Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Leslie Science and Nature Center Gets a Visit from the Environmental Super Heroes!

This afternoon, we visited the Leslie Science and Nature Center to participate in a great program about raptors, and to visit the raptors that we sponsored back in December. Do you remember when we made all of those delicious backyard bird treats to sell at the Birdie Bake Sale? Those sales made it possible to pay for food, lodging, and medical care for some birds in need. All birds at LSNC are there because they cannot be released into the wild, usually due to an injury.

Only one of the two was available to visit today, the Northern Saw Whet. It was an especially big thrill to see our name on the donation plaque, and to see how well the little guy was doing (thanks, I'm sure, to the loving care our hard work and generosity has provided).


David was our leader today - we couldn't have asked for a better and more engaging guide. He is the Wildlife Program Director at LSNC, and is just a very interesting guy. I know the children learned a lot today - and I did too.


We spent the first 30 -40 minutes learning about and visiting all the raptors. We got to see some very cool stuff, like raptors having a meal or two (heads go first! - ask your child if they can remember why!) and David training one of the newer birds.


There we are, on the sign by the adorable Saw Whet's cage. Side note: The two glorious turkey vultures had only one sponsor each. Why are we turkey vulture devotees such a rarity?

See? Enraptured.


Here a student gets a very breezy treat, thanks to a raptor wing!

Did you know that you can visit the raptors too? If you would like a real treat, join them every second Saturday of the month for dinner time. From 3:00p.m. - 4:00p.m., you can drop in for free, and watch owls, hawks, and eagles dining on dead mice, birds, and rats. Experts are on hand to answer all of your raptor-related questions. The Leslie Science and Nature Center is a real gem in the Ann Arbor area - take advantage of it!

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