Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 12, 2008 13:34:47 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Heading over to the Raptor Center to do some cage work in awhile and thought I'd post a few pics for the bird watchers among us. Thanks for lookin....Mel My wife and I as I'm just finishing with the netting on the safety door of one of the small bird cages. Sher has a Merlin Falcon on her glove. *L* I know my wife is way cuter than a big dork like me deserves. All our birds in the Ed program are handicapped so the smaller ones don't need huge cages. Handsome, our young Turkey Vulture and some of the gang out for some sun. Stormy the Black Shouldered Kite: Some baby Barnies. Gotta love them even though they're mean as snakes and smell like little skunks! Some poor beat up Burrowing Owls in for rehab. Great eyes huh?
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MidNight~Rocksi3
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2008
Posts: 1,716
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Post by MidNight~Rocksi3 on Jan 12, 2008 14:58:08 GMT -5
Oooo My dad loves Owls!!! Even tho I think you scared the daylights outta them with the camera shot. LOL..And Oh I've never seen a turkey vulture before.. But that Stormy is Beautiful! WOW!!!!!! And I think you look good in that cage Mel.. LOL.. I'm just teasin.. I dig the pics...
*smiles*
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Post by BuiltonRock on Jan 12, 2008 15:11:42 GMT -5
Mel, You got a great life!! Enjoy and be proud. john
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Post by Condor on Jan 12, 2008 15:27:20 GMT -5
Boy, those are some cool pictures. "Handsome?" That is an overstatement if I ever heard one. The bird is uglyyyyyy. It is so cool what you and your wife do. My DD just completed her first semester in Wildlife Sciences. She's gone out and tagged birds and ever cut into the head elk hunters donate. It was for the purpose of looking for some sort of disease.
Condor
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Jan 12, 2008 15:51:33 GMT -5
Very cool.... I just love the "furball" baby owls are adorable.
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Post by Cher on Jan 12, 2008 16:07:31 GMT -5
Awww what happened to the burrowing owls, how'd they get all beat up like that. That's one ugly turkey vulture, where's his red head?
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Post by stonesthatrock on Jan 12, 2008 18:14:57 GMT -5
yikes, i kept scrolling down to fine Handsome? ? Man, hes one ugly bird. Love the owls though. great job getting a pic of those eyes.
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,636
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Post by darrad on Jan 12, 2008 19:52:57 GMT -5
Handsome aint ugly. He is a fine looking young stud. Stormy's pic is great. Those red eyes look right through ya. Do you have any Kittridge Falcons? There was a breeding pair around here last year that hunted Doves over the wash behind me. Breath taking to watch.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 12, 2008 19:53:25 GMT -5
Hey now you guys, Handsome is a good looking fellow. After all, us old buzzards have to stick together *L*. They are dog smart though so interesting birds to work with. Handsome is a big hit at all our shows because he's a big ham. Course he used to projectile vomit every time he saw me ( He's quit now thank God!). I used to call him Baron Smelly von Stinky *L*.
Cher: Handsome is just shedding his hair now and will have a totally bald red head when he gets older. The Burrows were picked up from a person who was an illegal rehabber and shows what can happen when folks think they know how to treat injured animals but don't. Fractures weren't set and the wings drug on the ground till all wrecked. No vet care or anything. Not a nice thing at all! This sort of work should be left to the pros....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 12, 2008 20:08:16 GMT -5
Wiz: Don't recognize the name Kittridge Falcon ( maybe an alternate common name for a subspecies?) Not in any of my books either. We have the three species usually found in this area, American Kestrels. Merlin Falcon, and Peregrines in our educational program. The peregrines and Kestrels breed here locally while the Merlins are winter migrants following the Crowned Sparrow migration......Mel
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karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
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Post by karenfh on Jan 12, 2008 20:25:02 GMT -5
Wow, thanks so much for posting your wonderful pix! Stormy is amazing; you need to send that photo to the Audubon Society for their books! And Handsome is..... not as Handsome does, haha. We have actually had a large (flock, group, what???) of turkey vultures hanging around our town. Caused a furor here. They were roosting on the county courthouse, and you know what happens..... yep, they filled all the storm gutters, made a real mess. The county commissioners were looking into some kind of big "boom" sound gun thing to scare them away, but once word of THAT got out, people complained. They are fun to watch! Folks (who don't have to clean the courthouse) enjoyed watching them all summer. They were front page news in our little newspaper a few times, I will find the pix and add them to this thread.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 12, 2008 20:41:26 GMT -5
karen: Thanks but I can't take credit for the kite pic. We have a bevy of talented photographers that visit our center and take pics and my wife is an excellent photographer. I didn't take that one and I'm not really sure who did. It was just in my wifes PR file so I just thought I'd share it cause kites are so pretty and seldom seen close up.....Mel
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2008 20:52:43 GMT -5
Oh my god, check the large turkey vulture in the cage!!! Lol! Just kidding Mel & cool pics. Hope the little owl's make it.
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karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
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Post by karenfh on Jan 12, 2008 21:51:45 GMT -5
Haha, Tony! Are you sure it's not just a "wild turkey" in that cage?
WAY cool pix. Yes, I have never seen a kite up close, so I was thrilled. And the baby barnies....gotta love them! But how do you persuade Mom and family to vacate a grain bin? It's not a healthy nesting site for the owls NOR the farmer!
And the poor little burrows! We had those in our prairie dog town, and they were great fun to watch. Kinda shy, but when they got used to us watching them, they did their thing. I actually saw one take on a small rattler. The owl won.
Thanks again for the pix and info!
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
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Post by darrad on Jan 13, 2008 4:59:09 GMT -5
Mel - My bad. American Kestrel, Sparrow Hawk. Not sure where I got the "kittridge".
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Post by catmandewe on Jan 13, 2008 18:59:02 GMT -5
Cool pictures, thanks for sharing...............Tony
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DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
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Post by DeanW on Jan 14, 2008 13:56:01 GMT -5
Mel, Karen (my wife) and I LOVE BOP's (Birds of Prey). My totem is a Bald Eagle. She loves Kestrels. For a summer she worked as an intern at Pinnacles Nat. Monument as part of a team that studies the Peregrine Falcons there. Our company name is Peregrine Rocks and Trading Post.
Love BoPs!
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Post by Tonyterner on Jan 14, 2008 15:20:26 GMT -5
Nice pics Mel. I didn't know you had turkey vultures in CA. Lots of them here out east. Stormy is an absolutely beautiful bird. Hard to believe that farmers used to shoot raptors.
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karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
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Post by karenfh on Jan 14, 2008 22:51:37 GMT -5
Tony, sometimes they still do, sadly.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 14, 2008 23:14:11 GMT -5
Tony, Yeah, it sucks but we still get in a lot of gunshot birds of prey. My wife just finished compiling the figures for last year for our annual reports and from about 400 BOP we got in 25 gunshot birds and the ones we get in are the ones that are, of course, only wounded. In addition, a Fish and Wildlife sting netted a group of pigeon fanciers down in the LA area that trapped, shot and slaughtered some 2000 hawks and falcons. Also seeing a new class of shot birds that are busted up by Paint ball gunners apparently too bored with shooting each other so they practice on raptors, even Peregrine falcons. Very sad. Some humans behave very badly. Thank god we have volunteers and donors that help save the birds to even the field a bit.....Mel
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