Birds of Prey
These photos are from a club shoot for the photo club I belong to. Apparently, one of the long-time members knows someone in raptor rescue and they arrange for the club to photograph a few non-releasable birds every year. The rescue uses these birds for educational purposes, so they were glad to tell us about all of them.
The peregrine falcon was the most vocal and energetic of all the birds. We were told she was used for hunting and retired due to a foot problem. Now she’s a favorite of school children at educational programs.
She also likes water.
This is Phoenix, so named because he barely survived a nasty high-speed collision with a truck. He’s a very impressive bird, although unfortunately mentally challenged these days.
This is Ulysses. I could swear he looked directly at one of the other club members who said his name.
I don’t know how to spell this lovely girl’s name. It means “Beautiful One” in Navajo. Very appropriate. She is a Barn Owl raised by another group for educational purposes. We were told Barn Owls are declining in number because of habitat loss. As the name implies, they tend to live in rural areas and eat mice.
Next Time: Japanese Garden
The best place in town for calm and relaxation. Also pretty cool.
