Bald eagle release video

This is the bald eagle release video that goes with an earlier post of still photos.  In the video, you'll hear raptor rehabilitator Mitzi Eaton explain the stress that goes with releasing a bird, especially eagles, who have a tendency to steer clear of people.

There was a crowd assembled at the release site, and Mitzi said it was the largest crowd she's ever had to talk with prior to the release. However, all the folks cooperated and were quiet during the event, and the bird soared to a nearby tree for a while. He then headed across the lake, looking as graceful as any other eagle-- even one who hasn't been in a cage for three months.

Bald eagle release

Just prior to Mitzi Eaton releasing a rehabilitated bald eagle Saturday, York Daily Record photographer Jason Plotkin and I were joking about asking Mitzi to have the bird fly straight out of the cage and right up, and onto a bare evergreen branch a 30 yards away.  We'd get the entire event, catching, releasing and flying away, we said.

Yep, getting that is like training a cat to sit up and beg or a cow to spit milk out her nose. It wasn't going to happen.  Except that it did.  Couldn't have asked for a better position.

A slideshow/video with Wildlife Conservation Officer Greg Graham and Mitzi explaining the rehab process is in the works and will be posted, as soon as my computer is returned from the Intensive Care Unit.