Wednesday, November 26, 2014

A great release in Grand County

Another double Golden eagle release, this time at the Castle Valley overlook.  We were honored to have Utah Highway Patrol trooper Brandon Custer do one of the releases.  Brandon assisted another Golden eagle last year in the Grand County area along with Trooper Brian Evans.  They made sure an injured eagle was not going to be injured again while awaiting for assistance from one of our volunteers in the area.  We gave Trooper Evans a chance to release that Golden earlier this year so it was time to give a huge Thank you to Trooper Custer and let him release a Golden eagle as well.  We also were honored to have David Erley, the mayor of Castle Valley, Utah, release the second Golden eagle.  Mayor Erley is a friend and advocate of our organization.  We appreciate all his efforts on our behalf.  He recently added a second night of the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Moab as a fundraiser for our organization.  This is HUGE needless to say and will hopefully bring much more needed attention to the work of wildlife rehabilitators everywhere.  Enjoy the pic's!  The last one is the area beneath the cliff they were released on, their new home. You can see many more pic's from those that attended the release on our Facebook page at Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation.  We are located in Price, Utah.
Debbie






Thursday, November 6, 2014

Ready for a grand release!

Hey folks,
We will be releasing two Golden eagles from our rehabilitation program, this coming Sunday, November 9th, in Grand County, Utah.  These two birds came in, having just recently fledged from their nests.  They are not related.  Both came from different areas, near Moab, Utah.  Both are females and were suffering from failure to thrive issues. Both have recovered and are very aggressive and ready to be released.  The photo's were taken while we were banding them.  All raptors in our program are banded prior to release.  We are taking them back to their general area this Sunday.  If you go to our Facebook page, you will find a map and directions to the release.  All are invited to attend.  The toss should take place at 1PM.  If you're late, they will be in the air...................




Feathered brothers and sisters, you came to us broken and as you bled…….we saw you desperate, dehydrated, desiccated, diseased, distressed, emaciated, famished, frayed, frightened, helpless, hungry, ragged, ravenous, shaken, shocked, shot, sickly, stressed, stunned, tattered, thirsty, traumatized, torn, weary and wounded. Defiantly, you stood us off with your last breath as we tried to tend to you. We saw you come in as cute, naked, fuzzy, cuddly youth, as mischievous, defiant adolescents, as fierce, regal rulers of the sky and as cunning, maimed elders whose time on earth was almost done. You endeared yourselves to us, bit us, charmed us, footed us, delighted us, hissed at us, talked to us, mantled at us, and graced us with your presence.

Some of you mended and were able to go on your way, never looking back. Some of you were injured in ways that prevented you from going, so you stayed with us to teach us…….And we came to love you. Others were too far gone, and you went home - where you fly free from pain with the Great One. All of you have touched us, and we are changed because of you.

used with permission by Arlene Powers


Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones