Release the Falcon

Liam was melting down, out of patience with his bird-focused mama, when I suggested that he show some of his dozens of drawings to his old friend Paul. The tide immediately turned. Liam commented, "Ned is the perfect person for me." (My kids think he looks more like a Ned than a Paul, so that's what they call him.)

One of my favorite people on the planet is Paul Tebbel. Formerly director of the Rowe Sanctuary along the Platte River in Nebraska, Paul and his wife Barbara decided they'd like to enact their dream to live and retire in New Mexico. Retirement's a really long way off. But Paul took a position as Director of The Wildlife Center in Espanola, New Mexico, just north of Santa Fe. Barb works tirelessly, an expert wildlife rehabilitator who has taken her years of experience in Nebraska to bear on New Mexico's needy wildlife.

Paul has a remarkable ability to manage both wildlife and people. Wildlife rehabilitation (especially when paired with public education) is an intense, high-pressure and demanding field. The Wildlife Center handles around 1,500 animals and birds each year. Imagine the work and the heartbreak of dealing with that many broken and orphaned birds and animals. Each one has a story, each one has someone who found it and brought it in to be helped. Each person who brings an animal to TWC receives an education and an enhanced appreciation of the importance of individual creatures, just seeing how much the TWC staff and volunteers care.

I was lucky enough to be present for the release of an adult peregrine falcon which had been found down not once but twice, and brought to TWC for help. The first time, it had a nasty wing break. After surgery and a lengthy recovery, it was released. Two years from when it was first found, it was found again, emaciated, but with nothing broken. Because it had not been banded, the Wildlife Center staff recognized it by a suture over its eyebrow! Back into rehab it went. After flight conditioning, it was finally deemed ready for release, and brought to Bosque del Apache.I had a hunch this bird would burst out of its cardboard box, so I gave it some lead room in the frame.

Oh, did it burst out! Look at Donna's face as she reacts to its departure!
The more I look at this shot, the more I love it. It's like a Liljefiors painting. This peregrine is on its way again. Godspeed, lucky bird. Not many injured birds get three chances at life in the wild.

Please consider The Wildlife Center if you've got any disposable, tax-deductible income before the end of the year. I wish I could walk up to you with TWC's impossibly cute and engaging, hooting pygmy owl on my wrist and ask, but this post will have to do. Please support the rehabilitators down in the trenches. It's work most of us wouldn't be able to handle.