A grandfather will never forget the "exhilarating" moment an injured eagle he rescued unfurled its wings and took flight to freedom. Of course, Tim Willcox is glad the moment was captured on camera while it happened on Saturday morning, as it was "all over in a split second". "Not many people get to do that," he mused. Mr Willcox said he had never been involved in any wildlife rescue until a few weeks ago, when a lucky coincidence led him to an injured wedge-tailed eagle lying in scrub near a remote forestry road in Tasmania. "It was just lucky for the bird I was in the right place at the right time," he said. "I was just riding around a (forestry) coupe doing assessments and while I was talking on the phone to a Forico representative I spotted her. "Her wings were drooping and she was having trouble with her legs." Mr Willcox, from Yolla in north-west Tasmania, said he had managed to get in contact with Raptor Care North West's Adam Hardy, who guided him over the phone on how to rescue the bird, and then took it in for a few weeks to undergo treatment and rehabilitation. "Adam kept me updated and planned the release date," he said. "We went over to Redpa and he got me to hold her and release her. Those wings are something like two metres ... yeah it was sort of magical and exhilarating." IN OTHER NEWS: He said he was grateful he had found the eagle, despite a lack of prior knowledge on what to do. "I figured if they can't fly away, there's probably something wrong," he said. "If anyone comes across that sort of thing definitely call someone like Adam. Have a go at it, you can only try." Mr Hardy said the release had been a "win" amid a week of losses. "It makes you feel a whole lot better when you see a result like that," he said. "I'd say it's maybe 30-35 per cent of birds that come in that would end up being released. You see a lot of eagles coming in and you just know that those horrific injuries from all the usual suspects might be the end for them. "It's certainly not an astronomical figure, but by the same token it's still good to get those birds out in the system. It's something you never get sick of, I could do it everyday. "I'm very thankful for Tim spotting her in the first place, and he did a superb job."