SEATTLE – With a flick of the wrist, Dennis Whitney tossed a young bald eagle into the air, sending it back to freedom.
As if she were showing off for the cluster of cameras aimed at her, the 11-pound bird pumped her wings, then banked to the right, giving watchers a spectacular view of her 6-foot wingspan before disappearing into the fog.
Such releases are not always so majestic, said Whitney, a medical staffer at Sarvey Wildlife Center on the outskirts of Arlington.
Many times when eagles are released, they “just fly a few feet and land” with a decidedly clumsy plop, Whitney said. “This was a nice flight.”
The eagle fell out of a nest near the north end of Discovery Park on or about July 2. Although it was close to being able to fly, it wasn’t quite ready to be on its own.
Folks who live in the area found it hopping around on the ground “like a goose.”
“It couldn’t fly,” said Carly Kruger, who lives next to the nest where the bird’s parents and a sibling – a brother or sister that likely pushed her out of the nest – still live.
“It’s really changed our life, in a way,” Kruger said of discovering the eagle in trouble and then seeing it reintroduced into the wild. “We feel really lucky.”
Whitney said releasing the bird at the location where it hatched will help it survive.
“It will recognize the area,” he said. “Its parents will probably watch out for it.”
The bird is ready to fend for itself anyway.
“Their instincts are very strong,” he said.
The Sarvey Wildlife Care Center is known around the northern Puget Sound region as the place to take injured or lost wildlife.
“So far, we’ve treated 2,700 animals this year,” Whitney said, including several bald eagles.
Possums, pigeons, coyotes, deer and barn owls are all being tended to at the nonprofit center. There are also gray squirrels, raccoons, a golden eagle, river otters and abobcat.
Each animal is nursing some kind of injury or was separated from its parents, Whitney said. Some will never be released and will be used to teach children and others about wildlife.
Not every animal brought to center survives. Wednesday, a raccoon was having seizures from head injuries suffered after being hit by a car on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Whitney traveled to the Canadian border to release a black bear that came to the wildlife center in February weighing 20 pounds and left weighing more than 100 pounds.
“I’ve had a nice couple of days,” Whitney said.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@ heraldnet.com.
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