No pictures tonight. It's not like I have had a lot of time to go birding lately. RAPTOR has been keeping me busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger.
As of right now, I have 21 programs scheduled from tomorrow until the end of April. And it's early...I may get more. There seems to be a real buzz about RAPTOR around town. People see one of our presentations, and they think to themselves, "Hey...I could book them for a Cub Scout meeting." Or a church group...and on and on.
I would like to address the "sparrow" issue that was brought up in the comments from yesterday.
I struggled with the issue myself for quite awhile. But I made my mind up last year when house sparrows made my life (and the bluebirds' life) a living Hell.
Want to know what house sparrows do to bluebirds (and other birds)?
Click
here. But only if you have a strong stomach.
I did spare the lives of 5 house sparrow chicks last year. I tried to do away with them, but
I couldn't do it.So while I appreciate the idea of karma, we all have to understand that HOSP were brought here by people, which was probably the worst thing that could have happened. They are cavity nesters who compete for precious few nesting sites with our native species. They are aggressive to the point of being pure evil. They kill for no reason sometimes. They aren't protected by our laws, so it's not frowned upon, at least legally, to off them. Bluebirds and other native species are suffering. So damn skippy I will kill them. And feed them to my program birds.
Neat news: I get to start up a RAPTOR, Inc. blog! I have been bitching and whining about it for months, and they finally gave me the okay. So stay tuned for updates!
And for those of you who love birds of prey (or any bird for that matter):
Bill of the Birds posted
this about a real danger to raptors. Awful, and it shouldn't have happened.
