Well, it’s been quite a while, but I’m still here. My newest handler is working out pretty well, although she doesn’t spend enough time on my blog 
We’ve been doing quite a few programs since January. We went to Homer for the Shorebird Festival in May and it was lovely. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was just right: there was a nice area for me to walk around in the grass and to stretch my wings; I could see the spit and all the other birds flying around. The programs were very nice and were with fellow Ed birds, Ghost (SNOW) and Atremis (GHOW): the two at the high school were so relaxing I tucked up my foot and preened. The program at the Islands and Oceans started off rough because there were these shiny things hanging from the ceiling that kept moving around and flashing, but my handler put me back in the kennel and asked another human to fix them and when I came back out they were gone! This new handler is OK.
She put aylmeris on me this spring! Yeah! I can move around more freely now without the traditional jesses trailing behind. I have been practicing flying short distances and my new handler has been helping out too. I can now go about 5-8 feet, and it feels so nice that I have to stretch my wings out once I land. Bathing is a lot nicer now too, no more stiff leather jesses.
I put on some weight this spring – I could tell my handler was having a difficult time the way she exhaled when I bated. My new mew is so big! My other handler put up some fantastic perches before he flew away, and the new one put covering on the perches to protect my feet, I have a nice water bath, a place to sun bathe, and several times a week I get put out in the Bird TLC yard on the creance. It’s lovely to walk around in the grass and flowers, flex my toes in the soil, and sometime I like to pull up the grass. So, everything is great, lots of food, nice views, regular exercise . . . around the end of May I started a nest scrape just under my long perch. I slowly started guarding it, trying to tell my new handler that I didn’t want her near my nest. She finally figured it out last week, but only after I got down into the nest to clean it – lost of dry clumps of grass, insects, and waste. I know she noticed the indention in the ground in May, but obviously she thought it was just a characteristic of the ground since the mew floor is exactly level everywhere. I’ve been trying to let other humans know about my nest too, especially when they get too close to that side of the mew. I think they all know now and they’ve been doing a pretty good job of respecting my territory.
My handler is signed up for more programs in August, a couple of them are outside which I like. Once school starts there will probably be programs too. I will encourage my new handler to keep updating my blog; she’s pretty nice, but I still miss the one that flew away 

Hi everyone,

It's me, Todd. Thanks for stopping by. I think Ms. Petra told you that I am getting ready to leave Alaska and head off the England. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone at the center and everyone who has stopped by the site to check out what Petra has had me out and about doing. It has been a great honor and privilege to work with such an incredible creature. thank you Petra for putting up with me and teaching me the way of the Eagle.

Lisa Pajot will be Petra's new human and Petra will be taking her out and about so check the bird tlc site and the blog for upcoming events. Lisa is checked off with Petra and doing great. Petra gets along great with Lisa as well. I just wanted to stop by and make a quick note to say thanks and I will miss the center, people and Ms. Petra.

clear skies, good updrafts and lots of prey to all.

Todd.

Raptor Rap at the zoo

Hi everyone, wow I had a great time at the zoo on the 8th of June. I took my human there for the Raptor Rap where we got to see lots of people and my human told them all about me. My friend Denali the Golden Eagle was there too with his human, Marybethe. The people had lots of really good questions about us eagles. My human told me he is waiting for some pictures from a friend and will post them as soon as he get them.

If you didn't get to see us at the zoo, come on out to Potter Marsh on the 26th for the grand opening of the new boardwalk. I will be there with my human. This is one of my campaign topics for the bird of the year campaign from last year so I am really excited. Hope to see you there. Gotta go for now, thanks for stopping by.

Petra

more photos from Tatitlek

Hi again,

Just wanted to post some more pics from the Tatitlek trip. I have way too many to put all of them up but I will try to get a good mix. Thanks again for stopping by.

Todd

My humans trip to Tatitlek

Hi everyone,

I am Todd, Petra's human. Sorry it has been a while since I got back from Tatitlek, Ms. Petra has been keeping me busy...training me and all. I went to Tatitlek to release an Eagle. This was during the Cultural Heritage Week. It was a real fun trip and I definitely want to say thanks to David and Lisa Totemoff for letting me stay with them. I really felt welcome and at home during the trip. There were a lot of people there, from Tatitlek and from other places; Nanwalek, Tri-Valley, Port Graham, Whittier, Valdez, Cordova, Chenega Bay, Anchorage, Elamar, Spokane.

The school kids, from all grades were doing projects like soapstone carving, scrimshaw, beading, sewing, learning to paddle a Bidarka (Kyak). It was absolutely beautiful there, so quiet and just wow!! Oh, don't want to forget the people who flew the Eagle and I out there, thanks to the nice people at Alaska Air Transit at Merrill Field. The flight to and from the village was great. When it came time to do the release, which we did on the beach and I surprised Mr. Palmer, the principal of the school. I told everyone about the Bird TLC and the Eagle that I brought to release then I asked Mr. Palmer to come down and be the one to open the carrier.

The Eagle didn't waste any time, she jumped out of the carrier saw the people and took off!! I hope you like the pictures. Thanks for stopping by the blog and thanks again to everyone in Tatitlek Village for having us out. I will post again with more pictures.

Todd

Goodbye One Wing

Hi everyone, I have some sad news. My cousin One-Wing died today. He came to live with the nice people at the Bird TLC after he got mixed up in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Here is a little bit about him if you don't know his story. He evaded the humans who were trying to catch him for three days. In the process he banged up one of his wings really bad and it had to be what the humans call amputated. He wasn't doing real well after that and he was a blood donor for 10 other eagles from that oil spill...he really is a hero. After all he went through, he pulled through and recovered. Doctor Scott and One-Wing were really close after all they went through trying to get One-Wing healthy. One-Wing lived out his life at the Bird TLC where he got lots of visitors and love and care. You will be missed One-Wing or as my human calls him sometimes, wingnut. Now you can fly free again with the Witch. Love you, Petra.

Hi all,

It's Todd. I don't usually interrupt Ms. Petra while she is blogging but I had to share my thoughts about One-Wing. He was such a nut, that is why I call him Wingnut!! He would give whoever went out in the yard a good eagle yelling at. When we went out to catch him for his Sunday check ups he would do laps around his mew and when we got him cornered, he would flip on his back and look at us like ooooohhhhh I'm gonna get you!!! He will truly be missed. Dr. Scott, and all those who knew him will have a hole in our hearts. Fly with the Witch buddy.

sportsmans show

Hi again, boy if you don't keep up with what you are doing you get way behind the eagle curve. My human and I went to the sportsmans show. I talked him in to taking me twice!! He thinks he is training me... boy do I have him wrapped around my halux!! The sportsmans show was really neat, I got to see a whole bunch of people and they asked about me. They didn't seem to mind my silly human talking so much since I haven't learned to speak human yet!

Our friends from the State Troopers and Fish and Game were there with us too. It was so fun to see the look on peoples faces when I flapped my wings. Sorry this is short, I am running late and have to go now. Thanks for stopping in and check back often. Petra

Scouts

Hi everyone, I got to go with my human to something called a scout group! Not sure exactly what that is but we were there to honor someone they called an Eagle Scout so it must be pretty cool. Congratulations Kelsey on becoming an Eagle. I don't think he can fly though, these silly humans think they can do a lot of stuff but I don't think they can fly like an Eagle!! I took my human to meet some other scouts last week too, they called these scouts cub scouts. Now I have heard of cubs before and they didn't look like any I have seen!!! Oh well, it was really fun talking to the little humans and the big ones too.

The little humans were like "WOW" when I flapped my wings for them...I was really trying to schwack my human, he he he!! It was a real fun time and my human said he would put pictures up when he gets them. He said to tell you there is something called a link where you can see the little humans called cubs and their big humans too. Thanks for stopping in and don't forget to check the Bird TLC calendar for more upcoming events. http://picasaweb.google.com/dlarend/BirdTLCVisitPetraTheBaldEagle41708?authkey=bPFz98gIL4g

FWS Thank you

Hi everyone, sorry it has been a while. My human has been busy doing human things and I have been busy with Eagle stuff. I wanted to tell you about the trip I took my human on to see the nice people at the Fish and Wildlife office. They had a nice meeting to thank all the nice people at the Bird TLC, ERA Aviation, Alaska Airlines and lots of other people who helped my cousins from Kodiak who got in trouble with the fish goo.

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the nice people who helped them too. I apologize if I forgot someone. Thank you all for all you did. Petra.

Thank you all for your support

Hi everyone, I am so excited. My human told me I won the Bird of the Year campaign. The information is a little late coming from my human but he and all the nice people at the Bird TLC have been busy taking care of my cousins from Kodiak. I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who supported the campaign. Not just those who voted for me but everyone who voted and especially my fellow candidates, Gus and Crawford.

It is such an honor to be voted Bird of the Year. I can't wait to get out on the road with my human and see all the nice people here in Alaska. Don't forget to get out this year and enjoy seeing my cousins and all the other members of my extended feathered family. You can see them at all kinds of neat places like Potter Marsh, Ship Creek hatchery and sooo many other beautiful places here in our great state.

One last thank you to all the people who are helping to take care of my cousins by giving them baths and helping them get the goo off of them. Also to all the nice people bringing in the fish for them to eat. I know they will be real hungry after the silly humans get done with them!! That is all for now, thank you for stopping by.

Oops, I almost forgot to tell you about the tv people who came to see us at the center. My human says that the Animal Planet will be showing something about the Bird TLC on February 8th at 9:30 pm. Wow, a planet of animals...how cool is that!!

Petra

Congrats to my human

Hi everyone,

I am so excited for my human, he passed his state falconry exam on Tuesday. He was really happy and said he can't wait to get more involved with it. I am not the jealous type but he better not spend too much time with other birds or I will have to bite him one!!! I'm not worried about that, he is a good human. I have to go now, lots of eagle things to take care of; preening, playing and playing in the water. More fun stories and info to come. Thanks for stopping by. Talk to you soon.

Petra

Please vote for me, thank you.

Hi everyone, I hope you have enjoyed my page. My human thought it would be a good idea to let you all know that I have been nominated for Bird of the Year at the Bird TLC. What is Bird of the Year you ask? Well, my friends Crawford the Raven, Gus the Great Horned Owl and I are all campaigning for the honor. We all have special causes that we are sharing information about to help spread the word about.

I am campaigning on the Protection and good use of birding places in Alaska platform. I want to tell people about all the great places they can go and see all of my feathered friends and family. My favorite bird place outside of the Bird TLC is Potter Marsh, a really neat place to see all kinds of us bird types. If I am elected as Bird of the Year, I will encourage people to get out and enjoy all these great places in our great state. Also, I will urge people to continue to support good management of these areas for all of our human friends and wild types to enjoy.

Do you like stories? I sure do. My favorite stories are Eagle Release stories and I think my human really likes them to. My human tells me that the nice people at the Bird TLC have returned about 19 of my cousins back to the wild this year with some of them at my favorite place, Potter Marsh. This is where the Bird TLC is trying to get a new place for me and my friends who live there and all of our friends and family in treatment to live. It sure sounds like a nice place, I hope we can move in soon. I hope you can come out and see one of my cousins get to go back to the wild.

Every $5 donation will get me or my friends one vote. Now don't think we are just in this to get your money. The people at the Bird TLC are what the humans call volunteers and I hear them talking about needing donations to keep things running smooth. They see a lot of different kinds of us birds every year, I heard them say between 600 and 800 birds. WOW, that is a lot of us. They also say they want to know what is important to the other humans out there about the mission here at the Bird TLC.

Thank you for stopping by to see what I have been up to lately and don't forget....Vote for PETRA for Bird of the Year. If you need more information, contact the Bird TLC at 562-4850. The nice people there will be happy to give you more details on how to cast your vote. Thanks again and see you here soon.

Petra

Lots and lots of kids

Hi again. Thought I would tell you about what I did today with my human. Todd took me to a place called Anchorage Christian School, I don't know what one of those is but I had fun and got to see a lot of kids. I really like going out to see kids. They make me feel good when they see me and make a funny human sound kind of like and owl but more like oooooohhhhh instead of whoooooo.

I got to come out of my travel box four times today at the school. Whew, that was a lot of work standing up on my humans glove four times for about an hour each time but it was fun. I got to take a break in between and relax and make sure my feathers looked nice for my next appearance. No, I am not trying to act like a special bird, I just want to look my best for the people who come to see me. There were young kids and some older kids and some grown up humans too.

The kids are so fun, I flapped my wings really hard a couple times and jumped off my humans glove a couple times. The kids thought that was pretty neat. They had all kinds of questions for him; what do I eat, how old am I, can I go under water and a lot more. He did good with answering them all. He is real good with the kids, I think that might be why his mate says he acts like a kid sometimes!!!

I will peck him to get pictures from our day at the school on here soon too so you can see some of my new friends and how much fun we had today. Well, this one is kind of short for now. I have to go do Eagle things but I will let you know when the pictures are up. Thanks for checking out my latest adventure.

Petra

Long road trip

Hi everyone, I took a long road trip with my human and his mate (my silly human calls her his wife, not sure what that is but sounds kind of cool) this past weekend. My human took me down to Homer. I hear there are a lot of my cousins that hang out down there and see a lady named Jean. I got to meet her. WOW, is she nice. I heard the humans talking about how Jean puts out salmon for my cousins when it is cold out. I got to have my picture taken with her, pretty neat to meet someone famous!! I will talk to my human and get him to put the pictures on here so you can all see.

Well, let me tell you about our trip to Homer. It was a long drive and I was kind of nervous because it was snowing and yuky on the drive there. But I didn't worry to much, my human is very careful when we go out and about. When we got there Friday afternoon it was pretty windy and a little rainy. Todd was talking to Dave, another human friend who takes care of my close friend Ghost the snowy owl. They were talking about releasing one of my cousins who had been at the Bird TLC for a while. He was found down there in Homer and not feeling well but the nice people at the TLC helped him get better and go back home.

There were a lot of people who came out to see us and watch my cousin go home. The humans were talking about my first caretaker Leslie and her little girl Morgan and remembering the good times and good things she did. I got to see an old friend who helped Leslie take care of me when I lived with them, Linda Stevens and her mate John. They are sooo nice. All the people were talking about something called a fund raiser for John because he isn't feeling good either. It was neat to see all the people come out to support Leslie, Morgan, Linda and John. Thank you nice humans.

When my cousin left the box that he was in he got picked on by a bunch of darn ravens. Boy, I felt bad for my cousin, just trying to get home and getting messed with. Some birds kids....can't take them anywhere!!!

After my human talked to the people for a little bit and told them about me and how I used to live with Leslie and now live at the TLC, we said bye bye birdie to my cousin and headed back to Anchorage. I like how the humans nest when they travel. We stayed in something called a hotel. Not as nice as a big nest way up in a tree but it did the trick. We had a good trip and I got a nice rat when we got back to the center, mmmm mmmm good. Nothing like a nice juicy rat after a long trip.

I will peck my human to get the pictures up for you to see as soon as he can. Until next time, thanks for checking out my latest adventure.

Petra

Owl-o-ween

Hi everyone, my human took me to this event everyone called owl-o-ween at this place called Golden view school. I didn't know what to think, after all I am an Eagle. Would I fit in? Would everyone think I was weird? Turned out OK. There were lots of people there and other bird friends, some who I know from the Bird TLC and some I have not met before. The people were dressed up in all kinds of things, some kind of scarry and some kind of fancy and a little of everything in between.

My human and I saw lots of people who stopped by to see us and ask about me. Now don't think this celebrity stuff is going to my head, I just really like to see new people. I got to have my picture taken with some of the people who came by. Wow, that was a real fun time. My human says we will be going to see more people on the 17th of October, I am not sure where but I will ask my human to let me know so I can put it up here for you all to see. He said we will be going to Anchor Point on the 24th too. That is where I grew up with my previous human Leslie and her daughter Morgan.

My human Todd said this is going to be in Leslie's memory and in support of the Stevens' who took care of me for a while too. He said this is going to be a fund raiser for the Stevens', I am not sure what a fund raiser is but it sounds like fun as long as I get to see lots of people. My human told me that Mr. Stevens hasn't been feeling good and had to see the doctor so this is to help him and his wife. I hope you feel better.

Well, I have to get going. I have lots of Eagle things to do today. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you out in town or down in Anchor Point. If you have questions about when my human and I or any of my friends from the Bird TLC will be out and about call 562-4852 and one of the friendly humans will tell you about us. Thanks.

Petra

More of the story

Hi again,

Sorry it took a couple days to get back to telling you my story. I think I left off talking about my human coming to visit me a lot and how I started getting used to seeing him. After a while more people started coming to see me, I tried really hard to be a big scary eagle to them too but they didn't scare off either. These humans can be pretty persistent! When they would bring me my dinner they were wearing something on their arm, it made me nervous at first but they didn't do anything with it to scare me so I let them in.

In January, I was minding my own business one day when all of a sudden someone threw something over me and I couldn't see. I was really scared and tried to fight back as hard as I could but the next thing I knew I was picked up and being carried away. When I finally got brought back to my mew, I had these leather bracelets on my feet! I was like, "hey, what do you think I am, a model or something"? I had them on before but it had been a while. I was starting to get the idea that something else was in store for me soon. And I was right!

In February, a new person came to see me with all of my other new friends, his name is Alex. He had something on his arm too but everyone else was wearing it so I figured what the heck, it must be a cool thing or something. He came in to see me and picked up the leather bracelets and tried to get me to step on the thing on his arm. "No way", I squawked but I don't think he speaks eagle talk! He was tickeling my feet so I gave in and got on the thing on his arm, I think I heard them call it a glove. I don't know what it is made of but it sure is strong, I squeezed it hard to make him let me go but he didn't even act like he felt it...time to do some salmon presses!!

I even tried to jump and fly away from him but those darn bracelets he was holding on to didn't let me get far. I got back on his glove and figured I would just sit here and give him grumpy eagle stares to try to scare him...didn't work. Then my other new friends took turns getting me on their gloves, it was actually kind of fun. The look in their eyes was kind of scared and excited too. I was pretty excited, and grumpy, getting to meet some new humans. After all they were being nice and bringing me dinner. Silly humans, they were shivering and shaking while we were out doing whatever it was they had me doing. I just rousted up my feathers and showed them who was queen of the cold.

I kept getting to go out with my new humans and walking around the place where I live. It was fun to get out of my mew and be grumpy with the humans to make them earn their...whatever it is they earn. Eventually, I got to spend more time with the humans and started doing what they call practice? I don't need practice, I already know how to be an eagle, silly humans. I guess the practice was for them, they had to keep getting me up on their glove, walking with me and then get up in front of people and talk about me. I was like, you better get it right buster or I will peck you on the forehead (I never did..just a nibble on the hands now and then to keep the silly humans in line). I don't see some of the other humans any more, I hope I didn't really scare them off.

After a lot of these practice things and biting on a few hands...he he, the practice was over at the end of May and my human Todd was so happy. The people he was telling about me were happy for him too. Don't forget, it wouldn't have happened without me buster! Show me a hand, I need a snack! Well this was the end of May now, boy time flies like and eagle when you are having fun. All the time in between was filled with lots of visits, walks, and that practice thing.

Since then my human has taken me all over seeing lots of friendly people. We have been as far south as Kenai and just recently we went way up to Prudhoe Bay, boy was it cold and windy. I will fill you in later on some of the places my human has taken me. I heard them talking about something they call owloween. What the heck is that, they should be talking about eagleoween. I guess my human is going to take me so I can see what all the fuss is about. I think he said it was going to be on the 26th of October here where I live. I hope I will ge to see more people there. Have a good night, time for dinner and a nap.

Petra

How I came to the Bird TLC

Hi everyone, I have some time so I thought I would share some information with you all about how I came to live at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center. When I was younger I lived in Cordova. I was hungry and looking for some lunch when I found something tasty looking to eat. When I grabbed it so I could eat it, it grabbed me back. From what my human Todd says, it was a trap. While I was stuck in the trap I was trying hard to get out of it and banged up my left wing. Fortunately, a nice person saw me and got me out of the trap and sent up here to Anchorage. The nice people at the Bird TLC took really good care of me and let me eat all I wanted, a salmon buffet. Boy was it yummy.

Eventually, the people at the Bird TLC said I was getting better and wanted to let me go so I could go back to Cordova. They took me to a place they call the flight pens so I could be with some of my relatives who were also getting ready to go home. I was really excited to exercise and fly again after being hurt and not feeling well for most of the summer. When I started trying to fly my left wing hurt and made me feel not so good again. They took me back to the Bird TLC a couple of times to help make me feel better ( I need to learn how to speak human so I can tell them things) but it didn't work out.

I got to live with a nice lady named Leslie for a long time and she took me all over the state seeing people and talking about me, I was like "wow I must be famous or something, all these people want to see me and find out about me". In the winter of 2006 the people at the Bird TLC told me the Lady I lived with was in a bad accident and wouldn't be back to see me any more. I was so sad.

After a while, I met some new people. I didn't know who they were or what they wanted and I did my best grumpy eagle to try to scare them away but they were pretty fiesty too and stayed around. They brought me food and talked to me, so I let them in with me. In January 2007, my new human, Todd, started coming to see me a lot. He would bring me food, talk to me and sometimes he would just stand in my mew and not say anything. At first I was like, what is this guy doing, who does he think he is? After a while I kind of got used to him coming in and visiting and kind of liked it.

Whew, my talons are getting sore from typing so much. I am going to take a rest, eat some dinner that my human brought for me. I might roust up my feathers and preen myself up a little to get ready for winter. I will continue this story later. Thanks for stopping by and maybe I will see you out in town one day.

Petra

P.S. I talked my human into putting a picture of us both on here, I am still learning this human computer stuff!!

Hi it's me

Hi everyone

Hello everyone, my name is Petra. I am a Bald Eagle from Cordova Alaska. I think I am about 13 years old, I don't really know for sure because I don't keep track. I will be filling you in on my life and where I now live with some really nice people here in Anchorage and the nice guy who takes me around to see people all over the state. I am new to this computer stuff and it is kind of hard to poke the keys with my talons but I will try to make it neat. I will have my caretaker put some pictures of us up soon. Thanks for stopping in and check back often for more fun stories of my life.

Petra