Medina Raptor Center

This is the Amazing Laura Jordan and Migisi.

Today, Laurie and I went on a hike sponsored by the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, the first group we became involved with when we started birding. They are a great group, truly involved in helping to save habitat for birds. We'll talk about them in a future episode...

Yep, this IS a Red-tailed Hawk, though it appears to be an albino, it is leucistic, it has blue eyes and a little coloring around the eyes.

Today, we went to visit the Medina Raptor Center. I've blogged about them before and have shown you photos of their birds, such as the leucistic Red-tailed Hawk, the Snowy Owl that I bored and Matilda the Turkey Vulture. This is an amazing place to visit and if you EVER have the chance to visit them, you owe it to yourself to do it.

This is Matilda and if you can spoil a Turkey Vulture, she would be the proof. What a princess, she's the star of "Buzzard Day" in Hinckley, Ohio!

It will really open up your eyes to what happens to so many birds because of our carelessness. So many of these birds are injured and can't be returned to the wild due to poisoning from pesticides and lead from bullets, becoming tangled in fishing line, unfortunate collisions with vehicles and gunshot wounds.

They also have a pair of Trumpeter Swans. He loves to harass the Canada Geese on the pond.

Laura Jordan and her husband, Bill, have been rehabilitating birds and other wildlife for twenty years now on their family farm. Though the farming has ceased and the farm is returning to it's wild state, they still work everyday, taking care of their charges. Everything is done with the help of many volunteers and donations from people that care.

They have a number of large cages out among the pine trees of their farm so the birds have plenty of fresh air and light. Volunteers clean the cages daily and inspect their charges to make sure they are on the mend...along with the feeding of the proper diets depending on the species. They have a few local hunters that bring in Muskrats and other fresh foods, along with shipments of mice and insects from outside suppliers. The kitchen is a very...a...different, shall we say, sort of prep center! Be careful where you lay your snacks...

Laura's dedication to our feathered friends is a wondrous thing.

This is the cutest little bird. This really shows you how small a Northern Saw-whet Owl is.

This Great Horned Owl has been a surrogate father for a number of orphans. He has serious vision problems and can't be released into the wild, like so many of the birds you see here.

Laurie-loo took this shot of a Great Horned Owl in the hospital. He's not very great yet, give him a few months, and a whole lot of mousies!

This American Kestrel is dreaming of soaring.

One of the outstanding volunteers and a Barred Owl. It takes many people to keep the cages clean and the birds fed and nursed back to health.

This sign really makes the right statement.

Please visit their website to get more detailed information and help them out if you can. The birds will thank you!