(Updated at 12 p.m.) A bald eagle rescued on Metro tracks has died — but not before revealing something interesting.

The eagle died earlier this week after being rescued near the Van Dorn Metro station tracks and rushed to the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Boyce, Virginia. His broken wing was a deep fracture down to the bone, and it was located too close to his elbow to ever heal properly, said service providers at the wildlife hospital.

But Blue Ridge staff said blood tests from the bird were a surprise.

“It’s actually our first eagle in three years not to have lead in its system,” said Dr. Jen Riley, the hospital’s director of veterinary services. “We test every single bald eagle that comes in because they tend to have very high lead levels.”

Riley told ALXnow that eagles are primarily scavengers and often absorb lead by eating dead animals shot with lead bullets. “There are huge amounts of lead in Virginia because we have such a huge hunting population,” she noted.

In the past, some eagles rescued in the area have had faced long recoveries from lead poisoning, among other injuries. Riley said finding an eagle with no lead in his body probably meant he was frequently fishing in the Potomac River.

“There’s definitely an awesome population of eagles near the Potomac, but that implies they have pretty good food there,” she said of the lead test.

D.C. has sunk billions into cleaning up its long-polluted waterways, and there are signs it may be paying off: scientists are spotting more dolphins downstream, and some hope it will be clean enough for humans to swim in soon. An eagle being able to regularly fish from the water may be another good sign — but Riley cautioned that a fish shortage might then have driven the bird to seek other prey.

“They probably just have a good amount of dead mice or rats along Metro tracks,” she said of her guess why two eagles this year have been found near the tracks. “Raptors in general are on our roads for that reason.” 

Both raptors were transported to the National Eagle Repository, which collects deceased eagles for Native American ceremonies. The program is part of the Bald Eagle Protection Act, dating back to the 1940s, that restricts who can and cannot care for eagles and keep parts, like feathers. Although the eagle populations have rebounded since the country stopped using the notoriously deadly pesticide DDT, the federal protections remain in place today.

Riley said anyone who finds an eagle should contact their local animal control, and if they’re not sure who that is, they can contact state wildlife hospitals like Blue Ridge, which will help them find the right person to help.

After a rocky start, new plans are coming forward to redevelop an industrial site near the Van Dorn Metro

Two years ago, plans to redevelop an industrial property belonging to Vulcan Materials — a company that creates gravel, asphalt, concrete and other construction materials — near the Van Dorn Metro went cold. But Potomac Land Group II, LLC and developer Lennar are taking another crack at the property to develop townhomes, condo units and a commercial building.

“I’ve stood here with six different developers who have tried to make this work,” said Ken Wire, an attorney for the developers, at a Sept. 11 meeting of the Eisenhower West/Landmark Van Dorn Implementation Group. “Vulcan has done the dance with three or four purchasers over the years.”

The new plans call for townhomes on two blocks on the north side of the property along Courtney Avenue, with residential condominiums backing up against a railroad on the south side of the property. A hotel would sit at the corner of Courtney Avenue and S. Van Dorn Street.

Wire said the residences at the site would be considered “middle-market housing,” affordable to a broader array of potential residents than pricier projects elsewhere in the city.

“We don’t have a lot of middle-market housing,” Wire said. “What we’re thinking about here is delivering a variety of product types so that we can serve many different residents.”

The property at 701 S. Van Dorn Street is paradoxically a prime location for development and a challenge. The property is very close to the Van Dorn Metro station and along the Van Dorn Street corridor eyed for redevelopment over the next few years. But Wire said the property itself has some steep slopes and backs up close to the train tracks.

“It’s close to the Metro, but it’s a million miles away,” Wire noted near end of the meeting. “How do we make Backlick Run more than a trash heap?”

As part of the development proposal, the applicants are also offering 6.9 acres of the property as open space.

“It’s not [acres] of ball fields, though,” Wire cautioned. “It’s challenging open space on a grade.”

The site is currently used by Vulcan as a storage space for construction materials, mulch and trucks. Without a sufficient amount of density that will make a profit at that location, Wire said it will continue to operate as storage space.

“Without a certain amount of development rights, it’s highest and best use is what it is today,” Wire said. “If you put two townhomes there, guess what, it stays industrial. You need just enough development to make the new development worthwhile. Two townhouses here is not going to make it worth a sale.”

Wire said the fastest the development could come back for city approval would be next spring or summer.

“It’s a 2020 end of first quarter, second quarter-ish [item],” Wire said. “It will be after the new year that we come back with designs.”