Flying Eagle Team Spreads Wings at Soldier's Field

As one might expect, the week of Veteran’s Day is always a very important and busy time for our traveling Bald Eagles.  This year, though, it was a particularly exciting week for Lewis and Clark, our Bald Eagle flight team.

 

After many programs at schools, ceremonies, and even a St. Louis Blues hockey game, we had one remaining trip to cap off a super-successful week—we were heading to the Windy City, last stop--Soldier’s Field!  As a Chicago native and life-long Bears football fan, this trip filled me with joy, and every moment my feet were touching the grass on that field was a dream come true.  Now I can hear all you Rams fans…Rams vs. Bears…that is an argument for another blog; this one’s about the birds!

In terms of flying an eagle, the term “Windy City” might be the first clue about the challenges involved with this venue.  For those who are not familiar with the particular geography of Soldier’s Field, it sits on a small outcropping of land right on Lake Michigan.  Watching your eagle circle gracefully above the stadium lights, knowing what lies just on the other side of the wall is both exhilarating and a little vomit-inducing for the trainers.

Lewis flew our first foray into Chicago sports in November 2007 at the Bears/Broncos game.  He is a true professional and excellent at what he does, so of course we wanted to make sure this flight was even more spectacular this second time around.  Therefore, we planned and practiced and planned some more, because that’s our job as good trainers…and like 2007, Sunday was the windiest day of our stay.  At this point you feel your plans fly out the window, and it boils down to Lewis being awesome, as always.

Accompanied by a host of military representation, the National Anthem playing, and jets flying over, Lewis circled and circled and circled…and circled, making those swirling currents obvious to all.  You could almost hear the kickers from both teams thinking how crummy kicking field goals was going to be during the game.  Every section in the huge packed stadium got a great look at Lewis as he went by, and the cheers would go up as he passed.  Now as the excitement built in the crowd, the urge to throw up was again increasing for all of us trainers on the field, watching this amazing bird with a combination of pride, faith, adrenaline, and fear of the unpredictability of natural elements.  It is a most intense feeling that I cannot explain any better than that. 

If you haven’t already figured it out, Lewis was in the air a lot longer than any of us trainers anticipated, but after four interminable minutes and a handful of long seconds, Lewis landed successfully, exactly where he was supposed to, and the crowd erupted in cacophonous noise.  I think I was jumping up and down screaming, and I might have almost hugged a random security guard in relief.  It was a wonderful day.  As always, leaving the skyline I called home for so long behind made me sad.  I was so proud of our presentation and happily knew that the pre-game excitement would carry over in helping the Bears kick some Minnesota Viking rear…which they did! (Oh yes, I went there.)

If you haven’t seen our flying eagles strut their stuff, keep your eyes peeled.  They’re enjoying a bit of a vacation after the busy end to their season, but they will be back in gear later this winter as Bald Eagle migration season will be upon us again.  Keep check on the WBS website to find where our busy naturalists and eagles will be doing programs all along the Mississippi River and beyond!  In the meantime, go Bears!! 

Submitted by Dana Lambert, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist