Sibley the Peregrine
A young Red-tailed Hawk, released 2008.
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Things are always hopping at the Raptors of the Rockies organization. We're taking care of the birds and maintaining their enclosures, we're conducting raptor programs at local schools and organizations across Western Montana, art is flying out of the studio, we're taking photos and shooting video, we're out in the field birding and/or doing research, and much, much more. To help you keep up with the flurry of activities happening at Raptors of the Rockies, we're blogging on a more-or-less daily basis and our most recent posts are listed below. Enjoy!
Farewell to a FriendPosted: Sat, 04 Sep 2010
In a memorial filled with tears, humor, poetry and music, 400 plus friends and family of Byron Weber bid farewell to man who touched more lives than we will ever know. He tragically died of progressive lymphoma and was honored at the Florence Carlton School, where he taught from 1984 until his retirement this June. After the service, Sam Manno released 3000 ladybugs at an outdoor classroom named for Byron. We were friends for about twenty years, meeting through a mutual friend who introduced the "Bird Lady" to the "Bug Guy." He appeared every month on Montana Public Radio's Pea Green Boat children's' program, cigar boxes of pinned butterflies and jars of insects under one arm. He shared his zest and appreciation of the natural world with thousands of avid fans for over twenty years. We had been doing bird programs for his students, and the last time in his classroom I commented on his menagerie of insects in aquariums and jars, first and second graders in a big circle at our feet. Byron said, sure, but one of his favorite spiders had escaped, and took a few steps to stomp at something on the floor. I figured the kids would jump a foot, but apparently they had seen that routine before. Byron gave me a smile I'll never forget. He loved life, all life, and we all love him. He is very much missed. |
6th Annual Sculpture ShowPosted: Thu, 02 Sep 2010
I have two pieces in the annual Sculpture Show at Caras Nursery in Missoula, including this Golden Retriever. Just kidding - it's the big Ring-necked Pheasant. The show runs through the month with an artists' reception and "Caras Bucks" this Saturday. Buy some plants and peruse the dozens of sculptures created by artists from the area. I am anxious to get back at the welding, which seems like a colder weather sport to me, and have started a giant Peregrine. |
New Raptor Round-Up is UpPosted: Mon, 30 Aug 2010
In the mail over the weekend and now on our web site, check out the latest issue with even more photos than ever before. I still send a few hundred of these out the old-fashioned way, and webmaster Steve Palmer always says, "How twentieth." In this issue we have the trip to Chicago, new Raptors of the West book, iPod the new Pygmy-Owl, Painting Workshop, Osprey web cam, Bill Ohrmann...so much more! |
Have You Ever Seen So Many Grasshoppers?Posted: Tue, 24 Aug 2010
This year seems especially bad, or good depending on your perspective. Birds are loving this near plague of grasshoppers, zillions jumping in waves as we walk through the grass. Even Sibley the falcon has been chasing them on foot in her building. A bunch of Eastern Kingbirds have been using the sculptures in the lawn to launch attacks, this one off the Great Horned Owl. We had our first frost here last night and before you know it, the insect smorgasbord will be gone. And then...falconry season! |
What's the Ruckus?Posted: Sat, 21 Aug 2010
First Chesty the Harris's Hawk started screaming, then she was joined by the falcons and finally barking dogs. So I grabbed my camera and got this photo just now of the front yard. That's One Horse Creek they're flying over, Prairie and Peregrine nests up there somewhere. It looks like that heron flying by wasn't at all alarmed. |
Raptors of the West CompletedPosted: Fri, 20 Aug 2010
The new book is at Mountain Press Publishers, finished! Raptors of the West took a year longer than planned, but in that time our photographers got unbelievable images that wouldn't have made it had we been on time. Plus we have some guests appearing including BT Lubinski, Gerald Romanchuk, and Miguel Lasa. So the breakdown - 224 pages, 7 chapters, 43 species, and 430 photographs! That's how many captions I wrote, and just since the shoulder surgery last month. Rob Palmer has about 244 of those, Nick Dunlop nearly 100, including his image here of a Spotted Owl that will grace the back cover. I have 66, give or take. So editing now, and we are hoping that we can have it back from the printers in time for the holidays, but that might be pushing our luck. I'll let you know. Now, the Raptor Round-Up Newsletter as promised. |
Japanese VisitPosted: Sun, 15 Aug 2010
We hosted students from Japan, a return engagement for the English Language Institute at the University of Montana with Samantha on the left. We got to release some pigeons, had a tour of the ranch, a flight by Chesty the Harris's Hawk, and this photo by the Osprey sculpture, a species that also lives in Japan. We realized that half of the students were exactly the same age as Max the Golden Eagle (21) and the other half were born the year I started this program (1988.) We finished with a chant of "Go Griz!" just to get them ready for football season. |
Another Rainy NightPosted: Fri, 13 Aug 2010
For last night's trip to the beach behind the house, I got this snapshot when a Bald Eagle landed right across the river. I had just said one minute earlier, "Would't that tree look great with a bird perched in the limbs?" And voila, enter eagle. More rain storms and even a winter weather advisory! |
What a SkyPosted: Thu, 12 Aug 2010
A quick snapshot out the office window, hummingbirds, storm clouds, and even a rainbow over the eagle enclosure. The latest outbreak of thunderstorms have put our fire season on hold, and the countryside is still green in August. |
Mike Untiedt PaintingPosted: Wed, 11 Aug 2010
This looks like Max to me, and here is a final painting from our Plein Air Painting Workshop a few weeks ago. Mike Untiedt from Denver, CO was featured in our Blog (July 17) and a Missoulian newspaper story, setting up his easel and oil paints right in front of the Golden Eagles. He writes, "To say this experience was a magical one is to understate the obvious. I tried to paint the eagle with as much accuracy as possible, but still keep the work loose and painterly. This is not an easy thing to do, as one must combat the tendency to start rendering things out." I love this painting, and we hope to have Mike back for a private workshop at the Raptor Ranch next summer. I'll get the word out to our painter friends in plenty of time!
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