Today was a marathon program day for me. A local school has "hired" RAPTOR to present 21 programs over 3 days. That's seven programs a day. I did the first day today, and thank goodness I will have help for the other two.
I talked from 9 am until 3:45 pm, with a lunch break in the middle.
I'm one tired puppy.
But let's move onto other things:
Laura requested video of Junior flying. I didn't get any video of that, but I will try. But I did get a few still shots of him flying yesterday.
I set my camera to the "Sports" setting, which lets you fire away and take as many back to back pictures as the memory card can hold. (Have I mentioned LATELY that I love my camera?)
Junior is just so cute. I have to keep reminding myself that he is one of the fiercest avian predators and not a big stuffed animal.
Look at his pretty feathered feet. Owls have feathers down to their talons to help keep their feet warm in cold weather. Other birds have "naked" legs. If Blogger lets you, you can enlarge the picture and look at the leg on the left...you can just barely see his lovely accessory: A band.
This was a fourth-grade science club I presented to yesterday. They were well-behaved, and asked some great questions. Aren't they cute?
Random:I stopped on the way home at a gas station, and saw a cemetary right next to it.
Is it me, or is that just a little creepy?
(Maybe it's a really VIOLENT car wash?)
P.S. Please welcome my brother-in-law, Kevin, and his wonderful blog and website, Oasis Newsfeatures. Want to learn more about Amish culture? You will love this.
He has been syndicating a newspaper column written by an Old Order Amish woman for 15 years. I could go on and on about the Amish and the respect I have for them, but instead, I suggest you visit his blog and website. I will post another time about my experiences with the Amish.
10 comments:
Susan, I can't tell you how Junior just blows me away. He's gorgeous. And those feet!!! About how much does he weigh?
Those second graders just don't get it, yet. The fourth graders are so happy to see you. You should be proud of what you do.
And, yes, you have said how much you love your camera :)
Isn't Junior a pip? I can only guess at his weight, but our program GHO weighs close to three pounds.
I am pretty proud of my "job". I love it when I see that LIGHT in a person's eyes when I bring out the birds and they are just in AWE.
(Wasn't sure I had mentioned the camera lately)
:)
You love your camera? You need to start a JR Fan Club. I hope the car wash wasn't part of the cemetary.
You poor thing - they've hired you to entertain the kids just before Xmas break when the teachers can't get them to focus for an instant. Best of luck to you.
4th graders rock!
Is it a problem that Junior hangs around like he does and is so willing to be out and about and near to you during the day?
Is he that way with everyone?
The raptor rehab by me has an owl or two that does that and lots of turkey vultures - all that were rehabbed there - they all stay local looking for handouts. I've never been able to get an honest answer if these birds are almost imprinted. Just wonder what your thought is?
There is a general concern about Junior. He was brought to us pretty young, but they say that he is "quasi-imprinted". As in releasable, but he really doesn't have a healthy fear of humans (and you can see by how close I can get to him).
He gets fed by other RAPTOR volunteers, too. But he is very capable of taking care of himself. It's hard to resist him when me makes his cute baby-owl noises.
When we move to the new facility, hopefully Junior will forget about us and start to be scared of humans.
But I secretly wish we could take him with us.
:)
Turkey vultures are easily imprinted, since they are so social-oriented.
I think it might have been a difficult decision to release Junior...He is just fine physically, but the imprinted tendencies most likely gave them pause.
(His release was way before my time)
OH. MY. GOD. His feet are so fuzzy wonderful! I can see why you have trouble remembering that he can rip apart whatever little furry critter he wants to. What a cutie-pie!
I *love* Junior's pantaloons! They're so cool. He's so photogenic.
Wow! 21 programs in 3 days. Couldn't they spread those out a little better?
Yeah, that car wash sign is creepy on the cemetery fence!
Listen lady, we don't need youse people commenting about the car wash and cemetery. That's where we drive through to rinse off the bodies before we prepare them for burial. That saves us a ton of money and time.
Neat picture of Junior's big fluffy feet and baggy pants! But those talons - glad I'm not a mouse or vole.
~Kathi, who has gotten all her gifts, mailed her cards, and is finishing her baking and gift wrapping today. Whew - ready for Christmas on Dec. 21. A new record!
Great work your doing with these kids! Happy Holidays to you my friend! Really enjoying your blog!
TOM
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