Erik Davis of Port Haywood, is quick to say that he is not a wildlife rehabilitation specialist. But since just before Christmas, happenstance has put him in the position to rescue three raptors that were in trouble—two owls and an eagle—and now he’s on the road to beginning the process of becoming a rehabber.

Davis said he picked up a screech owl on the side of the road on Route 14 near Church Street right before Christmas and took it to the Peninsula Animal Referral Center in Grafton. The 24-hour emergency facility got in touch with Tommy White of Alton’s Keep Wildbird Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Suffolk, and Davis got to know the rehabber.

Not long after, Davis found another screech owl—this time, trapped in his barn. It had gotten hurt, and Davis contacted White, who sent a transporter to bring it to him in Suffolk.

When the owl was ready to be released into the area where it was found, White called Davis to do the honors, and Davis made the trip to Suffolk to pick up the bird. While there, he toured the nonprofit rehab facility.

White rehabilitates all sorts of raptors, said Davis, from owls to hawks to eagles and more. Each bird has its own enclosure, he said, and there’s a small area for flight training to prepare the birds to go back into the wild.

That trip was fateful. Not long after, Davis got a call from White, who said there was a report of an injured bald eagle in Ware Neck, and he wanted to know if Davis would go catch it.

“I went down reluctantly to look for him,” said Davis. “I had never caught one.”

It was near dark and Davis couldn’t find the bird so he went home, but he got a call the next morning from workers at Mobjack Oyster Company who said they had seen it again. Davis dropped his daughter off at school and went back down there.

Sure enough, the eagle was there. It had an injured wing, and after a brief chase, the bird gave up.

“He was hurting and was ready to have some help,” said Davis.

Following White’s detailed instructions, Davis was able to safely capture the eagle and hold it until a transporter could arrive, and Davis was introduced to Richard Widmer of Gloucester, part of the network of people in the area who come to the rescue whenever someone finds an injured wild bird that needs to be transported to a facility.

“It was interesting how it all fell into place,” said Davis.

A self-employed boat repairman, Davis said he stays pretty busy with his business, Sloop Creek Boat Works, and that he had lost two days of work between the owls and the eagle. But he said he wants to continue with the rehab efforts anyway and, over time, to obtain certification as a rehabber.

“It’s very rewarding,” he said. “It’s definitely a team-type effort. And now I’m a very small piece of that.”