{"id":26758,"date":"2024-07-10T00:01:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T07:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=26758"},"modified":"2024-07-10T08:24:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T15:24:08","slug":"boises-birds-of-prey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/07\/10\/boises-birds-of-prey\/","title":{"rendered":"Boise’s Birds of Prey"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

When Sue and I moved into our home some 40+ years ago, I was setting up my office when I heard a thump.\u00a0 It sounded like a bird flew into the window, so I looked out and sure enough, there was a rather large red-tailed hawk on my front yard with its wings spread out.\u00a0 The thing was huge, and I knew that if it had flown into the window, it would have broken glass, but the window was intact.\u00a0 I’d never seen a red-tailed hawk close up (the thing was only about 10 feet away).\u00a0 The way its wings were spread out led me to believe it had maybe hit the roof and was now lying there, wounded, in front of me.<\/p>\n

I was pondering my next step when the hawk lifted one wing and peered down.\u00a0 It wasn’t wounded at all.\u00a0 It held another bird in its talons, which were tightly clenched around its neck.\u00a0 The hawk shook the other bird and it twitched a bit, so it put its wing down again and waited (as did I).\u00a0 After maybe another minute, the hawk did an instant replay, except this time the bird in its claws was motionless.\u00a0 The hawk released it and then, with its beak, proceeded to tear into the smaller bird’s body, taking its time and eating the internal organs.\u00a0 When it finished, it flew off, leaving the dead bird and a scattering of its feathers.\u00a0 \u00a0I’ve been fascinated by birds of prey ever since, and I live in a good spot for one so afflicted.\u00a0 We have a family of red-tailed hawks and another family of great horned owls that nest nearby.\u00a0 When I ride into Baja, we get great photos of osprey eating sushi in the protected areas near Guerrero Negro.\u00a0 These birds are amazing, so when I was in Boise and I saw they the World Center for Birds of Prey, I was in.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s only $10 for a senior citizen ticket.\u00a0 I would have paid more.\u00a0 The photo ops were…well, read on.\u00a0 You’ll see.<\/p>\n

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A Peregrine Falcon taking a sip of water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Not bad for shooting through chicken coop wiring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first raptor we saw was a peregrine falcon.\u00a0 It was the first one I’d ever seen, although I’d heard about them being in our area when I was growing up in New Jersey.\u00a0 They live in many regions, but I’d never encountered one before.\u00a0 \u00a0I’m pleased with the photo; I photographed the bird through its wire cage and the wires blurred and disappeared in the image.<\/p>\n

Next up was my old buddy, the red-tailed hawk.\u00a0 The lighting was much more of a challenge here, as this one was in an indoor cage with bars instead of woven wire.\u00a0 I had to angle myself to get the camera lens pointed between the bars.<\/p>\n

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A Red-Tailed Hawk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We walked a little further and saw a sign for the California condor exhibit.<\/p>\n

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California Condors are huge birds, as these tracks in the sidewalk indicate. That’s my Buster Brown in the photo for a size comparison.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had never seen one of these, other than the super cool video Mike Huber posted in one of his blogs.\u00a0 Mike had a surreal experience.\u00a0 Boise’s Birds of Prey Center breeds the California condor; they are then released in California’s Pinnacles National Park.\u00a0 Coming back from near extinction, they now range all over the American Southwest and down into Baja.\u00a0 When Mike hiked into Pinnacles National park and stopped to eat his lunch, a California condor landed just a few feet away.\u00a0 Lucky guy, Mike is.<\/p>\n

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Two California Condors hanging out in Boise, Idaho.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Wow. These birds have a 9 1\/2-foot wingspan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Believe it.\u00a0 I stayed back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Harpy eagle is an unusually photogenic raptor.\u00a0 \u00a0They range from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.\u00a0 Like some of our ExNotes commenters, it started squawking up a storm when I mentioned I watch Fox News.<\/p>\n

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Who the hell is Sean Hannity?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ornate hawk-eagle is another large raptor.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s from the tropical regions of Central and South America.\u00a0 I had never heard of this bird, nor had I ever seen one.\u00a0 It is beautiful.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s another one I photographed through the bars of its cage.<\/p>\n

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An Ornate Hawk-Eagle, an appropriately named bird if ever there was one.\u00a0 \u00a0Because the Birds of Prey Center also takes in injured birds, I thought this one was missing a leg until I processed the photo below.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A great profile photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Birds of Prey Center had a gyrfalcon (also known as the Arctic Falcon) that I think was the most interesting bird there.\u00a0 \u00a0While I was photographing it, I tilted my head, and the falcon tilted his head.\u00a0 I then tilted my head the other way, and the falcon mimicked that, too.\u00a0 I started doing so repeatedly, and so did the bird.\u00a0 The only thing missing was the music.\u00a0 It was really cool.<\/p>\n

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You looking at me?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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I enjoyed interacting with this falcon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gyrfalcon lives in the Arctic.\u00a0 It’s the largest falcon in the world, and it’s perfectly okay living in temperatures that dip below -40 degrees.<\/p>\n

Here’s a photo I particularly like.\u00a0 It’s a great horned owl.\u00a0 We’ve had a family of these owls nest behind our house in the past, and it was great seeing the baby owl chicks emerge from the nest for a few weeks and then finally fly away.\u00a0 They are large birds.\u00a0 One still comes around on patrol, looking for mice and other tasty treats.\u00a0 It wakes us up sometimes hooting away in the dark. I’ve seen these fly by and they are impressive.\u00a0 Their flight is absolutely silent.<\/p>\n

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These birds are amazing. They always make me hungry for potato chips.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While we were in the Birds of Prey center, a handler was there with a barred owl.\u00a0 It was most impressive.\u00a0 I asked if I could use my flash and she said the owl wouldn’t mind.<\/p>\n

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A very cooperative and photogenic Barred Owl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So there you have it.\u00a0 If you ever find yourself in Boise, the World Center for Birds of Prey needs to be on your list of places to visit.<\/p>\n

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A bit more on Boise…if you are spending some time there, I’ve got a good restaurant recommendation.\u00a0 We were chatting up a couple of young ladies near the Lucky Peak State Park and I asked them:\u00a0 What’s the best Italian restaurant in Boise?\u00a0 Their answer was instantaneous:\u00a0 Luciano’s.\u00a0 You know what?\u00a0 They were right.<\/p>\n

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Never miss an ExNotes blog:<\/p>\n

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