Rehabilitation, Abundance, and Awe

Lessons from Bald Eagles

When I was in the 3rd grade, my class gathered with the whole school in the auditorium for an assembly as we did each month. This particular assembly, we heard from wildlife experts who spoke dramatically about the endangerment of Bald Eagles — the symbol of America. Their language was strong, emphasizing that these animals were essentially gone from the planet. I remember thinking the birds in the photos were terrifying, but as a young vegetarian and animal-lover, feeling so sad about the concept of endangerment in general. I remember feeling the presentation as sad in general — not a lot of hopefulness communicated.

I grew up in California in the 80s and 90s, so the long-term effects of DDT were not yet a memory, and lead bullets were causing huge problems, not only for Bald Eagles, but for California Condors. This problem continued well into my twenties, when many environmental groups worked to ban them once and for all — which didn’t happen until 2007, and is still not entirely under control. Of course I didn’t know any of this when I was a kid, but I realize now that when I heard that the Eagles were “endangered,” my childhood mind conflated that with “extinct”. Unfortunately, that misconception stayed with me for… a long time.

An Embarrassing Lesson

Jump ahead to my move to the Pacific Northwest in 2009. My first year in Portland, I was a Team Leader for a group of environmental educators in an AmeriCorps program. The folks on my team worked at school districts, city governments in the Portland area, and wildlife refuges. They were tasked with amazing things — building large scale recycling programs, setting sustainability strategies with government leaders, guiding interpretive and educational programming, etc. Each month, the 13 of us gathered as a team to learn from each other, talk about challenges, and grow our professional skills.

One of these team meetings was at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, where a member was working as an interpretive guide. We walked as a group, and she pointed out plants, spoke of the history of the area, etc. We were chatting and enjoying each others’ company, when we saw a HUGE Bald Eagle soaring over the water in search of a fish treat.

“OH MY GOD!!!!” I exclaimed, probably more excited than I’ve ever been. “Is that a BALD EAGLE!?!?” I asked, eyes wide open, looking around frantically at my team members. They all looked at me with expressions ranging from confusion to utter bewilderment. Many of them nodded, and the woman who worked there smiled at me kindly. “They’re kind of all over the place around here. We’re lucky enough to have nests here pretty often too.” My cheeks flushed bright red as I realized I had likely just lost a whole lot of cred with this group of environmental professionals.

A Source of Awe

I decided to own up to my ignorance, and told them why I was so excited — in my mind, Bald Eagles were extinct. They laughed and nodded. Thanks to the excellent company I was in, they educated me about the success of the Bald Eagle rehabilitation programs in the 80s and 90s, and how regulations and habitat protections helped eliminate some of the most brutal threats to the population.

After about 20 minutes of discussion, the Eagle that was circling the river took a sharp dive straight into the water, and arose with an absolutely huge fish in its beak. It soared low across the water, ensuring a good grip on the fish, and flew away. Thankfully, I was not the only one who was completely in awe witnessing that particular occurrence.

Later that week, I reflected on this experience. I compared my own reaction when I first saw the bird to what we collectively experienced witnessing such a common natural event. I was responding with an impression that what I was witnessing was incredibly rare. And while that would have made the experience spectacular, I was struck that even with the knowledge that these birds were present in abundance, we all were collectively able to experience an awe that felt close to the magnitude mine starting out.

What was so special about what we did witness? Well, first off, Bald Eagles are HUGE. Their wingspans can be up to 7.5 feet, and when they get close, their power is palpable. And while they hunt every day, as many birds do, it’s rare to be able to witness that as a human. It’s breathtaking.

Human Rehabilitation

I can’t help but recall this story when I think about what we are going through as a society right now. We are experiencing collective trauma on a huge scale right now, and it’s affecting all of us. I’m not just talking about COVID or Ukraine, I’m talking about the endless barrage of seemingly dire world news that we are subjected to on a daily basis, combined with the constant narratives about personal value and worth that are nearly impossible to live up to.

I’ve been reading into the details of the bald eagle rehabilitation, and thinking about how these strategies are necessary for our own “rehabilitation.”

• Reintroduction: How can we re-introduce ourselves into our communities in a way that is more sustainable? The eagles were nurtured and bred in a protected environment, then carefully reintroduced and monitored. Whether it’s each of us venturing back out into the world, going to events again, having dinner parties, etc. or whether it’s trying to find ways to be beneficial to others as we try to find joy in the madness, we can bring care to this process and recognize that it takes time, collaboration, and mutual support.

• Habitat protection and enforcement: I love thinking about how we protect our “habitats,” whether that’s our home spaces or the natural places we frequent. What do we need to “enforce” in order for these spaces to stay safe for everyone? There are obvious answers in covid protocols, and more complex ones when it comes to social energies like how we are treated, who we share our spaces with, etc. Even if we never agree as a society on how to implement these on a large scale, I find it helpful to keep these questions in mind and control or influence what I can to breed safety and comfort for myself and others.

• Breeding programs: Okay, maybe not this one.

Abundance

Finally, the bald eagle populations’ journey back to health is a good lesson in abundance. I don’t say this because of the numbers of birds. When I think of abundance, I’m reminded of that moment between myself and my Americorps colleagues. The awe we felt wasn’t because the moment was so rare or because populations were so low. It was because witnessing something so powerful in nature is unquestionably beautiful. I prefer to define abundance as “plentifulness” and a recognition of the good things in life when they are there — which they are so much of the time, if we can just witness it.

Thanks to my unusual introduction to these birds, they are close to my heart. And I’m incredibly grateful to those scientists and educators who had the sense to recognize the danger to their populations when they did. If we could just be so attentive to ourselves, recognize our own needs and have patience, we could thrive too.