Thursday Flight Crew

Every morning, volunteers gather at the University of Minnesota to help rehabilitate injured raptors.  This week, our team flew 2 Bald Eagles,  2 Red-tailed Hawks, a Great Horned Owl and a Peregrine Falcon.  As we had an odd number of people this past...

Fall Raptor Release @ Carpenter Nature Center

On Saturday, Sept 24th, the Raptor Center and Carpenter Nature Center partnered for a spectacular day of fall colors and raptor releases.  We released 6 birds, including 2 Red-tailed Hawks, a Broad-winged Hawk, a Coopers hawk and 2 young Bald Eagles. The final...

Flight Crew at the Raptor Center

Several days ago, a friend asked about what we do on the flight crew at the Raptor Center. Our job is to ‘test fly’ hawks, owls and eagles after they have healed from their injuries to get them physically ready to be released back into the wild.  Usually this consists...

Trumpeter Swan Rescue

In late June I was asked to join a crew of volunteers to help rescue a Trumpeter Swan. Neighbors in a Elk River, MN neighborhood had watched a swan during the late spring and early summer and had determined that he was injured and unable to leave their large backyard...

Bald Eagle Release

Today was only the 2nd time in my life I actually released a Bald Eagle back into the wild.  While I fly eagles weekly, they are always tethered on a rope and brought back to the clinic after test flights.  Today was special in that this bird was brought to...