Monday, February 25, 2008

Big News

I just received a call from Kelly Scott, my shift lead at the raptor center, and it appears that the eagle that I rescued last August, on my birthday, is ready to be released. For those of you who may not have been reading the bog then, my wife and I found an injured immature bald eagle while out birding at Crex Meadows, in Wisconsin. It was a Sunday and there was no one around to help, so we went to the nearest town and picked up a pet cage and a pair of garden gloves and we rescued the eagle and transported him down to The Raptor Center. It was quite an ordeal. I found out later, when I joined The Raptor Center transport crew, that they have a special crew to rescue eagles because of their size and the difficulty. If you would like to read the whole story and see the pics my wife took of the rescue here is the link.

Since we were already on the list to release a bird, due to some of our large donations in the past, I asked if we could release the eagle that we rescued if it recovered. Well it appears that the release day will be later this week. They want to release the bird down in Redwing, MN either Thursday or Friday late afternoon. Michelle is going to try and get time off so that she can be there and maybe snap some pics. If you live in the Twin Cities area and would like to come watch let me know and I will give you details once I find out more info.

7 comments:

Ben Wilson said...

Let me know when and we'll try to join you for some pics.

Ben Wilson
bnwilson6624@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I would like to come down to see the release it I can. I've never been to one before. Please let me know!

Dawn said...

congratulations! looking forward to your photos!

Ecobirder said...

Thank you everyone. This will be a very exciting day for me. The plan is to pick up the eagle with its handler on Thursday at 3:00pm. Then we will drive down to Coville Park in Red Wing, MN for the release. It should take close to an hour and a half to get from The Raptor Center to Coville so we should be there a little before 4:30 depending on weather and traffic. Anyone who wants to come who is in the area is certainly welcome. Hopefully we will get some good pics to post for those of you who can not make it but since I will be releasing the bird and not shooting that will be up to Michelle and other family members who might make it.

John Mikes said...

Since I may have a limited connection to the bird, count me in. The forecast sez snow.

RuthieJ said...

Hey Ecobirder, that's so cool! Like getting a another birthday present!

P.S. Were you working at the Raptor Center when Condor 305 was a patient? At our Audubon meeting last night, Lori gave a presentation about that rehabilitation event. What a fantastic bird & story.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I wish I could be there (work) but I'll look forward to your post. I hope you'll share the what the expeience is like since you have so much invested in this bird.
Good luck.