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Thursday, March 17, 2011

Raptor Walk-About at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge

Raptors.  I love them.  Not only their grace and beauty, but the incredible stories that surround their lives.  Birds of prey not only survive on their instincts but they must learn to hunt during their fledgling year through trial and error.  And that is only one of many fascinating details that make learning about birds of prey so intriguing.  
If you are in the Knoxville area on Saturday March 19th, you have a unique opportunity to not only see raptors in their natural habitat but listen to Stephen Lyn Bales, master story-teller and naturalist from Ijams nature center, as he interprets their behavior during a Walk-About program at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge.

Bales, a nature interpreter with Ijams Nature Center and author of two books, is also the coordinator of Knoxville's county wide Walk-Abouts sponsored by Ijams Nature Center and designed to help people get better acquainted with the nature that can be enjoyed in our city and county parks.   The possibilities for raptor species include American kestrels, wintering northern harriers, ospreys just returning from migration, bald eagles and nesting red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks.   
The program begins at 3:00 pm on Saturday and is free for Ijams members, $5 for non members.  Call 577-4717, ex 10 to register, since group size is limited.  Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge is located on the eastern edge of Knox County bordering the French Broad River.  Directions can be found at the Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge website.  I will be there.  Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to visit for both its avian wildlife and beautiful grassland wildflowers.

Links and Resources:
Top image:  Red-tailed hawk; second:  Stephen Lyn Bales holding a non-releasable Red-tailed hawk at Ijams Nature Center.

More information about Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge in this blog:  TN Conservationist and Bird Banding

Visit Stephen Lyn Bales at Nature Calling.  There you will also find information about his books, Natural Histories--Stories of the Tennessee Valley, and Ghost Birds.

Other links you may enjoy:  Ijams Nature Center and Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge
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2 comments:

  1. Mary Howell CromerMarch 18, 2011 at 3:26 PM

    Oh how much fun this event is going to be and you already know what I think of Raptors. Having had a federal permit and then keeping up with the Red-Shoulderd pair for a decade...I love them as well. Wish this was happening nearer to me...have fun~

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  2. AnonymousMarch 19, 2011 at 1:17 AM

    Fascinating. I really admire your work. Here in India we get a good share of raptors, when a lot of the great eagles move to warmer climes in the northern hemisphere. There are also a few resident eagles -- such as the Tawny Eagle -- and a variety of forest eagles such as the Indian Black Eagle, the Crested Serpent Eagle and the Changeable Hawk-Eagle.

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