Peninsula Daily News
BRINNON — Three juvenile bald eagles rescued from the North Olympic Peninsula were set free by members of a Bainbridge Island shelter at Dosewallips State Park near Brinnon.
The eagles were released Sunday by West Sound Wildlife Shelter on Bainbridge Island.
About 100 people attended, said Cate McCaslin, West Sound’s development coordinator. She added that one person traveled from Bellingham to witness the triple release.
“The first two flew north upriver to some trees,” McCaslin said. “The third circled overhead and landed in a tree to the south of the release site.
“At one point, we saw the two that flew upriver starting to hunt for food over the river — a very good sign that they were already comfortable with being back in the wild.”
Two of the eagles were sent to the Bainbridge Island shelter from the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center in Sequim, while the other one came from the Discovery Bay Raptor Rehabilitation and Education Center.
Amy Wainio and Colleen Fisher of Brainbridge Island had won the task of opening the cages at the shelter’s annual auction, “Call to the Wild,” McCaslin said.
Eagles rescued July 6
The two eagles rescued by the Sequim center arrived at the Bainbridge Island center July 6 after being rehabilitated in Sequim and were in good condition, said Lisa Horn, the center’s executive director.
The third juvenile was found July 8 on Marrowstone Island and was dehydrated, thin and heavily infested with mites, she said.
Cindy Daily, who operates the Discovery Bay Raptor Center, stabilized the bird and transferred it to the Bainbridge Island facility three days later.
The three eagles were sent to West Sound to be conditioned for release into the wild.
They were put into a flight enclosure designed to mimic the space that raptors need, Horn said.
There, the eagles learned how to jump, glide, fly and land, she said.
The birds were too young for shelter employees to determine their gender, McCaslin said.
Where birds found
McCaslin said the location of the release was chosen because it was in the general area where the birds were found.
West Sound is on track to treat more than 1,500 wild animals this year, almost 200 more than in 2014, McCaslin said.
The Discovery Bay Raptor Center can be reached at 360-379-0802, while the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center can be reached at 360-681-2283 or http://nwraptorcenter.com.
To contact the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, call 206-855-9057 or go to www.westsoundwildlife.org.
