Eagle Transport

Bald eagle, one of America's most majestic creatures sitting in a crate in my vehicle.

I've transported some really interesting creatures in the past few years, as I work in places where wild animals are kept as "animal ambassadors", have been trained to transport wildlife, and volunteer and work with projects that allow me to handle these animals.

Just when I think I've "seen it all", some really interesting opportunities always seem to arise.

One of the most recent examples of this happened a few days after Thanksgiving this past year.  

I heard through the "wildlife biologist grapevine" that an injured bald eagle from Virginia needed to be transported to a wildlife rehabilition center.  The eagle was reported injured by fishermen in central/Eastern Virginia and a Conservation Police Officer was tasked with restraining it for its own protection and getting it to a rehabilitation facility.

The logistics of this made it difficult, as a lot of mileage and time would be needed to get this eagle to the care it needed. A "middle man" became necessary to meet the Officer, intercept the eagle, and chauffeur it to the rehab center.

Carrying crate with eagle inside.

I quickly became this middle man.

Now, I've had a lot of precious cargo in my RAV4 before, but never a bald eagle, so this was a first, even for my standards.  I didn't have much in the way of plans for the evening and I knew it would only cost a few bucks to make the drive, so I was pretty excited to be able to not only help the animal, but all parties and agencies involved as well.

The Conservation Officer arrived promptly to my house with the injured eagle.  We exchanged hellos and some "how to's" and "do nots" were respectfully given to me, after all this was a federally protected bird. I agreed to make the drive one final time and was basically left to my own devices as long as this eagle made it to where it needed to go.

Also in my car were some members of the Sweeney family.   They are good friends of mine, and I wanted someone else to be there in case something went awry. I figured that the eagle would be fine for most of the ride in the very back of my SUV, but it wouldn't hurt to have some others checking on it once in a while, so that I could concentrate on driving.  They agreed to join me and their eyes lit up when they first saw the mature eagle.  It would be a good experience for everyone involved.

The first part of the drive went very smoothly.  We made our way westward and ultimately southwest to Waynesboro, Virginia.

As the Sweeney-filled, Brian-driven, bald eagle carrying Toyota Rav4 made its way down Route 340, a surprise almost stopped our vehicle completely.

A large black bear sprinted right across the road and my car came no more than 1 foot from hitting it. The passengers all screamed "BEAR!"

It was alive and well, running full speed through the road's lanes.

We saw the beast hurtle down into a wooded area off the road and eventually it was just a blur in the darkness.

After about 15 seconds of our bodies pumping adrenaline, we all exchanged laughs and agreed that this kind of experience would only happen to someone like me.

I'm glad we avoided having to take two animals to the Wildlife Center that evening.

The eagle arrived at the designated destination, hurt from its reported injury, but still breathing.  We meet with staff at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, people who came into work that late, just to intercept the eagle from me.  They do some amazing work at that facility and I highly support what they do and share.

I was happy that I did my part in this and am thrilled to have friends that also enjoy this type of adventure.

It was good to give back to wildlife, as it gives me so damn much.

Peace Like A River

Being a professional naturalist has given me the opportunities to either ride in or drive many kinds of vehicles.  I've been on ATV's, agency pick-up trucks equipped with infrared and night vision scopes, airplanes, motor boats, mountain bikes, John Deere gators, and even a helicopter.  These things make work in parks/wildlife easier, depending on where work needs to be done. Sometimes, not all wildlife is best enjoyed by a fast trail vehicle or the coolest aircraft.  Sometimes, it's all about something meaningful.

Potomac River sunrise

This past spring, I noticed a stretch of forest with bald eagle nests, a heron rookery, and a cormorant rookery. These rookeries are places where flocks of birds come to nest and congregate.   It just sounded like a little slice of wildlife watching heaven to me.  I had to get out there to see the birds and to try to photograph some of them.  The forest was only accessible by boat, and the boat I was dying to take out was in my backyard straddled upon a few sawhorses, on dry land.

The boat's name is Peace Like A River, and for the past 2 years, she had only touched a body of water a few times.  I wanted to change that. 

My desire to take her on the water increased when I was flipping through a small photo album of my grandfather's, from years ago.  This album was basically the story of how that canoe (and a few others) were built by him and of the adventures my mom and uncle had in those canoes, as children.  In between the pages of these photos are blueprints and plans that were used to construct Peace Like A River.  It doesn't seem easy to build one of these things, so it goes without saying that I'm thankful for having one so accessible to me.

Author's grandfather in Peace Like A River.

She's got an incredible amount of character in her wooden body.  She rides smooth, and although some maneuvers can be wobbly at times, she'll make every ride an enjoyable one.  It's even more enjoyable when you think about her history and character.



Author as a child (middle) with family on the Potomac River.

My siblings and I, as young kids, used to really enjoy going for rides in the boat.  My father would do most of the paddling work because as a kid, my main job used to be focused on not flipping the boat or leaning outside of it.  We'd fish from the canoe mostly, and often take breaks for lunch on the islands.  As I child, this was seen as an excuse to explore, an excuse that I still haven't let go of today as an adult.


As I was thinking of a plan to take the boat out and to see the bird rookeries, I figured I'd invite my friend Jeff.  He's a professional photographer with works and ties to National Geographic.  I found it fitting, as we try to find excuses to get out in our local parks anyway.  Plus, he takes amazing photos. He agreed and my excitement to go increased immensely. We paddled on the Potomac near where the birds were nesting.  We didn't disturb them at all, and Jeff got some really good photos of cormorants and herons. The "drop zone" of bird poop was quickly determined by us, so we knew to keep a bit of a distance from the animals.  The nests were probably between 40 and 70 feet in the air, and when a bird needed to poop, they didn't think twice about sending it straight down from that height.  It was an interesting experience, and I'll never forget the commotion of nesting cormorants and herons.

Cormorant rookery (nesting site).  Photo:  Jeff Mauritzen

Peace Like A River was originally a northerner, being built in New Jersey and taken out on bodies of water in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

She now resides in Virginia, and her most travelled body of water these days is the Potomac River, turning her into Southern Belle with northern roots.


Brian Balik (author) in Peace Like A River, searching for birds.  Photo:  Jeff Mauritzen

 

-Big thanks to Jeff Mauritzen for taking amazing photos and coming along on my local excursions.  Click to see more of his work here:  Travel and Wildlife Photography .

Wildlife Experiences

In the past two weeks I've been experiencing wildlife in incredible ways.  I've been trying to blog but have not had much time to check as many cameras as usual, but that short break of blogging ends now, and I'll be checking at least 12 cameras tomorrow.

During this little break, I've had some amazing wildlife experiences.  Here's a little list of what I've done and seen in the past 2 weeks.

• Saw a coyote on a deer kill in Reston, Virginia.
• Presented at the Virginia Chapter Meeting of The Wildlife Society.
• Compared data and conversed with the leading biologist of the Smithsonian about camera traps that he had in Virginia. 
• Camera-trapped some kind of weasel.  I am still in the process of identifying it but will post about it shortly.
• Talked with other camera-trappers of Virginia Tech, Ferrum College, and Radford University.
• Saw a bald eagle pick off a Canada goose on the Potomac River.  The fight only lasted a few seconds.
• Got a new camera-trap location in Falls Church, Virginia
• Supposedly had another bear attack a camera yesterday.  I'll be checking that camera tomorrow to see the damage.

It's crazy to think how all of these wildlife experiences all started with me putting up a single camera in a local park, just over a year ago.

Geese-a-Laying and Swans-a-Swimming

A break from all the data-entry and work of the wildlife cameras was needed today.  Another kind of wildlife adventure was in store.

It was birding galore at Mason Neck State Park, Mason Neck N.W.R., and Pohick Bay Regional Park.

Here's a list of what was seen today in all three of these areas:

10 Bald Eagles
200+ Tundra Swans
500+ Canada Geese
Pied-Billed Grebes
Canvasback Ducks
Ruddy Ducks
Mallard Ducks
Northern Pintail Ducks
Bufflehead Ducks
Red-tailed Hawks
American Robins
American Crows
Great Blue Herons
Pileated Woodpeckers
Northern Cardinals
Black-backed Gulls
Green-winged Teal

The biggest hits for me were the amount of bald eagles, seeing a bald eagle dive into the cold water to catch a fish, and seeing hundreds of tundra swans.

I tried to take a few pictures of the swans with my cell-phone's camera, through my binoculars.

Not the best picture quality, but it'll do.

Kayak Camera: Trip 2

Wow, I'm beat.  I've basically spent the whole day either working on the river, kayaking for fun alone, or kayaking with friends.  The camera-traps have hopefully been working hard lately, so I have taken my mind off of most of them for the past day or two.  Today was dedicated to the Potomac River.

The wee hours of the morning have been calling my name lately.  I was up and at it at 5:30 in the morning to see the sunrise on the river while on a kayak.

I hit the water just as the sun had come up over a ridge on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.  There was another man taking out a nice bass boat nearby so I said hello and paddled onward.

The point of getting out this early was to  not only see the sun rise over the river, but to just relax alone before the work day started. This sunrise just happened to be the earliest of all sunrises because of it being the day of the summer solstice.

I completed 12 laps from Virginia to Maryland and back and paddled a little upriver to an island to take a short break.

Silt and dirt were still in the river from rains a few days ago, but the river was flowing at a decent pace.  Cormorants, great blue herons, bald eagles, baltimore orioles, and mergansers were doing their usual calls and activities at this time.

Common mergansers showing their summer colors:  a rusty-reddish head and a gray body

I drifted and paddled back to the Virginia shore where I was greeted by a raccoon messing around with some leftovers in a trash can near the boat ramp.  Clapping didn't make it budge so I got a little closer and yelled at it.  It ran up a tree and gave me a few glares before coming down and disappearing into the woods.