BRINNON — Three juvenile bald eagles who were rescued in Jefferson County are to come home from Bainbridge Island on Sunday to be released into the wild.
West Sound Wildlife Shelter on Bainbridge Island will release the eagles at 11:30 a.m. at the group campsites Dosewallips State Park near Brinnon, said Lisa Horn, the center’s executive director.
The center received two of the eagles from the Northwest Raptor Center & Wildlife Center in Sequim. The other came from the Discovery Bay Raptor Rehabilitation and Education Center.
All three are juveniles.
The two eagles rescued by the Sequim center arrived at the Bainbridge Island center July 6 and were in good condition, Horn said.
The third juvenile was found July 8 on Marrowstone Island and was dehydrated, thin and heavily infested with mites, she said.
Cindy Daily, who operates the Discovery Bay Raptor Center, stabilized the bird and transferred it to the Bainbridge Island facility three days later.
The two Sequim eagles were branchers, designated as such because they were found perched on a branch, while the Marrowstone eagle was a fledgling, a bird that has begun but not yet mastered how to fly.
Bald eagles don’t reach maturity until they are about 5 years old, at which time their heads turn white, according to Cate McCaslin, West Sound’s development coordinator.
The birds are too young to determine their gender, McCaslin said.
“Many raptors come to the shelter from other facilities in order to be conditioned utilizing our C. Keith Birkenfield flight enclosure,” Horn said.
“Our modular flight enclosures are designed to mimic the space that raptors need in order to return to full health.”
The three eagles were put into the same cage in early August and have learned how to jump, glide, fly and land, she said.
Juvenile eagles are usually released near spawning salmon runs, the main food for most Washington state eagles at this time of year, she added.
McCaslin said the location of the release was chosen because it is in the general area where the birds were found.
The release is open to the public, but observers will be kept away from the site to give the birds a free flight path, according to McCaslin.
One member of the public, the high bidder in the wildlife center’s auction earlier this year, will open the cages to release the birds.
Observers, who will need a Discover Pass to park on the premises, are encouraged to park at the day-trip lot and walk to the release site.
The park straddles U.S. Highway 101 as it crosses the Dosewallips River just south of Brinnon.
Anyone coming into contact with an injured bird has three options to call for help.
The Discovery Bay Raptor Center can be reached at 360-379-0802, while the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center can be reached at 360-681-2283 or http://nwraptorcenter.com.
To contact the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, call 206-855-9057 or go to www.westsoundwildlife.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.