An injured bald eagle was rescued from a drainage culvert near Eleven Mile State Park over the weekend by nearby residents and a Colorado Parks and Wildlife volunteer.

It took more than three hours in frigid weather — temperatures were near zero — Sunday for the patient, determined group to pull off the rescue and sled the majestic bird through deep snow, according to a CPW news release.

On Sunday afternoon a man walking his dog in Eleven Mile Canyon, below the dam, spotted the injured bald eagle sitting on a low tree branch. The man alerted a neighbor and they tried to catch the bird, but the eagle made its way into a nearby, narrow drainage culvert.

The pair called Teller County for help and CPW volunteer Joe Kraudelt was notified. Kraudelt, who has volunteered since 1990, headed to the scene equipped with a fishing net and dog kennel.

The eagle used the underground culvert — 24-inches in diameter and about 20-feet long — as cover. “A slender member of the rescue team squeezed” into the culvert to spook the injured eagle toward Kraudelt and others who were waiting at the other end with the net, the release stated.

“We worked three hours until finally I was able to get my net over it,” Kraudelt said. “One of the guys grabbed its wings and I grabbed its talons and we put it in our dog crate. It was a real team effort.”

The injured eagle was taken to Catamount Wildlife Center in Woodland Park where it was checked by a veterinarian on Monday. The eagle has a bruised wing and a claw is missing from a talon. It was taken on Wednesday to the Wildlife and Nature Discovery Center’s raptor campus in Pueblo. The bird is expected to make a full recovery.

“This is a great example of the dedicated work of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s volunteers,” said Tim Kroening, a Teller County CPW officer. “They care so deeply for the wildlife and will go out in terrible weather on weekends and holidays to help perform a rescue like this. Our agency, and the wildlife of Colorado, are so fortunate to have committed volunteers like Joe.”