"Draw On" at Park and Rec this weekend had some extra added attractions. Those lucky enough, witnessed the beginning of the Red-Shouldered Hawk mating ritual. One hawk was flying in circles around the river, making loud screams. Then it disappeared only to return screaming loudly while carrying a snake in its talons. We were briefly able to check it out through the spotting scope. According to further research, this appears to be courting behavior of the male trying to prove to the female that he is a good provider and that his territory is a great place to "raise the chicks".
As part of the open air drawing, Discovery Center provided some "stationary" wildlife. These included three mounted animals fox, raccoon and otter. Also we were able to catch a frog for our our portable aquarium. Luck was with us. In our river water bucket we could show the participates some aquatic nymphs and three small almost transparent fish fry. The spotting scope provided some of our youngest participates with their first up close view of turtles in the wild. For some, just being able to close one eye to look through the scope was a new experience.
For those concerned - all live animals were returned to the wild.
Monday, March 30, 2009
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