Many Thanks!
Thank you to everyone who helped make BMW's annual Open House celebration a rousing success. Special thanks to falconers Jim Nelson and Mark Hurd, the awesome musicians, and all who donated goodies to share. Thank you also to volunteers Diana Dillenburg, June Whitten, Marilyn Cripe and John and Ruth Collins for making the day go smoothly, even after gale force winds kicked up and the large canopy collapsed!
Master falconer Jim Nelson demonstrated a variety of falconry techniques using an aplomado falcon. He also explained why falconers put telemetry equipment on their birds when flying them and then let the kids practice finding a "lost bird" using telemetry equipment. The lost bird was actually a small transmitter attached to a mini candy bar. The lucky finder got to eat the candy bar!
Kids also had fun at intern Emily's table where they could make enrichment bags for the birds, dissect owl pellets or color different species of raptors.
We were unable to release the three Red-tailed Hawks due to high winds, but they will be released later this week.
Otherwise, it was a fairly slow week. A Sharp-shinned Hawk and Great Horned Owl died of their injuries. A Silver-haired Bat was mauled by a cat, but was successfully released.
Screech at the Reach
Be sure to join us for Screech at the reach and learn about bats, owls, spiders, ravens, toads, wolves and other scary Halloween critters.
