Monday, July 14, 2025
66.0°F

Injured eagle takes to wing without a hitch

KEITH KINNAIRD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 2 months AGO
by KEITH KINNAIRD
News Editor | April 26, 2018 1:00 AM

photo

(Photo by KEITH KINNAIRD) Janie Veltkamp of Birds of Prey Northwest holds the bald eagle as Don Veltkamp attempts to place a hood back on its head.

CAREYWOOD — An alert Bonner County landowner is being credited with saving the life of a female bald eagle that was injured in a suspected collision with a passing locomotive.

“If she hadn’t persisted and called to get this bird help, this bird would have slowly starved to death,” said Janie Veltkamp, director of Birds of Prey Northwest, which rehabilitates eagles, hawks and raptors that encounter misadventure in northern Idaho.

Veltkamp was referring to Tam Judy, a Careywood rancher who discovered the eagle in a snow-covered pasture on Jan. 8 and initially mistook it for a wild turkey. But when she glassed the bird with a set of binoculars the following morning, she recognized that it was a baldy in distress.

“It wasn’t moving around much,” said Judy.

Officials from the Idaho Department of Fish & Game retrieved the eagle and transferred it to Birds of Prey. The eagle had a severe shoulder injury likely incurred while feasting on roadkill on railroad right of way, according to Veltkamp.

The bird convalesced at the Birds of Prey’s aviary and rebuilt her strength on a diet of three specially sourced and preserved rats per day.

It’s unclear if the eagle was migratory or resident due to the time of year it was discovered, Veltkamp said. January is part of the high season for bald eagles which head south from Alaska to feed on kokanee in lakes Pend Oreille and Coeur d’Alene. It’s also unclear if the other bald eagle that accompanied her was a mate or a hunting/commuting companion.

Judy said the partner lingered in a snag overlooking the pasture after the female was captured for rehabilitation.

“It stayed here for at least five days, maybe a week, after she was taken away. He would sit up in that tree and call for her. When she was still in the field they were still talking to each other,” said Judy.

After more than three months of recovery, Veltkamp and her husband, Don, removed the 12-pound bird from its travel crate at Judy’s place along U.S. Highway 95 on Wednesday. Like other eagles before it kept in a cramped box for transportation, it was not happy.

“Eagles are biters so we have to be very cautious,” Janie Veltkamp said as the bird gazed at her with its piercing eyes, fearsome talons and flesh-rending beak. Chirps from an alarmed red-tailed hawk could be heard coming from the treeline.

Janie Veltkamp, clad in a thick leather welder’s coat, took a few steps into the pasture and gently flung it into the air, which the eagle’s out-streched wings immediately seized upon with audibly powerful and symmetrical wingbeats. After several beats, it gracefully gained elevation and alighted on a pine tree overlooking the pasture. The annoyed red-tailed hawk, which likely had a nest nearby, raced at the eagle, but it held its ground before eventually deciding on a nearby perch that afforded less harassment.

“This was a picture-perfect release,” Janie Veltkamp said.

MORE FRONT-PAGE-SLIDER STORIES

Passersby rescue injured bald eagle
Bonner County Daily Bee | Updated 8 years ago
Injured bald eagle takes to the wing in Sagle
Bonner County Daily Bee | Updated 7 years, 10 months ago
Injured eagle released
Bonner County Daily Bee | Updated 7 years, 11 months ago

ARTICLES BY KEITH KINNAIRD

March 7, 2010 11 p.m.

Revett seeks clarity on Rock Creek mine status

A status conference is pending in federal court to determine if developers of the proposed Rock Creek mine can initiate development of the project.

December 31, 2008 11 p.m.

Former pastor imprisoned for touching young girl

SANDPOINT, Idaho — A district judge declined to go along with a plea agreement which proposed a limited jail sentence for a former pastor who pleaded guilty to fondling a Priest Lake girl several years ago.

Judge orders life sentence in Bristow murder
April 21, 2021 1 a.m.

Judge orders life sentence in Bristow murder

Acosta ordered to serve life in prison for Bristow killing