One Wing's GiftThe sound was like magic, with tide on the run,
He ruffed and gave cry, echoing, defiant and clear,
His wilderness looked back, it's otter, it's deer.
A black blight followed the currents, and death crept in its sway.
A thousand creatures died on that very day.
His last flight started true, like an arrow he sped,
Plunged after a murre, all blackened, near dead.
Slight bother this blackness that covered his prey.
His face was all oiled, his tail all black-grey.
As he finished his feeding he was sick, he was slow,
Wings beat the air wildly, unable to go.
Bones cracked like a pistol as oiled he tried,
Pain seared through his body, he fought and he cried.
Now he is "One Wing", defiant he is still.
Never to fly skyward with consummate skill.
What good a one winged eagle, many may say?
But he fights for his brothers now - and today
Blood from his body to help weak eagles live,
"One Wing" is defiant, but he gives and he gives,
He can never sit quietly and view his vast home.
One wing he has only - he never will roam.
His spirit's still strong, it molds me with cries.
Then he gives to his brother - a brother who flies.
Dr James Scott founded Bird TLC in 1988. In 1989, One Wing came to Bird TLC due to the injuries he received from the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez disaster. Dr Scott is now retired and is on the Bird TLC Board. One Wing lives at Bird TLC in a mew built for him for an eagle scout project.
4 comments:
Thank you for sharing that.
such a beautiful tribute to a special bird... and a special Dr. who helped him survive despite the odds.
They're two of my favorite topics. One Wing I'll see later today. Though I clean his mew and do repairs often, he treats me as a threat he's never seen before. I wish I understood eagle talk. Dr Scott's health is not as good as it use to be. He's 72 and has had back issues. He doesn't get around too comfortably anymore. It's a treat when he does come by the clinic.
One Wing allowed me to stand facing the opposite door of his mew, and move closer to him along the perch, but not without having a tasty strip of his favorite RED MEAT! Sadly, he is no longer earth bound, but only sad to those who heard his cry every time I showed up to feed that majestic bird. NOT one to be messed with, wild, captive, but now finally free, with his brothers n sisters who have the blood of a true gift, flowing in their veins. His mate died within a few weeks after he did. So they are both free flying with "Kili" the golden from AWBRC, who left us before he could touch the world.
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