A Bald Eagle returned to the wild last week with a fitting community send off. This juvenile eagle was found last year, at just five months old, along a highway near Cable. A brave passerby picked up the injured bird and brought him to Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital, a new non-profit organization based out of Spooner. Upon examination, Dr. Kim Ammann found a broken leg. The break was near the knee joint and she knew the chances of recovery were slim.
Despite some reservations, she decided to give this bird a chance. After surgery on the leg to pin the bones carefully together, the eagle managed to recover and regain full use of his leg.
His leg healed by November last year, a difficult season to release a young bird with little experience fending for himself. He instead overwintered in a flight pen at Winged Freedom and was finally ready to make it on his own this spring. (Watch one of his practice flights here!)
We gathered with a crowd at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College Farm where LCO tribal members and leaders shared words and drummed The Eagle Song before sending the eagle off on his own.
(Use the arrows below to scroll through the photos.)
Though I didn't understand the Ojibwe words spoken, the brief ceremony gave me a deeper appreciation for our connection to the farm behind us, the field and forests ahead, and the first moments of true "winged freedom" for this bald eagle.
I'm sure the eagle didn't understand either, but I hope he felt the rush of positive energy that the community sent with him as he took wing.
After the release, we got a chance to explore a bit of the farm. In addition to educational opportunities for students and community members, the farm is involved in seed saving and experimenting with different vegetable varieties. With teaching and food processing facilities, the farm is helping to bring fresh, local, and indigenous varieties of foods to the LCO community.
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