Birds of Prey

It was Mother's Day with Birds of Prey...and the handlers were on the grounds at the Stillman Nature Center, sometimes with the birds in the trees.

This little screech owl was perfect in the hollow of a tree, so well-camouflaged it would have been difficult to see him there if you didn't know.

A handler shows off the Great Horned Owl and answers questions from the onlookers.

I tagged this one incorrectly - it's the Eastern Screech Owl.

A few of the birds, like this Peregrine were noticeably injured. It gave me an appreciation of what the Stillman Nature Center does for the public with these wonderful birds; educates schoolchildren and other groups about birds of prey by allowing people to see them up close, and occasionally outside of their enclosures.

The Barred Owl was a little bit excited and kept flapping its wings.

The Barn Owl--this shot was taken on the side that is not injured. The other wing was noticeably handicapped.

The Broad Winged Hawk is smaller than the Red Tailed Hawk, but similarly in coloration to a juvenile Red Tailed Hawk.

In all, this year Mother's Day with Birds of Prey was quite interesting, and was held on a gorgeous sunny day that I will not soon forget.

Read more »

The Mysterious Stillman Nature Center

It all began with my search for the sandhill cranes who were flying overhead in numbers I never recalled seeing before. I was so inspired to follow them that I went home from our family gathering and picked up all my photography equipment, hoping to capture a moment of either birds close up, or birds close by looking for food. Surely, with all of these birds flying so close, I was bound to find at least a few of them.

I thought the Crabtree Nature Center would be a surefire place to find them, so I hopped in my car and started the drive. But something made me turn on a street that I've never turned on before, and before long, I reached a sign that intrigued me.

I did my best to find the sandhill cranes that day, and missed my one photo opportunity - when a pair flew by my car.

I went home to see what I could find out about Stillman on the internet.

It turns out it's a local nature center I'd never heard of before, and it specializes in educating people and schoolchildren about birds of prey.

I promised myself I would find the time on a Sunday to go back and investigate.

Read more »

Turkey Vultures

I discovered this weird holiday that is celebrated in Ohio on March 15th, called "Buzzard Day". It compelled me to go to the Cosley Zoo so I could take photographs of it.

If you've been wondering where I've been lately, I've been over on Squidoo, and have some lenses published over there.

One is - not coincidentally - It's Buzzard Day in Hinckley Ohio!

Although it was a lot of fun writing about it, I'm sharing more of the photos here.

They have such odd faces, and despite the terrible things they eat, their faces look amazingly clean.

The way they walk is like something out of a cartoon!

Read more »