Marking time

Just six miles from home is the amazing World Center for Birds of Prey (WCBP). For about six weeks in September & October, the WCBP hosts Fall Flights during which expert bird handlers show off the amazing skills of their education birds. What is a bird of prey? Also known as raptors, birds of prey share these traits:

Meat Eaters
Hooked Beaks with sharp cutting edges
Sharp Talons to catch, hold, and carry prey
Keen Eyesight

Raptors include eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls.

Meet Oliver, the Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, one of the largest owls in the world. Oliver was magnificent once he got over his stage fright and stepped out of the cage. He swooped silently from one handler’s arm to the other’s nearly parting some of the audience’s hair.

Next came Griffin, the Swainson’s Hawk, looking rightfully regal.

Finn, the Red-tailed hawk enjoyed showing off his prodigious beak.

Farrah, a beautiful Ferruginous Hawk has a pretty intense stare.

Makeda the Lanner Falcon wowed us all with her stunning outfit and her arial acrobatics.

Falconry in action

This was a really fun hour of life. These creatures are amazing and it’s a treat to see them up close.

The Swainson’s Hawk (I believe. I have a hard time telling them apart from the red-tailed.)

The World Center for Birds of Prey is the headquarters of The Peregrine Fund, “founded in 1970 to restore the Peregrine Falcon.” The Peregrine had been declared extinct on the eastern seaboard due to exposure to DDT when a few passionate raptor biologists had the audacity to propose a captive breeding program using eggs from the few remaining Peregrines in the western United States. Thus began the Peregrine Fund sustained mostly by private donations. “The Peregrine Falcon was removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1999. That success encouraged the organization to expand its focus to raptor conservation efforts on behalf of more than 100 species in 65 countries worldwide, including the California Condor and Aplomado Falcon in the United States. The organization is non-political, solution-oriented and hands-on.”

Gallery

Urban dears

31 Monday Oct 2022

Posted by rangewriter in Photography, Travel & Adventure

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Idaho, McCall Idaho, Mule deer, urban wildlife

This gallery contains 12 photos.

Each October I spend a week in McCall, Idaho, a lovely two or three hour drive from home. It’s a …

Continue reading →

Image

Mycology

27 Thursday Oct 2022

Tags

botany, hiking, Idaho, mushrooms, mycology

Mycology has impacted your life, I guarantee it. Whether it was that penicillin you took to get better or those cultivated mushrooms you ate for dinner yesterday, you have mycology to thank. Mycologists are scientists who dedicate their careers to all things fungi. It may be surprising to hear that mycology is not a booming discipline. Most universities don’t offer programs in mycology and this doesn’t seem to be changing. Fungal pathogens infect over 1 billion people worldwide. They also destroy one-third of global food production! Why aren’t there more mycologists working on this stuff? On the other hand, humans benefit from many species of fungi, including those we eat and use as medicine.”
A Beginners Guide to Mycology By Eric Ralls Earth.com staff writer

No, I have not taken up the study of mushrooms. That sounds too much like science, and my brain explodes when confronted with science. But mushrooms are pretty dang cool. On one recent walk through the woods I couldn’t believe how many different types of mushrooms popped their little heads above the surface.