A Mississippi Kite and Matters of the Heart

I was introduced to a juvenile Mississippi Kite at the Raptor Rhapsody Festival at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, a bird that immediately melted my heart.  While you scroll through the images of this beautiful bird and enjoy his expressions, also imagine gentle peeps, vocalizations that were so soft that it was easy to miss them in the background chatter.     

He's called Miki, and his handler, Kathy, is a volunteer with Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky.  I wish I had more of Kathy in the image.  She was clearly smitten with this young bird, as well.  She described interaction with this kite as one of the many benefits of volunteering for a raptor rehab center--the opportunity to spend intimate hours with birds that are more often seen briefly and at great distance.

A day later at my exhibit table, I had a very pleasant discussion with a visitor who described his wife's blog, their connection with nature bloggers we knew in common, and their experience at the New River Gorge Birding and Nature festival in WV in 2008.  (I attended this festival in 2009).   It was not until this week, after seeing Kathy's post at Life, Birding, Photos and Everything, that I put this couple together and realized his wife and Miki's handler were one and the same!

Kathy explained that this juvenile is healthy but imprinted on humans.  On this morning at the festival, the wind was stirring and the juvenile repeatedly lifted his wings and spread them.  Kathy believed he was enjoying the feeling of the wind against his wings.  There was no doubt she was enjoying time spent with this beautiful bird.  

On the last day of the festival, the Raptor Rehabiltation Center of Kentucky released six rehabilitated American Kestrels and two Great Horned Owls.  What a happy outcome for their efforts!

Hard-shell gourd basket with pine-needle coiling displayed in my art exhibit at the festival

In addition to exhibits, there were many other programs on-going at the festival.  Brian "Fox" Ellis, a talented educator and performing artist, uses his stage presence to educate and inspire children and adults of all ages. I had the opportunity to witness his engaging portrayal of the naturalist and artist, John James Audubon, as he told stories related to his historic pursuit of birds in art.  To my delight, the story I witnessed was a Cherokee tale about a race between a hummingbird and a whooping crane, the tallest and smallest of our migrating bird species in North America.

It was also a great pleasure to present my own stories about bird encounters and the photography that brings birds closer to me and provides the detail and inspiration for my art.   One of those artistic pursuits resulted in the creation of Operation Migration's Whooping Crane Activity Book.  Thanks to Operation Migration's staff and volunteers, we were able to have these booklets available at the festival.  What a personal joy it was for me to hand these books to teachers and witness the expression of gratitude in their faces.  For this I owe a special thanks to both Operation Migration and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.

Click Operation Migration's Whooping Crane Activity Book to see more pages in this free resource for educator's classrooms and find links for ordering information.  The juvenile Whooping crane class of 2010 is about to embark on its first migration journey south behind ultralight 'parents'.  To follow this incredible journey, visit Operation Migration's Field Journal.  Also, especially adapted for students and teachers, visit Journey North's reports on the ultralight-led Whooping crane migration.

Click this link to see all my posts on the Raptor Rhapsody Festival at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.

Related Links:
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Mississippi Kite--Cornell
Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky
Life, Birding, Photos and Everything
Brian "Fox" Ellis--Fox Tales International
Operation Migration
New River Gorge Birding and Nature Festival

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #111 to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

Australian Bird Guide Give Away Today!

It's August 1st, the beginning of a brand new month and time to give away a beautiful field guide to the Birds of Australia to one of my lucky blog readers.  

As I thought about this yesterday, I realized I put a lot of pressure on myself to make the selection based solely on my reaction to the stories told.  To everyone who reads my blog, I want to say a big THANK YOU.  And to everyone who told their story, an extra special thank you for sharing your stories with us!  They were all special, enriching and great reasons to win a field guide.

Okay, I know, get on with it--about the book!

Above, I've posted images of a Laughing Kookaburra, one of the birds on the field guide page I featured in my review post.  That was no accident.  I had just met this enchanting kookaburra at the Brevard County Zoo in Florida, just days earlier.  He made me laugh, mesmerized me with his hilarious song, and captured my heart with his beautiful plumage.  He made me forget I was in a zoo and I felt the wonder of another country filled with interesting birds I've never seen before.  (Of course there are plenty in my own USA I haven't seen!)

My passion is not just birds but the conservation of birds.  Operation Migration's Whooping Crane Activity Book has been my effort to reach children and entice them into the world of conservation by telling them the magical story of how people are helping endangered Whooping Cranes, leading them on their first migration south behind ultralight aircraft.  (If you don't know this story, you can read about it here and here.)

All of that is to say, children are the future of conserving wildlife.  When Peter Gustas told me the story of his nine year old grandson's excitement over the continent of Australia and that he was introducing him to birding, it tugged my heart.  I thought, what better way for a young person to get to know a country than through its birds!

So Peter, you and your grandson are the proud winners of a beautiful new Australian field guide!  All you have to do now is send me your address so the publisher can get your book on its way (email Viclcsw (at) aol (dot) com).  I suspect one day that field guide will be traveling to Australia clutched in your grandson's hand!

Links:
Penguin Australia
Operation Migration
Brevard County Zoo

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #101, to promote the conservation of our world's birds!