Friday Fun with Raptors!

The storms were severe in our region last night as shown by the sunrise I saw this morning on the way to work. Those are not mountains below. They’re leftover storm clouds. Small tornados, flooding, and power outages made a mess of things and I’m thankful that I was spared of any trouble.

A song was stuck in my head this morning. Most of us are familiar with it… "I….don’t wanna work. I wanna bang on a drum all day.” Other Friday songs were in my head and I knew early on that I needed to get out of the office. I arranged the piles of tasks on my desk and worked feverishly to gain control of the load. The sun was high, the breeze was cool, and I decided to hit the road at 1:30 p.m.

In my car with the window down, the radio station pampered me with “Love Shack” and Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do (is have some fun)”. That was quite appropriate! I had three hours on my own. 'Twas heaven.

This is where I landed. My first visit to the Carolina Raptor Center. I’m so glad I visited and it’s not far from home, located at the base of Lake Norman. The walking trail was over a mile long and I saw at least twenty-five raptors in aviaries donated by large corporations as well as private donors. There’s so much to do and see in this preserve called Latta Plantation Nature Center. It includes wildlife habitats and an equestrian center, as well as the Raptor Center. Mary will be visiting often. She also might sign up to volunteer some hours per month.

Two bald eagles were born last Thursday at the Raptor Center. I was wondering why the news media was in the parking lot. When talking to a volunteer I learned that last night’s storms killed both the babies – they probably died of hypothermia. The nest was on the ground and they were swept away in rushes of water. The Center was sickened by the tragedy.

My reflection can be seen on the trail map.

In low-lying parts of the one-mile trail, I sloshed through a few inches of water. It was worth it. This photo is loaded with different reflections on the "water trail". My feet were sopping wet but I was able to see raptors that looked me over as I did them. I must admit I was so surprised at the sweetness in their faces, knowing how fierce they are in the wild. Some perched pretty and some hid farther back away from me.

At the end of my hike, I visited the eagle aviary. The size of it shocked me.

Bald Eagle. Wow. It’s hard to focus through fencing and wire mesh. Most of my photos were trash-worthy but I have many that are OK.

Bald Eagle with an itch. I counted four of them in their aviary.

Golden Eagle. Gorgeous. At least four in their aviary.

There are many more photos to come! I’ll offer more over the weekend.

The coral and pink pastel sunset reflects the way I feel ~ serene but tired, knowing the weekend is ahead of me to included scrubbing toilets. But I called the shots today and I'm worth it.