Three fly free in Kootenai County

ROCKFORD BAY — For Don and Jane Veltkamp, Tuesday was the kind of day they dream about. 

But they don’t just dream. They work hard to make such days happen. 

The owners of Birds of Prey Northwest released three birds back into the wild. The birds were rehabilitated at the St. Maries center. 

"We don’t get paid for this,” Don Veltkamp said after watching a young bald eagle soar between trees, bank left and fly back to its nest above the wetlands at the west end of Rockford Bay. “That pays us.” 

The Veltkamps also set a red-tailed hawk free to fly above a rolling hayfield that had just been mowed off Vogel Road near Worley, and then drove to Heyburn State Park to release an osprey. 

Jane Veltkamp said try as they might, they can’t save every bird. That's why they welcome help.

“Whose job is it to take care of an injured eagle? It’s all of ours, to do what we can, to get him out of harm’s way,” she said. 

Sarah Picchione and Nicki Hunnel did their part. 

The two were driving on Watson Road near Fighting Creek last Tuesday when they saw the bald eagle on the side of the road. It was staggering. It tried to fly but couldn’t. 

Picchione knew something was wrong. 

“He was like, drunk,” she said. 

Hunnel stopped. Picchione, who works with animals at home, followed the eagle into the brush. A few minutes later, she reappeared with it in a bear hug. Other than a leg scratch from its talons, Picchione was fine. 

“I thought she was nuts when she came walking out with an eagle,” Hunnel said, laughing.

Hunnel called Idaho Fish and Game. They directed her to the nonprofit Birds of Prey Northwest, which has been around more than three decades. Picchione sat in the passenger seat and held the weary eagle. At one point, it puts its head on her shoulder. 

“He was so calm in the car ride. From here to Plummer, he just sat on her lap," Hunnel said.  

Jane Veltkamp said the eagle’s symptoms indicated it was a victim of secondary poisoning, perhaps from a euthanized animal, rat poison or something from the Fighting Creek Landfill, a few miles away.

“Eagles are scavengers,” she said. “Their range of territory expands when they have young because they have hungry mouths to feed.” 

She said a normal eagle would claw, bite and fight to escape in such a situation. And she said where they found the eagle was a sign of trouble. 

“That’s not a normal place for an eagle to land,” Jane Veltkamp said. “He literally fell out of the sky.” 

Back at their center, the Veltkamps flushed the male eagle’s system with liquids, fed it fish, and let it fly in an eagle exercise flight aviary to gain strength. It came in weighing 9 ½ pounds. When it was released, it weighed 12 pounds. 

It was a fast recovery. 

“One of the quickest we ever had,” Jane Veltkamp said. “When a bird is ready to go, you want to release it.” 

They released the eagle close to where it was found.

“This is perfect nesting habitat for a bald eagle, on the water’s edge, plenty of fish, away from human disturbance,” Veltkamp said. 

Shortly after the young eagle returned to its nest, its mother soared in and joined it for a family reunion.  

“That was a little gift,” a smiling Jane Veltkamp said. 

Then, both birds flew around, the mom passing over those who had just released its young. 

“Mom is flying by to say thank you,” Hunnel said. 

A minute later, the eagles could be heard screeching back and forth.  

Hunnel said watching the young eagle return home, and then its mom flying in, was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” 

She and Picchione named the rescued eagle, “Merica.” 

“I’m so glad we took this full circle,” she said.  

Sharon Grunwald, a Birds of Prey Northwest donor, said it was an emotional moment when eagles were reunited. 

She and her husband, Doyle King, have come to know the Veltkamps, and respect and support their work. It's more than saving birds.

“What they do is so educational,” she said. 

Don Veltkamp said they’ve received many calls this summer. The July heatwave forced juvenile birds to abandon their nests before they were ready. 

People also turned to Birds of Prey to save injured crows, ravens and merlins. 

Some, they can help. Some, they can’t.  

Don Veltkamp said raptors face a high mortality rate. 

“Seventy-five percent don’t see their first birthday,” he said.  

It’s not just a matter of flying but of hunting. 

“If they don’t learn how to hunt quickly, they're not going to make it,” Don Veltkamp said.  

The Veltkamps were delighted a little later when the red-tailed hawk, well recovered from a shoulder injury, flew away with speed and strength. 

“To have a positive outcome, that’s why we do this,” Jane Veltkamp said.  

    A young bald eagle takes flight after being released on Tuesday at Rockford Bay.
  

    An osprey is ready to be released on Tuesday.
  

    A red-tailed hawk stares ahead before being released on Tuesday.
  

    Jane Veltkamp and Sarah Picchione spend a moment with a bald eagle before its release on Tuesday.
  

    Jane Veltkamp waves goodbye to a red-tailed hawk on Tuesday.