2005 Wisconsin Falconers Picnic
Today I attended the 2005 Wisconsin Falconers Picnic. It was a wonderful day of enjoying time with friends, and many beautiful birds. It was held at the Memorial Park Arboretum and Gardens in Appleton. The facilities are very nice, even including full artistic wildlife murals in both bathrooms. Yes, I and another woman falconer just had to go into the men's bathroom to see what was painted on their walls! And Yes, we made sure there were no guys in there before we barged in! The surrounding area is filled with many landscaped gardens. A nice place to weather many exquisite examples of birds used in falconry.
I attended today with Dave Noble, my former sponsor, and his wife Linda. We had a very nice drive to the picnic and back. We stopped on the way by the home of Phil Yurtis to see his facilities. Phil is Dave's new apprentice. He has all his equipment ready, and is now just waiting for his license to come in the mail, and for trapping season to start. We'll be hawk stalking together soon! His wife Laurie and their two children also came. It was a nice day for family activities.
The day was spent looking at the gardens, at the birds, and talking with other falconers. We had a special presentation by Dianne Moller, another woman falconer, who also does many educational presentations, in an effort to teach people, especially children, about the raptors in our environment, and to inspire a desire to preserve and protect them. She brought three special birds with her:
Glider, an immature turkey vulture, who was an unfortunate victim of forest land being cleared. His nest tree was cut down. Dianne was called in to assist, and for awhile the parents continued to take care of their chick. But unfortunately the people clearing the land began to interfere by blocking access to the chick with their equipment. And at some point somebody came in and harassed and harmed the baby. He was later found injurred, with a broken leg. Dianne then took him in and rehabed him. Unfortunately though, he has imprinted on her, and can now no longer be released. So, he will be with her for a very long time. But he is a nice ambassador for his kind, who play a very important role in the wild cleaning up the environment.
Einstein, a barn owl, is a noisy ambassador. He demonstrated many typical barn owl behaviors as Dianne spoke about him.
But the most impressive raptor today was Thunder, a golden eagle. He is an unfortunate victim of human stupidity. He was found injurred, broken wing, by some people, who decided they would take care of him, and never gave him to the proper people so he might get medical attention. Only licensed rehabbers or veterinarians should address these needs. If they had done what was right, he might have had a chance to heal proper, and return to the wild. But his wing is permanently damaged, having not healed correctly. He also had been kept in improper facilities and handled badly. He found his way to Dianne, who has been working very hard to rehabilitate his damaged spirit. He will no longer fly, so cannot be released, but he is an excellent ambassador for his kind. She has been training him with operant conditioning, and he has made great strides with her. She tells us that now he even sings to her, as he is now bonding and trusts her, as though she were his mate.
The day was filled with other exceptional birds. Many of them immature birds, having been pulled from nests this summer. They are being trained for falconry. Dave brought his adult redtail hawk, Giddy. And there was an incredibly beautiful peregrine / gyrfalcon hybrid, named "Zoom". I've included many pictures below. There were several accipiters, a coopers hawk, and a couple of goshawks. And there was even a female kestrel.
A very nice day spent with falconry friends . . . and an opportunity to see many wonderful birds!
I attended today with Dave Noble, my former sponsor, and his wife Linda. We had a very nice drive to the picnic and back. We stopped on the way by the home of Phil Yurtis to see his facilities. Phil is Dave's new apprentice. He has all his equipment ready, and is now just waiting for his license to come in the mail, and for trapping season to start. We'll be hawk stalking together soon! His wife Laurie and their two children also came. It was a nice day for family activities.
The day was spent looking at the gardens, at the birds, and talking with other falconers. We had a special presentation by Dianne Moller, another woman falconer, who also does many educational presentations, in an effort to teach people, especially children, about the raptors in our environment, and to inspire a desire to preserve and protect them. She brought three special birds with her:
Glider, an immature turkey vulture, who was an unfortunate victim of forest land being cleared. His nest tree was cut down. Dianne was called in to assist, and for awhile the parents continued to take care of their chick. But unfortunately the people clearing the land began to interfere by blocking access to the chick with their equipment. And at some point somebody came in and harassed and harmed the baby. He was later found injurred, with a broken leg. Dianne then took him in and rehabed him. Unfortunately though, he has imprinted on her, and can now no longer be released. So, he will be with her for a very long time. But he is a nice ambassador for his kind, who play a very important role in the wild cleaning up the environment.
Einstein, a barn owl, is a noisy ambassador. He demonstrated many typical barn owl behaviors as Dianne spoke about him.
But the most impressive raptor today was Thunder, a golden eagle. He is an unfortunate victim of human stupidity. He was found injurred, broken wing, by some people, who decided they would take care of him, and never gave him to the proper people so he might get medical attention. Only licensed rehabbers or veterinarians should address these needs. If they had done what was right, he might have had a chance to heal proper, and return to the wild. But his wing is permanently damaged, having not healed correctly. He also had been kept in improper facilities and handled badly. He found his way to Dianne, who has been working very hard to rehabilitate his damaged spirit. He will no longer fly, so cannot be released, but he is an excellent ambassador for his kind. She has been training him with operant conditioning, and he has made great strides with her. She tells us that now he even sings to her, as he is now bonding and trusts her, as though she were his mate.
The day was filled with other exceptional birds. Many of them immature birds, having been pulled from nests this summer. They are being trained for falconry. Dave brought his adult redtail hawk, Giddy. And there was an incredibly beautiful peregrine / gyrfalcon hybrid, named "Zoom". I've included many pictures below. There were several accipiters, a coopers hawk, and a couple of goshawks. And there was even a female kestrel.
A very nice day spent with falconry friends . . . and an opportunity to see many wonderful birds!
