The incredible journey

About three weeks ago, during the first of the big wind-storms that have been plaguing Sisters Country recently, a big gust went sweeping through Gary Landers' Wild Wings Raptor Rehab facility and swept off Grace, a turkey vulture with a serious flying impairment.

To say Gary is good at his business is an understatement. Daily, he deals with raptors hit by vehicles, victims of accidental electrical contact, shot by some idiot who shouldn't be allowed to own a firearm, poisoned by misused rodent bait, sick from ingesting lead, found without parents - any number of other life-threatening problems.

Grace had a damaged wing - so badly damaged that part of it had to be amputated. Regulations require that a bird that is too badly injured to be released back into the wild must be euthanized - unless it can be turned into an "educational bird."

Gary has turned several raptors with permanent injuries into educational birds, including the great horned owl Marley who is a hit in Sisters schools and a golden eagle that went to a wonderful educational center in California.

Over the years, Grace was well enough for Gary to remove her from her flight cage of vulture toys and take her from school to school where she has educated and entertained hundreds of students and adults.

To keep her healthy and well-exercised, Gary lets her have the run of the rehab facility during the day and rigged her up with a set of falconer's bells to keep tabs on her as she wanders about.

Then came the day of the Big Wind; away went Grace, who-without much effort on her part-found herself deposited high in a tree near Gary's place.

What do you do when your almost-helpless TV is tossed into the air and left stranded in a tree? Why you climb the tree and try to get it safely down, of course. That's what Gary did, while on the ground watching her husband climbing higher and higher, was Kelli, Gary's wife, with her cell phone reporting the event.

What does a turkey vulture do when it is suddenly free and thinks it can fly again? Why, it leaps out of the tree it's in, and with the wind to help it, struggles to make it to the next one.

"I'm free! I'm free! I can fly!" was probably running through Grace's tiny little bird brain.

Eventually the wind and Grace's desire to fly stretched the distance between she and Gary until she was lost from his sight.

This was a very sad moment for Gary. He was watching a bird he was responsible for go staggering off into the unknown and with no power to stop or help her. Sort of like watching one your children go off on a venture that you know is not going to end well, and have no way to stop it from happening.

For three weeks Grace was missing. Friends and associates were watching for her, but no reports came in of a turkey vulture looking for road-kill handouts, or standing on a street corner in Sisters dancing with her falconry bells entertaining people.

Then, surprise of surprises! One morning, she turned up on the back porch of Dr. Little Liedblad's home.

Here's what Gary said in an email: "Anyone know where I can get a bumper sticker that says, 'My Vulture is Smarter than your Honor Student'? After three weeks, Grace the Turkey Vulture was found today. Thin, but in good condition. Here's the kicker; she was on (Dr.) Little Liedblad's back deck. Straight-line distance, that's about eight miles from my place. Not bad for a partial wing amputation.

"What are the odds she would end up on the deck of the only experienced wildlife veterinarian in the area? I suppose some mathematician could figure that out. I'll think of it more along the lines that I just won the lottery. But this is much better than money. Smart birds, those vultures.

"Thanks for all your sympathy and concern since she left."