Do you know the way to Haines, Alaska?

 These two eagles are going to Haines on Wednesday for the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival in Haines. There they'll be released as part of the "Flight for Freedom".

 Both of these birds came to Bird TLC from Adak, Alaska. They received burns while at the local dump. All of the primary and secondary flight feathers were heavily damaged and they were unable to fly. We had to wait on Mother Nature to have the birds molt, to see if they would be able to fly.

The last two photos should tell you how that turned out.

 

Here's hoping for a wonderful life for these two young birds in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

I love it when people send me photos

I love it when people send me photos of one of our events. Patti Bogan sent me some photos she had taken of a Golden Eagle and a immature Bald Eagle we released a few weekends ago.

 Both were picture perfect.

 But wait, she didn't take any photos of herself doing a release of a mature Bald Eagle. Don't worry Patti, we got you covered.

Thanks for your photos Patti!

Sharp-Shined Hawk to be released at Alaska Zoo

13-416 the sharp shined hawk, will be released tomorrow at the Alaska Zoo at 4pm in celebration of International Migratory Bird Day.

It got a full examination and beak cooping yesterday in preparation for its big day.

We hope to see you there!



Northern Goshawk 14-01 released

The first  raptor release of the year today for Bird TLC. Northern Goshawk 14-01 was released at the Bird TLC property overlooking Potter Marsh.

The weather was perfect for it.

Bev got to be interviewed afterwards and was awesome!

 

Four immatures released in Seward

We released 4 immature bald eagles back to the wild in Seward yesterday at Lowell Point. A good day with fair weather was perfect for them to start their lives over in the wild again. Britt released the first one, BE 11-44 from Dutch Harbor which was this years bird. Britt has helped to release lots of eagles, but this is the first one she did.

Heather released the next one, BE 11- 30 from Kodiak NWR. He was about 4 years old. Heather is Bird TLC's Executive Director.

Verity, our newest intern released BE 11- 13 from Kodiak NWR and I got to release BE 11-41, this years bird from Anchorage.

This is BE 11-44 showing the rest of them on how to do it. They all did well and we hope not to see them again at Bird TLC.

For more photos, click here for Bird TLC's and here for Britt's.

Bald Eagle BE 11-42 Droopy released

A busy weekend for releases. BE 11-42, aka Droopy was released by Michelle and her friends yesterday.

Droopy found the nearest tree and decided to stay put for some time.

He had eaten the night before and had a full crop before the release, so he was satisfied with where he was.

Have a wild one Droopy!

Bald Eagle BE 11-52 released back to the wild

Roger Wahrer, former volunteer and long time supporter of Bird TLC got to release BE 11-52 aka Chatty back to the wild. She came to us earlier last month from the Anchorage area.

Chatty gave a good show and then flew around in the thermals for a bit showing off.

Thanks Roger!

For more photos, check out Britt Coon's album and the Bird TLC album.

BE 11-04 released

BE 11-04 came to Bird TLC in January after it was found caught by the neck and wing in a snare. The neck was so swollen it couldn't eat. Today it was released back to the wild by Elena and her family.

Elena purchased the release at the Alaska Zoo's auction a few months ago. Today

BE 11-04 aka Hangman is a resident of Potter Marsh.

More photos by Britt.
More at Bird TLC's SmugMug.

2011 Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow

Crowd members look on as military veterans release a rehabilitated bald eagle during the 11th annual Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow on Sunday afternoon, July 10, 2011, behind the Carlson Center. The eagle, which suffered being hit by a car four months ago, was given the name "Semper Fi" to honor the U.S. Marine Corps. John Wagner/News-Miner

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - The voice of Interior Alaska since 1903

Busy Bird TLC Weekend so far

Britt and I started with a eagle release at the Eagle River Nature Center. Marge Brehm got to release BE 11-08 and it was a gorgeous release.

See more photos at  Britt's site.

Ghost and I did a last minute request at Alaska Wild Berry. It was a lot of fun. Premier Alaska Tours brought several buses by.

Bev and Flame at Spenard Farmer's Market.

Kristen and Sparky at the Spenard Farmer's Market.

BE 10-47 release

BE 10-47 aka Big Girl, was released last Friday at the Bird TLC property. It was dedicated to the Woman's Listening group who support women who've had cancer. Volunteers released her and Big Girl put on a great show.

Photo by Britt Coon / Bird TLC 

Let the releases begin

The first release of the year will be tonight at the Eagle River Nature Center right after their auction. BE 11-29 came to Bird TLC less than a month ago from Kodiak after it was hit by a truck. He recovered fast and has quite the attitude.

Triple Header Eagle release in Portage

alaskamagazine.com

Alaskan Bald Eagle released back into the wild

Borrowed from Youtube. Taken last Sunday by a member of the 477FG.

Bald Eagle BE 09-31 aka Avalanche released

Sometimes we're so busy, some of our eagles stories don't get told. Not that their story is boring or not important, just that we have a lot going on.

Avalanche came to us back in January. He and 4 other eagles got caught up in an avalanche. He was the only survivor, but was pretty well beaten up.

A few weeks later while he was at the clinic, I had picked up another eagle coming in from Kodiak that was not doing well. It was found to be very anemic and needed a blood transfusion right away. Avalanche became the donor and an eagle hero. Little did we know that later on this eagle, aka Lunch Date, would be the replacement release eagle for the Powwow.

After about a month Avalanche was transferred to the flight center.. He couldn't fly yet because his flight and tail feathers were all busted up, but if he stayed at the clinic too long he would probably unintentionally injure himself there. The plan was to let mother nature take her coarse. Hopefully the next molt replaces all of the damaged feathers or enough for him to be flighted.

Come about May he went into a molt and the blank spots started to fill in. One day while at the flight center he surprised us and flew to perch, so we knew he was going to do well. We decided to release him in Fairbanks at the Powwow, so Britt and I caught him and she took him to the clinic to spend the night. When they went to take his id band off, they found an abscess on his right foot that had to be removed. Needless to say, the Powwow release was moved to another eagle, Lunch Date.

On Thursday he was cleared to be released, so we decided he went next. He was released on Saturday at Kulis ANG Base for part of a retirement ceremony for Chris. His wife Andie had purchased the release at our auction and decided that would be an awesome way to celebrate it.As you can see in the photo, he can fly just fine.

A beautiful release and an awesome ceremony! Congratulations Chris and Avalanche!

For more photos of the release, click here.

Photo credit: Britt Coon / Bird TLC

2010 Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow

Bald Eagle BE 10-13 released at Eagle River Nature Center

Sylvia heads Fire Lake Preschool in Eagle River. Every year she has several of our presenters out doing presentations to her students and their parents. We held a free drawing at the Great Alaskan Sportsman Show for a eagle release and guess who won.

Before the release her students sung a song to the bald eagle being released. Then Sylvia dedicated the release to "One Wing", Bird TLC's mascot who had passed away last year. And then she asked me to release it, because she said there was no fair way to pick 4 people from her group to do the release.

I have watched, organized and photographed a lot of releases, but this is the first one that I've released myself. Just a couple days before, this eagle had swooped down at me at our flight center leaving a nice mark on my face. Now, I got to tell it to go enjoy its life in the wild, find its own food and to have a awesome long life.

It couldn't have a better place to have a new start.

Thanks Sylvia for letting me be a part of your release and also thanks for your long time support of Bird TLC.

Also, thanks to my friend and fellow volunteer, Britt. She came along to help catch the bird, help organize the release and take photos. Without her help it would have been a real chore. She also took some fantastic memorable photos for me.

For more photo's of the release, click here.

Photo Credit: Britt Coon / Bird TLC

Nothing but tail feathers

This is the view the people of Bird TLC like to see. Nothing but tail feathers from a successful eagle release.

With the help of US Senator Lisa Murkowski, BE 10-26 aka Rocky was released back to the wild at the Potter Marsh Discovery Days Festival.

Quite a crowd was on hand to see the very successful release. Thanks Senator and good luck Rocky!

For more photos of the release, go to the Bird TLC photo gallery here, and Britt Coon's website here.

2 Great horned owls released

The host with the mostest, Gus a great horned owl who is caretaked by Bird TLC volunteer Gina, hosted 2 great horned owl releases at their home yesterday. The weather cooperated some, the temperature was around 15°.

Both owls were a little hesitant to leave at first, but once they got the idea, they were gone.

It's estimated that it cost around $1000 in food and medical supplies alone to rehabilitate these two owls. Thanks to the generous donors yesterday who helped cover those expenses.

The first photo is courtesy of Britt Coon / Bird TLC

The second photo is courtesy of Eberhard Brunner