath and we had to keep a bandage on the whole time. She was amazing.' Ammann said it was an emotional day when Kere was finally released on 22 June, but that she cried more during the final examination when she determined the eagle's wound was sufficiently healed. 'I laid her down to get a last picture, and I realized I was never going to touch this bird again, I would never have my hands on her again, and that got me,' she said. 'Even though I'm their doctor, and you keep all that objectivity and everything, I do get emotionally attached to these birds, every single one of them, and this one was very special.' Kere's release, watched by about a hundred people, including hospital staff, volunteers and workers from the Wisconsin department of natural resources, came amid preparations for the independence day holiday, which to Ammann was fitting given the bald eagle's significance as a symbol of American liberty. 'I'm so excited for her,' she said. 'She can choose where she wants to go, what lake she wants to sit on, where she's going to fish. She has all the freedom to make those choices now, and what better time to be able to do that than the Fourth of July?'
CBS News
7 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Bald eagles at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant unharmed after eating fish with hook attached to it
There was quite a scare in the bald eagle nest at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant in West Mifflin when fishing tackle ended up in a meal for the majestic birds. The moment was captured on one of PixCam's live webcam, and a local wildlife rehabilitator is highlighting how harmful and even deadly fishing gear can be for birds. Bald eagle nest scare On Tuesday morning, Irvin the eagle brought a fish with a fishing line and a hook attached to it to the nest. Irvin and fledgling eagle Ocho began to eat the fish. "My heart was in my throat when I saw that there was fishing line and all of that in the meal that he was delivering, and holy cow, bless his heart for getting that away from Ocho. And at one point, Ocho even had some line he was starting to swallow," said Carol Holmgren, executive director and wildlife rehabilitator at the Tamarack Wildlife Center. Holmgren said it's a big sigh of relief that a disaster was averted. However, this isn't the first time this has happened to U.S. Steel eagles in West Mifflin. Last year, Lucky the eaglet got tangled in a fishing line, and Claire freed the little one from the line. And in 2023, eaglet Hop pulled out a huge hook from a fish. Both incidents were captured on camera. Holmgren has seen the dangers up close. She said fishing tackle can cause entanglement or swallowing injuries. "A year ago, we treated a loon, a common loon, that on X-ray had ingested a fishing hook and that was caught in her digestive tract, and the line was still coming out her throat. Fortunately, we could have surgery, and she successfully came through surgery and was released," she said. Some birds aren't so lucky. "We did have a heartbreaker about 10 years ago that actually was with an eaglet, a little bird that had not even hatched out of the nest," Holmgren said. "X-rays showed that he had that hook caught in his digestive tract. We did arrange for surgery, but unfortunately, the damage was just too great." Holmgren wants this recent scare for Irvin and Ocho to be a learning experience for anglers. "If you personally have line that's gotten entangled on shore, or fishing hooks and lures and things, clean it up. And if you've got some time to clean up something that somebody else has left, boy, that makes a difference," she said. She also urges fishing enthusiasts to be mindful of the tackle they use. "Avoid things that are containing lead, either lead sinkers or fishing tackle, can really help, because we do also see lead poisoning in some of our fish-eating birds," said Holmgren.
South China Morning Post
16-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Yellowstone, America's first national park, heeds the call of the wild
It's just before sunrise in Yellowstone National Park and the ground is encrusted with frost – a reminder that autumn will soon succumb to the frigid embrace of a Wyoming winter . Here in the American West, it can snow as early as September. Advertisement The distinctive, far-off yipping of a coyote reverberates off the hillsides, the undulating outlines of which are still shrouded in semi-darkness. Sunrise over Yellowstone National Park. Photo: Daniel Allen Despite the early hour, a small but growing group of people gathers on a bank overlooking the silvery ribbon of Buffalo Creek. All eyes, binoculars and telephoto lenses are directed towards a bend in the river, where a black lump sits motionless in the middle of the water, barely visible in the misty twilight. 'Dead buffalo bull,' whispers Hunter Graham, a wildlife guide who escorts tourists through the park all year round. 'Look what's on its back.' Wolf-watching is a hugely popular activity in Yellowstone National Park and draws plenty of photographers. Photo: Daniel Allen Standing on the half-eaten carcass is a jet-black female wolf, ears erect, almond eyes shining like liquid green fire. She stares at the hushed tourists for a full minute, then turns to chase off an impudent magpie and resumes tugging at a piece of hide. A bald eagle lands in a nearby tree, waiting for an opportunity to scavenge. Advertisement As a representative of the well-known Junction Butte pack, the young female captivates onlookers for a full 15 minutes, before trotting off downriver as dawn finally breaks. Yellowstone's reputation as one of the best places to see apex predators in the wild has been upheld for another day.
CBS News
05-06-2025
- CBS News
Cruise along Mississippi River is an opportunity to see bald eagles up close
A National Eagle Center riverboat cruise get you up close and personal with the country's national bird. "This is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to tour boats on the river," said Jon Borreson. As a boat captain, Borreson has taken his guests every which way on every waterway imaginable. But when he gets behind the wheel of the Cal Fremling in Winona, he knows what's waiting up ahead. "We see an average of 12 to 20 eagles on every trip," said Borreson. "We've got a couple eagles nests that we can pull up underneath and actually see small eagles in it." The scenic eagle cruises along the Mississippi are popular, but wouldn't have been possible just 15 years ago. "When I was a child here growing up in Winona, never saw a bald eagle on Lake Winona, never saw them flying over town," said Ed Hahn with the National Eagle Center. Conservation, habitat protection and the banning of the insecticide DDT are the main reasons for the comeback in Minnesota and beyond. In 1963 there were only about 400 nesting pairs of eagles in the U.S. Now, there are nearly 75,000. It's hard to avoid them. The cruises began in May and will run through October. Winona State University provides the boat, which leaves from a downtown dock. But the college has a partner for these eagle excursions. Later, in July, the two-hour eagle cruises will leave from the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. It's the epicenter for these birds and home to raptors who are permanently disabled. And much like Winona, Wabasha itself offers a natural habitat for eagles, a place where their numbers have really taken off. "You see eagles fighting, catching fish, eating fish on the bank," said Borreson. "At certain times of the year there are literally hundreds of eagles." It's a far cry from the past, with a chance to soar to new heights in the future. "There's a wonderful and inspiring story behind the bald eagle's recovery from the brink of extinction and we just hope to basically build on that legacy of success and have people really take care of the environment. That is our number one goal," said Hahn. For more information on how you can book a cruise, we've put a link on our website, click here.
