[OT] Speaking of birds on the wing

We went to the local Renfaire yesterday. I pleaded with all accompanying
parties to skip the joust in favor of a comedy show AND the Birds of Prey
show. They grumbled but DID thank me later. We got to see a Harris hawk
(cousin to the eastern Red-tailed hawk but better acclimated to the desert),
an African white-headed vulture (poor think had a badly injured wing), an
Andean condor (HUGE) and a lovely, graceful peregrine. It was a terrific
show and the demonstrators also talked up their protection group....
Earthquest.org.

And since we're talking birds of prey....back in my Mom's area (Harrisburg
PA) Cornell University has very successfully managed to "seed" the cliffs
along the river with Peregrines. I believe they've done it in NYC as well.
Mom tells me sometimes about reports of peregrines taking out pigeons on the
Capitol grounds. (She likes to tease me because my Dad and I used to go
there to feed the "pidgies" when I was a kid.)

One of my big thrills as a teen was helping a buddy of mine, who was helping
this rather "eccentric" woman who lived near him. She ran an impromptu
animal shelter (it all started with abandoned cats). Over the 2 or 3 years I
helped out, we had various ducks, skunks, raccooons, a blue-winged heron
pair, two kestrel pairs, a barn owl, a barred owl, and a great horned owl. I
was totally in love with the owls (the kestrels ranked, too) and loved
feeding them. You had to "rope" a drowned male chick (freebies from the
local egg farm), chuck it in the cage, and drag it to simulate motion. What
always blew me away, especially with the great horned guy, was how sudden
and QUIET they are as the catch their prey. Absolutely soundless and whoosh!
dinnertime.

When I moved here, I had a wonderful "welcome home". One night Mike and I
were sitting on my balcony, in the dark, just enjoying the stars and each
other. I noticed a funny-shaped shadow on the neighboring building's
rooftop. "Yanno, if I didn't know better, I'd swear that's an owl." We
looked and looked and the light caught its eyes. Oh yeah, definitely
owl.....and as he turned his head we saw the ear tufts clearly outlined. We
just talked quietly and watched. Then whoosh! he was swooping right at us,
curved up suddenly, and the next thing we knew there was a fall of pigeon
feathers. LOL Nicely done!

KarenK

"Barbara Otterson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 04:23:49 GMT, "Bacchae"

wrote:

We are a stopover for the eagles and we generally see them
every spring but I don't ever recall seeing five at once.
It was *very* cool.
- Sandy

I've been in St. Louis 16 years now, and I've never once
gone down to the river to see the eagles as they winter here.
Every spring I swear that next winter I'm going to see them.
Every winter it's so damn cold, I don't want to go out.
I do remember driving down to OK city to do a show
one spring and passing a lake that went under the freeway.
Just about 20 ft from the bridge we were on was a dead
tree standing up out of the water. Perched there, just as
regal as you please, were two bald eagles. Devine.
Barbara
Dream Master
www.dreamweaverstudio.com

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your future
plans.
Woody Allen

"Barbara Otterson" wrote in message ...

I look over just in time to
see an owl grab a rabbit. It lifted it up and was trying to
gain
altitude, because it was coming straight for my car. It made
it high enough to fly right across my hood in front of my
windshield.
Then into the fog snaking around the trees on the other side
of the road. It was absolutely surreal.


Ohhhh, that'd be spooky.

I have had an owl almost hit my car too but not with a rabbit
in hand, as it were.

Cool story.


- Sandy