Ever seen a bald eagle up close? I did, years ago, when doing a story on the Carolina Raptor Center near Charlotte. They’re truly awe-inspiring — and more than a little scary the closer you get. Stern, even merciless, they appear if you’re ever lucky enough to see one close enough to really observe the eyes. On that occasion, I was no more than six feet away from an adult bald eagle. That was only possible because he was almost entirely blind from cataracts.
We didn’t get that close this weekend, but it was stunning to see them even from 20 feet away. I’m always surprised by how big they are. Adult bald eages are huge. With a wingspan of 7 feet, they are some 30 inches tall. Bigger than Camille, who after some intial anxiety, virtually RAN from cage to cage to see the eagles, owls, hawks and vultures.
The owls are particularly beautiful, with very distinct markings and coloration. The tiny screech owl is one of my favorites, but I’m also fascinated with the barn owl (photo on this page), which has a spooky white face and markings on its back that look like the gray weathered planks on a barn.
But there’s nothing more majestic than eagles. There had to be 7 or more adult bald eagles in the large outdoor enclosure, which is actually sad, since they only come to the center if they’re injured or sick, and they only stay if they’re too damaged to return to the wild. The most common cause of injury for all raptors? Hit by cars while hunting.
The center also has its first two eaglets, hatched at the center earlier this month. They’re shielded from the public since they will be released into the wild as soon as they’re old enough, but they have video of them being fed by their parents and learning to move around.
It was a great trip, except that Abby wasn’t feeling well, and got progressively sicker as the day wore on. Turned out she had a throat and sinus infection, she went to the doctor today and probably won’t be going to school tomorrow. But she’ll have a book to read — all about EAGLES.
3 Comments
Eagles rock. Owls are cool, too. Maybe you remember that Harry Potter event that Herb and I took Abby and Victoria to at Borders a couple of summers ago. They had someone from the K’ville raptor center there with several owls. The part I liked best was how owls really can’t tell the hoots of their own kind from even the lamest attempt at imitation by humans. So because they’re territorial, you can lure one in your direction just by doing a bad imitation of an owl. V. has repeated this trick a time or two.
Sounds like a fun trip. Give Abby a big hug for me and tell her I hope she gets well soon!!
wow that sounds really cool. I wish i could see such an amazing bird up close.
One Trackback
[...] Speaking of owls , we got our first look at our own barred owl Saturday evening. We were sitting on the porch after dinner and he perched on a low branch in the back yard for a little less than a minute before flying off for a quick snack, we can only guess. [...]