Raptor Identification Class

Metro naturalist James Davis recently held a free Raptor Identification Class at Gresham City Hall.  Tomorrow is the Sauvie Island Raptor Road Trip, a chance to see these magnificent birds up close, and the class seemed like a very good idea!  James Davis is the author of The Northwest Nature Guide, and he is extensively knowledgeable on the subject.  We've been to several events at Smith and Bybee Lakes where he was the guide.  Most of the time, his events are specifically for adults and teens, and I had seen his Raptor ID Class listed this way as well.   But this time it was not only free, but listed as "family friendly".  (He seems quite passionate about sharing a love for the natural world, and perhaps less interested in the "crowd control" skills needed to deal with large groups of kids.  I, on the other hand, am allergic to those nature classes where a good portion of the time is devoted to coloring cartoon images of cute critters in crayons, and actually seeing the animal or its habitat is not a priority.)  I bought Jasper and a friend, seated them on the floor, and gave them lots of things to color quietly with.  Like many little kids can, when allowed to keep their hands busy with coloring, they were secretly soaking in tons of amazing information. When the slides began, they were thoroughly engaged.  Mr. Davis went into quite a lot of detail about how to identify these birds when they are in flight from just their silhouettes, what their habits are, and what habitats they prefer.  He showed slides which allowed him to show us their common field markings.  And he brought an amazing array of study skins, from birds that were either found dead, or died at the Audubon Society. (They have a wildlife care center where injured birds and other wild animals are healed,  and birds are housed if they cannot be released into the wild.)  We were fascinated to learn that a bald eagle nest is built as a permanent structure, and it can weigh thousands of pounds.  A rough-legged hawk gets its name because it has feathers all over its legs. A peregrine falcon is the world's fastest animal, at a top speed of 200 miles an hour.  And a turkey vulture, a relative of the stork, has a naked head to help keep its face clean when it's eating.  The kids were allowed to gently examine the study skins to see their graceful wings and sharp talons up close.  

Mr. Davis has a series of short videos on various nature topics on Metro's website: http://www.metro-region.org/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=30895  Metro has an extensive calendar where his upcoming classes are listed.  They all tend to be free or low cost: http://calendar.oregonmetro.gov/events/index.php  (While the calendar does make a valiant attempt to list all the nature related events going on in the area, I'd definitely recommend checking with the event sponsor every time because I've seen  more than a few discrepancies. But of course for Metro events they are reliable.)