ARLINGTON — Appropriately enough for the eighth annual Arlington-Stillaguamish Eagle Festival, one of the birds of prey that the Sarvey Wildlife Center was showcasing was a 17-year-old bald eagle named Freedom.
“These are still wild animals, even if they are tame,” said Robert Lee, Freedom’s handler, in the Arlington City Council chambers Feb. 7. “You don’t argue with an eagle.”
Although Freedom is accustomed to humans by now, Sarvey matches its birds of prey with their own handlers, to avoid agitating the birds.
“When she was three months old, she fell out of her nest and broke both wings,” Lee said. “Her right wing healed just fine, but her left wing was broken in three separate places, so she never gained full extension and can’t fly.”
Fellow Sarvey volunteer Joe Ancheta handles Ista, a 10-year-old peregrine falcon who’s suffered psychological damage.
“She refuses to hunt, but she’ll eat dead animals,” Ancheta said. “This makes it impossible for her to survive in the wild.”
Kestrel SkyHawk, who’s been one of Sarvey’s representatives at the Eagle Festival since its inception, noted that Sarvey spends an average of $152 per animal patients, with a total of 2,951 patients in 2013. As such, the nonprofit is always seeking donations.
“We really like bringing our birds here for the festival, so people can see animals that they wouldn’t normally have a chance to study this close,” SkyHawk said. “When you can look them right in the eyes, it’s a different experience.”
Eagles and other wildlife also received artistic tribute at the festival, not only through the return of the Country Carvers Chainsaw Carving Show Feb. 6-7, but also through the Arlington Arts Council’s annual themed art contests.
Whidbey Island’s Justin Vallesillo and Snohomish’s Paul Evans worked against the wet to carve birds of prey, while Alexandru Pricub honored the heritage of his adopted homeland by carving a Sasquatch.
“I love this land,” said Pricub, a Renton resident who originally hails from Romania. “I’m going to die in this land.”
While city recreation manager Sarah Lopez conceded that the rain did result in a slightly reduced festival attendance overall, arts council board member Roberta Baker reported that the art contests saw an uptick in participation. There were about 75 youth and adult photographers, painters and other artists.
“We’ve got a good group of budding artists here,” said Baker, who congratulated first-place eagle photographer Phil Lane for his winning shot.
Lopez cited significant public interest in other festival events that Saturday, from the bird identification walk at Country Charm to the “Predators of the Heart” wild animal show at Eagle Creek Elementary. Jim Jacobson counted nearly 700 attendees at the latter.
“Adults and children alike learned about dozens of different animals, and had the opportunity to interact with them,” Jacobson said. The event supported the Predators of the Heart wildlife sanctuary in Anacortes.
That same day, North Cascades River Expeditions drew seven paddlers and floated from Cicero to Haller Park in about 90 minutes, and saw several eagles, cormorants, blue herons, mergansers, kingfishers and red tail hawks.
“Heavy rain had swollen the North Fork to a record level for the date,” said Jerry Michalec of North Cascades River Expeditions. “The journey was straightforward until we approached the confluence of the North and South forks at Haller Park. To make the take-out at the park, we needed to cross the heavy current of the South Fork of the Stillaguamish that was pushing hard away from our landing point. Summoning all our paddling power, we barely gained the left shore just above the Highway 9 bridge.”
Like the Country Carvers, Michalec hopes his group can return to next year’s festival.
