STANWOOD – It took the bird a moment to realize it was free.
Only a moment, though.
With one thrust of its wings, the 2-year-old bald eagle lunged into the air. Michael O’Leary / The Herald
“All right, baby, look at him go,” said Sue McGowan, clinic director for the Sarvey Wildlife Center. “Don’t get into trouble.”
On Wednesday, McGowan released the eagle at the Nature Conservancy’s picturesque Port Susan Bay Preserve south of Stanwood. It had been in captivity at a series of animal rehabilitation centers for eight months, the last at the Arlington-based Sarvey Wildlife Center.
“Originally, they found him on a beach in Clinton,” she said. “He had been on the beach for four or five days. He had scabs on his wings.”
When it came time for the bird to return to the wild, his long stint in a cage didn’t slow him down. He flew arrow-straight over the water, flying low for 200 yards before it appeared that he would land on a piece of driftwood. Instead, he overshot the log and kept on going.
Before long, the eagle had disappeared in the distance.
“These are such majestic birds,” said Kat Morgan, steward for the preserve. “It’s always amazing to watch them fly.”
Morgan said releasing the eagle on the private 4,000-acre preserve should help it survive. Two other eagles spotted at the preserve Wednesday were proof there was food to be found. The most likely meal for the eagles are other birds, whether a resident shorebird or one using the food-rich estuary as a pit stop during the migration to its breeding grounds.
About 10 minutes after the release, two young bald eagles could be seen flying together near where the eagle had disappeared. There was no way to tell if it was the same bird, but maybe.
“There’s a new kid in town,” McGowan said.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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