100 Feet to Freedom
What: An evening to benefit locally rehabilitating and releasing eagles
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19
Where: Studio Bob, 118 1/2 E. Front St., Port Angeles
Cost: $10 suggested donation.
More info: All ages welcome, live music, silent auction, guest artists, raptor show and presentation
To fully rehabilitate and locally release eagles and similar-sized birds, Jaye Moore, director of the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center in Sequim, and Cynthia Daily, director of Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue in Port Townsend, have combined forces to relocate a flight pen from eastern Washington to the Olympic Peninsula.
Flight pens are large enclosures used to rebuild and strengthen injured or young birds’ abilities to fly before release back into the wild.
“It’s like physical therapy for birds,” Moore said. “It can take a couple of months.”
After regulations changed, the flight pen Moore had no longer met the size required under the permits administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife that both Moore and Daily operate under.
“We started having to transport any eagles and bigger birds needing lots of flight time off the peninsula,” Moore said.
Although necessary, Moore explained, relocating eagles to other rescues often results in eagles native to the Olympic Peninsula being released in unknown territory.
“We always try to put them back to where they came from because it’s familiar to them and it’s just so important we do everything we can to support our native wildlife.” she said.
Large raptors like eagles are intrinsic to the Olympic Peninsula by providing a variety of ecological functions, Daily said.
“They’re a top predator, so eagles help keep the ecosystem healthy and in check,” she said. “They’re also scavengers.”
Allowing Moore and Daily the opportunity to once again locally release eagles and large birds that require time in a flight pen, the owner of the closing raptor center in Yakima is donating a flight pen. The pen is 100-feet long, 16-feet tall and 36-feet across.
“This is huge for us,” Moore said. “It will make all the difference in the world to us.”
However, to disassemble, transport via a semi-trailer, excavate an area and reassemble the flight pen at Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue is projected to cost $15,000.
“We’re hoping to get it moved and running by or before spring,” Moore said. “That’s when we get really busy.”
Working to get a shared flight pen is one of many examples of the longtime collaboration between Daily and Moore.
“We’ve worked together for years,” Daily said.
Considering the average demand from both rescues, Daily estimates about 20-25 local birds will benefit from the flight pen. Aside from eagles, the flight pen will assist in the rehabilitation of species like peregrine falcons, pelicans, osprey, hawks and great-horned owls, she said.
100 Feet to Freedom
To help secure the flight pen, Merryn Welch, a volunteer at the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center, has spearheaded the event “100 Feet to Freedom.”
The benefit at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 19, at Studio Bob, 118 1/2 E. Front St., Port Angeles, seeks to illuminate the importance of the area’s eagles and other wild bird species through an entertaining evening of live music, art and education.
Since volunteering at the center Welch has witnessed the release of native birds and describes the experience as “profound.”
“It’s critical that we’re able to release these birds back into areas they’re familiar with,” she said.
Between 7-8 p.m., Moore and Daily will host a raptor show with raptors from both rescues and provide a presentation on the flight pen and its importance.
Following the show and presentation, bands ranging in styles from “classic and acoustic to gypsy, pirate punk,” will resonate through the studio, Welch said. The line-up includes Pufnstuff, The Crocs, Bread & Gravy and Rogues’ End.
While music plays and the dancing begins, local artists Regie Saxerud, Ruth Kaspin, Elaine Bawden, Shallon Bawden and Craig Dills will work throughout the evening, creating art for the silent auction.
For more information on the eagle enclosure and/or to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/pncvup7w, the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center (nwraptorcenter.com or call 681-2283) or Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue (discoverybaywildbirdrescue.com or call 360-379-0802).
Donations also are accepted at Pet Town in Port Townsend or Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner.
