It is always difficult for a parent to watch a child leave the nest. But for falconer Jim Kroshus, he is hoping his baby will find a new one.
Kroshus and fellow falconer Steve Schwartze said an emotional goodbye to Val, a peregrine falcon who was released back into the wild yesterday as a part of the Gull Abatement Program and Wild Falcon Rehabilitation program near the Waste Management Landfill in the west end.
“It tugs at the heartstrings a little bit,” said Schwartze, owner and operator of Falcon Eco-Systems Solutions.
Val was first picked up about nine years ago in Saskatchewan after breaking her wing in a collision with a power line.
Kroshus spent years rehabilitating Val in hopes of her rejoining the wild and becoming an active breeding falcon, as peregrines are a threatened species.
Upon hearing about Val’s situation, Schwartze found a way to integrate her into the rehabilitation program in Edmonton and is confident that she will thrive now that she has been released.
“Val is kind of late in her prime but she has not been exposed to the wear and tear that a wild bird would have, so she has a pretty good chance,” says Schwartz.
