MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI - Rescues of injured raptors occur regularly in West Michigan, but not always are they rescued by a professional photographer.
But that was the case Thursday morning when Joe Gee was able to help rescue an injured red-tailed hawk that he had first found Wednesday evening in White River Township.
Gee, a professional photographer, was able to get stunning up-close photographs and video of the rescue near the corner of Old Channel Trail and Lamos Road.
Gee said he had been photographing Lake Michigan vacation homes and was headed home about a half-hour before sunset Wednesday, Sept. 30, when he found the large ailing bird in the road. It seemed to him that the bird was unable to fly, only hopping away when he approached.
Frustrated that he had no resources to help the bird and the light was fading quickly, Gee did his best to get it to move it off the road, headed home and put a post on Facebook about the hawk.
Sharing of his post ended up getting the attention of wildlife rehabilitator Melanie Stevens of Muskegon, who went to look for the bird Thursday morning. She said she spent four hours looking for the hawk before Gee joined her. They eventually found it about 10 feet from where he had first seen it, perched about 5 feet off the ground in a pine tree.
"I was hoping I wouldn't find it dead, lying on the ground," Gee said.
With Gee yielding a large net and Stevens with a towel, the two managed to get the bird out of the tree and into a crate. Stevens was wearing heavy leather gloves that she had to leave in the crate with the bird because it was holding on so tight with its talons.
"He was very good," Stevens said. "I'm positive he knew we were trying to help him because he didn't try to bite us or anything. I really hope he makes it because he's only a yearling."
The male hawk, hatched this year, was taken to the Braveheart Raptor Rehabilitation Center in Twin Lake, which has been inundated with raptors. According to a notice on the center's Facebook page in September, it had been taking in one to three birds a day and was at full capacity.
Susan Stamy, who runs the center, said the hawk has a fractured wing and is suffering from internal parasites, malnutrition and dehydration. She said the bird is doing well and may need surgery on its wing.
Lynn Moore is a reporter for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email her at lmoore8@mlive.com and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.