ICU and Owl Release

My third week in ICU starts with some sad news , one of the two golden eagles that came in died. We did get an osprey in ( also known as a water eagle). He had the funniest ruffle of feathers on the back of his head that made him look like he had constant bed head. Im not going to dwell too much on the ICU that day because not only did anything really crazy or interesting happen ( it was just a typical ICU day) but I got to do my first Release that night!

Once our animals are rehabilitated they are able to be released into the wild. The key turning point where we know our animals are ready for the wild again is when they are able to successfully complete a live feed. This is when a live food is put into their enclosures and the birds are able to successfully hunt and capture their prey. Knowing that they are able to catch their own food lets us know that in the wild they are also capable of hunting.

So there are two ways you can release a bird, the simple one is just opening the box and allowing the bird to come out on its own. The second option is wearing a pair of gloves and taking the bird out of its box and launching it into the air. Since it is my first time and I am still relatively new at grabbing birds it is recommended that I just open up the box.

4 p.m. rolls around and I get to pick up my owl. I recruit my friend to drive me so I can hold the bird in his box. Even though the boxes have a top that isn't meant to open on its own I figured better safe then sorry. I wouldn't want to be driving by myself and have an owl get loose in my car. I get to Liberty and here is my package!. Sara Great Horned Owl Sun night! I take my box and my owl is moving around like crazy! You hear him scratching around in there and you hope he doesn't somehow manage to escape! I decide to take the owl out to the Superstition Mountains which will give him lots of mice and rabbits to eat and lots of cactus and trees to perch in. We release our owls at dusk because since they are nocturnal releasing them at night they are more likely to hunt for food right away and explore their new environment. After driving for a little bit the owl calmed down but through the holes in the box you could see him glaring at you. I don't get spooked easily but seeing a pair of angry looking bright round yellow eyes starting at you from darkness is a little unsettling! IF only he knew we were taking him to a new home!

We arrive at the First Water TrailHead at the Superstition Mountains right when the sun is setting. The view is beautiful and I am so excited to let my little guy go! This is my boyfriend and I walking away from the car and into a denser part of the desert. Here I am opening up the box getting ready to release the owl. A nice view of the sunset. And finally here is our owl out of his box and observing his surroundings! . I was kinda of expecting the owl to come flying out of the box into the sunset but his exit was actually way more comedic. He busted out of that box and spent a while glaring at his. He must not have been a fan of his box! Sorry the picture did not come out more clear, my friend was using her camera for these pics and we didn't find out until we were reviewing them later that on some pictures her focus was not , well focusing. The owl hung around in that spot for a couple minutes and of course right when we turned our recordings and cameras off he flew off into the desert! Unfortunately there is no video of him flying away but I have included a video of him coming out of his box. :)

It felt so good to watch this owl being released into the wild! Knowing that with the help of an excellent team of people an injured or abandoned bird can be taken in, rehabilitated and successfully released into the wild is an amazing feeling. I can't wait for my next release!

Note* For some reason I cannot upload a quicktime video of the release so here is the embedded video from YouTube. Again sorry for the bad quality. Next time I will use a camera instead of my iPhone!