The area around Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park has two more sets of eyes in the skies, as two successfully rehabilitated hawks were released there Tuesday morning.
Kathie Pacheco of Back Too The Wild Rescue nursed the birds—a sharp-shinned hawk and a red tailed hawk—back to health, after they were found by well-meaning citizens in poor health and taken to a rehabilitator for help.
The red-tailed had a broken wing, and the sharp-shinned likely had been struck by a vehicle—but both were healthy and ready to take to the skies Tuesday.
Pacheco says she’s one of only a few raptor rehabilitators in Kentucky, and they can always use donations and volunteers to help provide for care and protection for the birds of prey, which she says play an important and valued role in the ecosystems they live in. The release was filmed to be shown to students who are currently living at the lodge due to the December 10 and 11 tornadoes.
It may take time for the new hawks to call the area truly home, but they were well on their way to their second chance of a new life thanks to Back Too The Wild Rescue.