Naming the vast majority of the raptors who make their way to Ironside Bird Rescue in Cody, Susan Ahalt usually picks the place the bird came from or the person who brought the bird to her attention to honor.

Sherry is a hawk from Sheridan. Jordan is a hawk brought to the facility by Powell-area game warden Jordan Winters. But there was no rhyme or reason for Kenny, the red-tailed hawk.

“I don’t know,” Ahalt said when asked where his name came from. “He just looked like a Kenny.”

Kenny was found in a nice residential area southeast of Cody with no obvious injuries — he just wouldn’t fly. He’s a young bird, born this year, maybe six months old.

Like each bird that makes its way to Ironside, every effort is made to return them to the wild healthy and happy. Some don’t make it and sadly are euthanized. Others will live but never fly again and become educational birds, destined to teach folks about the importance of the species and conservation efforts. But when a wildlife rehabilitator gets a chance to release a patient that would have otherwise perished, it’s life-changing. Ahalt, aka the Bird Lady, is living proof of the life-changing power of giving raptors a second chance at life in the wild.

Kenny was very lucky. He received two chances at his return to freedom despite nearly killing Ahalt in the process.

On the first effort to release him southeast of Cody, he refused to fly. Instead, he plunged into a nearby body of water, getting soaked in the process. Ironside volunteer Jess Lewis, who has been helping Ahalt since moving to the area recently, went into the water, recaptured Kenny and brought him back to shore to dry out for a second chance to fly.

All birds are tested for survival skills and treated before being returned to their homes. Often their mates are still in the area; mated pairs are monogamous and usually stay together for life, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

It was prior to the second try to release the feisty hawk that day that Ahalt took a tumble. The 80-year-old, who previously had a hip replacement, cracked a bone attached to the prosthetic and soon found herself in a Billings hospital. Kenny’s release was immediately canceled due to the emergency.

Community support

While Ahalt was in Billings for treatment, Lewis came to visit every day despite having a full-time job with Verizon Communications in Cody. Her bosses have been very generous in allowing her time to care for Ahalt, she said.

Lewis might have a regular job now, but she has worked as both a volunteer and employee at zoos and wildlife rehab organizations. She’s also a volunteer for the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s raptor program, where her husband Brandon is an employee. Many of Ahalt’s volunteers also give their time to the museum program, including longtime volunteer Rose Hughes, who was in Alaska at the time of Ahalt’s fall.

“It’s a close knit family,” said Chuck Preston, former curator of the Draper Natural History Museum and a frequent volunteer at Ironside.

Lewis immediately took over the chores at Ahalt’s bird rescue while Susan is confined to a wheelchair, along with several of her supporters including Preston and his wife Penny, and Chris and Susan Pfister. With several birds, including eagles, hawks and owls, at the property in need of care and Ahalt unable to do the work, Lewis picked up a new, temporary full-time gig.

With each task, Lewis developed more respect for the “hard, thankless job” Ahalt has done for decades.

“I am constantly amazed at the incredible work that she’s done for this area,” she said. “The things she has accomplished is inspiring.”

If it weren’t for the volunteers pitching in while Ahalt was down, the facility would have closed. There are only three raptor recovery centers in the state — the next closest is Jackson. The thought of not being able to help injured and sick birds depressed Ahalt. By the time Kenny was ready for a second chance to be released, Ahalt was sure seeing him fly away would be the end of her.

Just a few months earlier Ahalt had chased a wounded eagle down a steep hill to capture the magnificent, mature female. But now injured herself, she had to watch Kenny’s release from the truck while Lewis did the honor of letting the young red-tailed go. Ahalt’s famous smile and spunky demeanor were absent. You could say she was cranky, but that comes with the risk of payback once she is able to walk again.

As Kenny caught an updraft and soared into the impossibly blue sky, Ahalt’s depression lifted and she yelled “Go Kenny!”

“I thought I was going to be watching my entire life, my history, my future, go away,” she said after the release. “But after what happened today, I don’t feel that way anymore. I know I still have things to contribute. I’m not as capable now — I’ll probably never be able to run down an eagle again, but seeing [Kenny] fly has brought my life back to me.”

Eagle release

You could see the joy in Ahalt’s face; and it was only the first of three releases for the day. Next up was the release of a sharp-shinned hawk who had lost its tail and was at Ironside until it grew back. Then, for the day’s grand finale, Topper, the same bald eagle that Ahalt chased hundreds of yards just a few months ago, would be released.

Stepping from the cage, Topper looked bold and somewhat intimidating. A mature bald eagle can have a wing span of up to 90 inches and tip the scales at about 14 pounds. Their beaks are sharp, made to rip flesh from the bone, and their 2-inch-long talons can exert 1,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.

Topper had dislocated its radius when it was injured. It may have been hit by a car, Ahalt speculated. Eagles often feed on carcasses near roads and the North Fork Highway (U.S. Highway 14/16/20) get the distinction of being one of the most dangerous places for wildlife crossings in the state; providing regular carcasses for scavengers.

Having passed flight school at the Ironside flight facility, Topper was ready to return to its mate. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the accident, the chicks they were raising didn’t survive.

As it took flight, Ahalt sat in her wheelchair just behind Preston and Lewis, who released Topper. Her eyes lit up as the eagle immediately circled the area before soaring over nearby peaks and disappearing into the wilderness. She was called Topper because she led Ahalt to the top of a “hill” in Wapiti before leading Ahalt all the way down to the Shoshone River before the capture just below the Smith Mansion. Hills in this part of the state look a lot like mountains … because they are.

Ahalt has many times been to the mountain top looking for injured and sick birds. With hunting season coming, there are likely to be several eagles needing her help who have ingested lead from gut piles left by hunters. Ironside averages about two calls a day from people reporting downed birds. Many of those calls don’t end in happy stories, but Ahalt rescues all the birds she is able to.

At 80, Ahalt is now hopeful to make a complete recovery, at least for long enough to find a replacement for herself at her rescue. Most would have already succumbed to the cruel ravages of time and retired, but Ahalt isn’t your average human. She is one tough, old bird who has committed her life to saving Wyoming’s feathered predators.

“I’ve never turned down a bird,” she said. “I’ll raise birds in my living room if I have to.”

The bird rescue, which Ahalt founded in 1987, relies on donations to continue her decades of work. To make a donation, contact thebirdlady@tctwest.net.