I remember the times that my dad would go under the knife for surgery to remove cancerous tumors on in his intestines. My mom, sisters and my brother would all be at the hospital for support. We would all be sitting in the waiting room and worrying. We really did not need to be so worried, as my dad was always under the best of care from the Mayo physicians. We still worried.
It has been a worrisome day for many today.
For me I have been involved most of the day today doing what I do here at the National Eagle Center, teaching and educating about eagles and their habitat. We had two school groups today, a fourth grade and class of second graders. For me it was like being in a waiting room, I wanted to help, to be able to do more. The reality was, that there were lots of folks involved in trying to figure out what to do, well trained folks, who would know exactly what to do.
Just before my first class today, I talked with Mark from Broad Band, gave him some options and then went to start my class. I asked one of my colleagues, here at the National Eagle Center to take over on our end. Eileen Hanson was able to get a United States Fish and Wildlife official in contact with the folks at Broad Band and Minnesota Bound. The first step was to be able to get a permit from the USFWS to be able to enter the nesting territory of the eagles. State officials had to be contacted relating to this entry as well. Once that was in process, the next step was to figure out if the boom truck would be able to get to the nest. When the camera was installed the ground was frozen, but now that is not the case. If the truck could not get there, is there someone who can climb a tree to a dizzying height of 70 feet to get into the nest, and more importantly, know how to handle an eaglet. Also important, being able to deal with parent eagles that may try to intimidate the nest intruder. Thankfully the folks at The Raptor Center had a tree climber. Tree climber Jim has experience climbing very tall trees and dealing with irate raptor parents. The Raptor Center is World renowned for treating injured raptors, so if the eaglets needs medical assistance they will be nearby to help.
We must all now patiently wait in our waiting rooms, rest assure that the experts are there and will do what they can. We all can get support from each other.
I think we all also realize that there are a lot of people that care about the wild creatures around this state and beyond. It has been great to see all the folks from across the country showing their care and support and sending their prayers. Eagle web cam watchers from the Raptors Resource Projects Decorah nest, watchers of the eagles4kids.com web cam and others from across the country have been sending their support. Thanks for your concern!