Afternoon…the Raptor Center put on a very good demo, featuring three of their touring birds: Otis, the Red Faced Screech Owl; Chuk, the Peregrine Falcon; Madame Maxine, the Bald Eagle.. This was an educational presentation in a freeform format.
The Raptor Center volunteers, Sharon and Amber fielded numerous questions about the center, the birds they brought, and raptors in general.
Something that caught me by surprise was that roughly 30% of the birds brought into the Raptor Center suffer from lead poisoning. There are several factors that cause this to happen, from lead sinkers used in fishing to the use of lead shot when hunting game, the determining factor here is the field dressing of game where the “yummy” freebies are left behind, and often contain lead fragments from the shot. Food for thought, don’t use lead shot when hunting.
The session was also laced with anecdotes of dealing with raptors. I am now thinking of becoming a volunteer, as it would help me learn more about some of my favorite neighbors, the Eagles.
The science center is at this time setting up a scale model of the galactic neighborhood using balloons with the anchors laid out in a grid, giving a walkthrough, 3-d model. A very cool idea. I’ll have pictures posted in my post con report.
Elisa and Jed introduced me two of their con newbie friends, and suggest I behave.
