A Successful Day

   This past Sunday I was lucky enough to witness the release of five rehabilitated bald eagles back into the wild. I have watched this before during the Sauk-Prairie Eagle Days in January but the weather and the smaller crowd made this day special. It turned out to be a great photo opportunity.
  First the three immature eagles were released and after a short break two adults were sent back to their lives in nature. Below is a link to the Raptor Education Group, Inc. "REGI", the center that Marge Gibbson (first photo below and several others) has devoted her life to.
   A couple of these birds had never landed in a tree.

                This is the first bird released. It circled around and landed on the ground in the park.

The second bird. This one landed safely in the water. It looked like a large brown gull.

It soon was back in the air and crossed the river landing on the sand.

Number Three. This one found a good tree to land in.

The first of the adults. This one is between four and five years old (notice the touch of brown on it's head). This one immediately found itself in the water but was airborne in a couple minutes. I was looking the other way and missed it.

Number five circled a couple times and headed across the river finding just the right tree for it's first taste of freedom.

All the birds eventually were back in the safe arms of "Mother Nature" along the Wisconsin River.

The link will give some background on how these birds came to be cared for at "REGI".

http://www.raptoreducationgroup.org/blog/