There are magic moments in life that mean more than days and even years combined, defining moments where events and ability concur to serve our mission in a grace so intrinsically rewarding that they shine in our memories, unforgettable and forever cherished. This is how the story of Tundra, a magnificent Snowy Owl, has touched my heart.
Tundra was probably stolen out of the wild and brought illegally to Colorado to become a pet. She must have escaped from her captor, but couldn’t survive in the forested mountains. Her body is made for hunting the wide-open tundra of arctic Alaska. She was brought to the Rocky Mountain Arc in Telluride, where she lived for three years in a cage too small to accommodate her huge wingspan. There the strength of her wing muscles atrophied such that she was unable to gain altitude in flight. She was deemed unreleasable and eventually placed with BOP.
Tundra arrived here on a beautiful blue October day in 2005 and I thought a dream had come true. It was my hope to be able to befriend this most magnificent, magical of all owls.
Little did I know that we would be able to make a far better dream, a dream all thought impossible, come true for Tundra: We could fulfill her longing for freedom!
We placed Tundra into our large owl flight cage. Within a week we found her flying from the ground up to an 18-foot perch. She exhibited no respiratory problems and no more wing-drooping. That day we jubilated and we began to make plans for Tundra to “go Home.”
We contacted the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage, who in turn coordinated with ConocoPhillips to have our bird released at Alaska’s North Slope.
It was a magical event that took place where all involved worked together to find an avenue to get Tundra back into the arctic and flying free again.
Her journey “Home” was meant to be.
But “home” was so far, far away!
This past spring Tundra began her long, three day journey: first to Anchorage where she spent one day to acclimate at the Bird TLC Center prior to her release. BOP volunteer Raegan Morgan traveled to the North Slope with Tundra and had the honor and the privilege to open the door to her path to freedom. The ConocoPhillips staff provided transport to the release site and graciously hosted this momentous event.
Tundra was released near the Fjord/CD3 drilling pad on April 26, 2006. She blended with her frosty environment, ghost-like as she winged with graceful ease across the tundra toward a horizon obscured in ice-haze. Those of us who had to stay behind celebrated Tundra’s flight to freedom on mended wings.
We thank Michael Maya Charles and Dan Gray who delivered Tundra to us from Telluride, and Cindy Palmatier of the Bird TLC Center in Anchorage. We are deeply grateful to the staff of Conoco-Phillips Alaska Inc. for their assistance and hospitality.
Apart from Tundra, many stories come to mind, and there are only a few I can share with you. More will come in our next newsletter. Visit our web site for more information, including our thriving Thrift Shoppe that helps support our work; look for new stories about some of our incredible birds.
Today we wish to thank all who volunteered, donated funds, time and materials, and shared with us the good times at our Open House and our fabulous Fall Migration Celebration. We thank all of you that have stuck with us through the hard times and who then shared with us our joy in releasing more than 260 birds this year.
Happy Holidays and our best wishes for the New Year! May God Bless!
Heidi and Sigrid
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