Let it go, let it go......

Gathering before opening the crate.

John doing the door opening duty.

And she's away!

Or in this case, "Let her go". Today the beautiful adult bald eagle, ELSA, was released back where she was found near Sheridan College. These photos are from Bud Stewart, WGF office there in Sheridan. As you can see in the one photo, ELSA had a huge cheering section to watch the event. The middle photo shows John Woller, the one who originally saw her and called for help.

It was a bit of a cloudy day but the sun was shining on all the faces as they watched this awesome female take off. Bud said she made a short flight to a hillside but within five minutes there was another adult bald flying over her.

At this point I believe it is her mate as Bud said there was a noticeable difference in size in the two birds. ELSA is a huge female and, as you know, males are smaller in the raptor world.

I'll probably get more photos from the day and there will be an article written in the Sheridan Press. This is the first eagle release where I wasn't present so I've been on pins and needles all day. I felt better when John sent me an email saying it went exceptionally well and would send more later.

Thanks everyone. Also thanks to Dr. Ted Vlahos who hauled the eagle over to Sheridan. He's a renowned equine vet and also has an office there. As he was headed that direction yesterday he agreed to take her.