Kestrel's excellent Dawn Chorus diary about raptors two weeks ago reminded me of an enjoyable and educational visit to a raptor rehabilitation facility last spring, and inspired me to offer this week's diary with pictures from my visit.
When I volunteered to host today's Dawn Chorus I had more ambitious intentions. I thought I would try to compile a list of raptor rehab facilities throughout the U.S., perhaps with a bit of description, supplemented by my photos from the Center for Birds of Prey near Charleston, SC. But stuff happened, and I've scaled back my ambition considerably.
For one thing, searching the web turned up so many raptor rehab sites that I realized making a state-by-state list would be tedious to compile and boring to look at. A home repair project took up more time than I planned, and so did sorting and cropping my photos from last spring. And the sad news of the loss of Daily Kos participant and knowledgeable birder, William Stortz, a.k.a. realaskan, redirected our attention.
I had planned to mention the Alaska Raptor Center near Sitka when I imagined making a list of such places. Sitka, of course, was the site of the landslide that took the lives of realaskan and two other workers. At the time of
matching mole's gracious Dawn Chorus memorial last week, realalaskan was still missing. Since then his body has been recovered, and Sitka's public radio station offered an obituary which filled in considerable detail about the person whose life we may have only glimpsed when he commented about birds here. Apparently he was a main force in keeping Alaska's public radio going when faced with budget cuts. He was also involved in many other projects that demonstrated real-world commitment to the sort of social justice causes that Daily Kos champions.
Here is public radio station KCAW's tribute:
William Stortz, 1953-2015: A compelling, complicated heart
(provided by Daily Kos participant Oldengrey on Friday).
I don't know if realalaskan ever wrote about the Alaska Raptor Center. Based on their web site information, I'd like to think it's a place he might have supported. The Center appears to be sizable facility with a comprehensive raptor rehabilitation program for hundreds of birds every year. They are releasing rehabbed bald eagles today, I see.
As I mentioned, searching the web turned up more raptor rehabilitation sites than I expected. There may be one in your state or near you. Some of them offer tours and flight demonstrations by their resident birds. Smaller operations may offer to present education sessions featuring a bird or two at schools or events. Try typing "raptor rehab" into your favorite web search tool, perhaps with your state or location, to see what's available near you.
My pictures are all from the Center for Birds of Prey near Charleston, SC. The entrance to this facility is on the road to the Bulls Island ferry dock. Bulls Island is part of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. It's a wonderful day trip by itself, as documented by angelajean in a Dawn Chorus diary a couple of years ago.
Black vulture with trainer and educator
The highlight of my visit to the Center for Birds of Prey was the flight demonstration, an hour or so of show and tell featuring interesting and cool birds. Trained staff showed off five or six trained birds, one at a time, in the middle of an open meadow surrounded mostly by trees. I was surprised that the first bird of the day was a black vulture. Vultures are not exactly known as tourist attractions, but that was sort of the point of showing it and telling the audience about it. The trainer was determined to convince people that carrion eaters provide an important ecological function.
Vultures are common birds where I live, and I was already convinced that every species contributes to its ecosystem, so my attention wandered a bit. I noticed another large bird perched in a small tree at the far edge of the meadow, waiting in the wings, so to speak. It was at the limit of my camera lens to magnify so I couldn't really identify it. When its turn came, it swooped low across the grass, zooming straight at the audience, straight at me, actually, seated in the front row of the bleacher seats. I ducked when it pulled up to clear my head. When I recovered I saw it perched on a tee post behind us.
It was a Eurasian eagle owl, not a native bird, but certainly an impressive one! Sometimes native birds watch the flight demonstrations, or even join in voluntarily. Here's one who has a big perch to fill:
This one is a little larger, and actually a raptor:
Peregrine falcon diving, diving toward its pretend prey, with a tasty reward for success. (Those lines in the background are guy wires for a radio tower. )
I'm identifying these birds from memory, by the way. Many of them are unfamiliar to me. Please let me know if I've misidentified any of them. I'm pretty sure this next one is a harris hawk.
It demonstrated its ability to catch a rabbit on the run. The "rabbit" in this demonstration was actually a stuffed toy dragged by an audience volunteer who was told to run as fast as he could.
I think this last one is a yellow-billed kite, an African species. They are agile, incredibly maneuverable fliers. This one demonstrated some impressive aerobatics.
Well, although it's not quite the diary I planned to write, I hope this provides a sample of the sort of photo opportunities provided by a well-run raptor rehabilitation facility. I'm pleased that I was able to visit and support this one.
Until next week,
farewell ...