Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Nature at McDowell Mountain

 

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We attended a interesting birds of prey program Saturday. Two volunteers from Liberty Wildlife, a wildlife rescue, rehab, and education center in Fountain Hills brought a few of their residents.

A red tail hawk, whose wings had been damaged and could not be released.

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A beautiful great horned owl, which doesn’t really have horns, just feathers. He was imprinted on humans when they got him, so he can’t be released into the wild.

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And our favorite, this colorful male kestrel, a member of the falcon family, and the smallest and most common falcon in North America. He was also imprinted on humans, so cannot be released.

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The ice by our faucet took a few days to melt, which gave the birds a frozen drink as they pecked away at it. This was taken through the window so it’s not real clear.

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Jim is healing from his surgery, and is still just a little sore. Unfortunately he came down with a cold a few days ago, so that hasn’t helped. We’ve still been hiking, though, and the past couple days moved up to some trails with a bit of climbing. The weather has been great, with highs near 70, and this is such a pretty place.

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He has a post op appointment with the surgeon on Thursday, and if all is well we will be moving on Friday.

1 comment:

  1. What great photos of the birds and scenery. Glad Jim is on the mend.

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