Last Saturday (Feb. 6th) the four of us attended the 6th annual Eaglefest, sponsored by the Teatown Lake Reservation (and of course other corporate sponsors) on Croton Point.
Very cool. Even the boys enjoyed themselves. the presentations were held in large tents, with about 200 people at the main talk, which dealt with two species of owls and two of eagles. The main talk was held hourly, so was presented about four times.
The presenter was a Bill Streeter from a Pennsylvania protection sanctuary for birds of prey who have been injured in the wild.
The pictures, taken in a tent with no flash, don't do justice to the birds.
The first two pictures are of Mortimer, a small variety of owl – he only weighs a few ounces.
Here is Una, a huge and beautiful white owl.
Now here's Benson, the bald eagle. Bill Streeter explained that while Benson loves the handler who aided him and brought him up, he "despises" Bill. He promised that Benson would prove difficult to handle and he was! Benson is named for the 19 year old man who found him, shot by someone, and brought him to the sanctuary. Because of his wound, Benson cannot fly.
And then – the really spectacular JULIA, the golden eagle. Whereas Benson weighed about nine plus pounds, Julia was around 14 pounds. The golden eagle gets it's name from some feathers on their neck, only visible at close range. Julia is blind in one eye.
Again, the pictures do Julia no justice –
Check out the beak
All in all, pretty cool. here are a few more pictures, just to give a flavor for whole the event. there are about 150 breeding pairs of bald eagles in NY State, many in the Hudson Valley. We frequently see them around Croton.
Tim in red on the left, a line to get into the next talk, on the right.
Go here for information about Eaglefest, on the Teatown Lake reservation website. We'll probably go next year, if schedules provide.
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