"I've never seen this before. They always just fly away."
Meher Mount
Your Friday photo is a video…
Visitors to Baba’s Tree at Meher Mount are often surprised at what they find. "I've never seen this before," said Jackie DeSantis from the Ojai Raptor Center. She made this comment watching what happened after she released a rehabilitated American Kestrel at Avatar's Point next to Baba's Tree.
See the complete story and raptor release in this 3:15-minute video as told by guest caretakers Kristina Somma and Robert Turnage.
“Raptors” is an outtake (a scene filmed for a movie but not included in the final version) from the award-winning documentary film Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience.
“It reinforced the feeling that something powerful is at Baba’s Tree and at Avatar’s Point.”
As Robert Turnage and Kristina Somma tell the story:
We were there on the first raptor release that took place, and this was a connection that Meher Mount made with the Ojai Raptor Center, which rehabilitates wounded birds of prey.
And an arrangement had been made to release two birds from Avatar's Point, which is right next to Baba's Tree. And the person from the raptor center, Jackie DeSantis, first released the kestrel.
And off it went, and it immediately flew into a tree right next to Baba's Tree. And Jackie, who has done this dozens and dozens of times, so she's an expert with raptors, is going, “I've never seen this before. They always just fly away.”
This one has decided to hang out. That kestrel hung out on the tree next to Baba's tree for 15 minutes, and Jackie DeSantis was saying, “I don't understand it.”
And some of us were sort of knowingly saying, “Well, I think they feel a connection, or the kestrel feels a connection to this magical Baba's Tree. It doesn't want to leave.”
But the issue was actually that the red-tailed hawk was getting a little bit anxious in its enclosure. And Jackie was feeling like, “We need to get this red-tailed hawk out of here.” So she pulls out the red-tailed hawk, and gently releases it.
The kestrel sees the hawk and finally says, okay, it's time for me to make my exit. But then the hawk does this amazing swoop, flies in a circle, goes right by the branches of Baba's Tree, and then lands in the tree next to Baba's Tree.
It reinforced the feeling that there is something very powerful at Baba's Tree and at Avatar's Point.
And then finally, it made its very graceful exit, sort of out in the direction of Santa Paula Peak in the distance.
~Robert Turnage & Kristina Somma, Guest Caretakers