As Ed Warren watched the bald eagle fly to freedom at Rockford Bay on Monday afternoon, he couldn’t help but feel a little proud. 

“Freakin’ awesome,” he said.  

Just two months earlier, Warren had helped catch the injured eagle just a few miles up the road at the Lost Bay and Rockford Bay junction. 

The adult female bird had suffered a broken shoulder after it was hit by a car, said Jane Veltkamp of Birds of Prey Northwest. 

“It could not fly,” she said. 

Mark Maret, conservation officer with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, arrived and tried to toss a blanket over it. The eagle, though, used its talons to toss it aside and fled downhill into a ravine and creek. 

After a bit of a battle and with Warren’s assistance, Maret was able to corral it using sticks, towel and jacket. He said it’s usually a bit easier to catch an injured bird as they’ll calm down once their head is covered. 

“This was not that injured as some,” he said, laughing. 

So catching it required a little extra time. 

“I’ve handled raptors before and those talons are not to be messed with,” Maret said. 

Veltkamp praised their efforts. 

“Nobody got bloodied,” she said.  

The 11-pound eagle, given the name “Rocky,” spent about eight weeks at the Birds of Prey rehab center in St. Maries regaining its strength and letting the bone heal. 

On a sunny late afternoon, Jane and Don Veltkamp drove to the parking lot above Black Rock Marina and Shooters Bar and Grill to release it.

When they got out of their SUV, they looked up and saw another bald eagle soaring high above. Jane Veltkamp said it was likely the injured eagle’s mate, as their nest is nearby. 

“These birds mate for life,” she said. “That’s why we released it here.” 

She said last summer, they released the pair’s baby bald eagle after rehabilitating it from secondary poisoning.

“This is the mother of that bird,” Jane Veltkamp said. “Here we are today, putting her right back out.”

A few minutes later, she did just that after Don Veltkamp carefully retrieved the eagle from its cage and they removed its hood. But it came at a cost.

"She got me," Don Veltkamp said, pointing to his hand.

As a crowd watched, the eagle quickly gained elevation, maneuvered around some powerlines, and disappeared over the water around some trees.

Jane Veltkamp was delighted and said the freedom flight went “perfectly fine" as the eagle was again on its home turf.

Birds of Prey Northwest, a nonprofit, volunteer network more than three decades old, has taken in 12 bald eagles in the past two months, a record number in such a short period.

Veltkamp said some of that could be due to heat, while some came from a collapsed nest near Bottle Bay. Others were found injured or ill.

She said if anyone sees a grounded bald eagle, unless it’s eating, it is likely hurt and they should call Birds of Prey or Fish and Game. 

The Veltkamps also released a long-eared owl and a barn owl Monday in the Plummer area. Both had been nursed back to health over a few months.

Warren said since finding the bald eagle, he’s signed on as a Birds of Prey volunteer and travels there on Fridays to prep food like quail, rabbit and fish.

"It always has to be done," he said.

To donate to Birds of Prey, go to www.birdsofpreynorthwest.org.

    A bald eagle flies to freedom at Rockford Bay on Monday.
  

    Don and Jane Veltkamp of Birds of Prey Northwest prepare to release a rehabbed bald eagle at Rockford Bay on Monday.