Happy Thanksgiving from The Raptor Center

The Raptor Center's staff, feathered and not, extend their wishes for a happy and safe holiday. We are so thankful for the support of all of our friends. From volunteers who give so much every week, to community who takes the time to call or bring in sick and injured birds to our clinic. And of course those of you who have supported us with donations that help us continue to do this work every day. We thank you so much.

Read our 2014 Fall Raptor Release Newsletter

Our fall 2014 Raptor Release newsletter is available for download!  You can click here for your copy.

TRC Clinic Patient Census November 18, 2014

A Northern Saw-whet owl patient receives eye-drops.

We update our raptor clinic patient census weekly here.

We have received 709 wild patients so far in 2014. 

We currently have 54 patients.   The following table shows the patient census by species:

The Raptor Center Current Patient Census (as of November 18, 2014)
Eagles
Bald Eagle	16
Golden Eagle	1
Hawks - Buteos
Red-tailed Hawk	19
Broad-winged Hawk	1
Rough-legged Hawk	1
Hawks - Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1
Northern Goshawk	1
Cooper's Hawk	2
Falcons
American Kestrel	1
Peregrine Falcon	1
Merlin	1
Owls
Great Horned Owl	4
Northern Saw-whet Owl	2
Barred Owl	1
Long-eared Owl	1
Others (Turkey Vulture)	1

Art and Photo Classes at The Raptor Center

We have some new art and photo classes at TRC.  Some start very soon!

For a complete list, click here, or scroll down.

For all classes, registration and more information at raptor@umn.edu, or 612-624-4745. Instructors are Carlyn Iverson and TRC staff. Raptor Photography Classes Photograph some of TRC's education raptors in natural habitats. Carlyn Iverson will guide you on angles, light, and working around live animal subjects. Title: 2-Hour Class for Kids ages 8-15 Dates and Times: November 24, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. January 18, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Cost: $40 Cancellation fee: 50% before November 19 for November 24, 2014 class 50% before January 13 for January 18, 2015 class Location: The Raptor Center Note: Sign up for an Introduction to Drawing with Carbon Dust (November 24) or Introduction to Drawing class (January 18, 2015), and use your photos from the Raptor Photography class as an inspiration.  Your cost for two classes each day (pairing of Raptor Photography for Kids and either Drawing or Drawing with Carbon Dust) will be $70 instead of $80.  Basics of Adobe Lightroom and Raptor Photography Class for Adults For one hour, you will take photos of raptors in natural settings.  (See the above description for Raptor Photography).  For this offering, you will then learn to use Adobe Lightroom for editing.  Almost all digital photographs need more “processing” to make an everlasting impact.  In this combined class, we'll learn how to use Adobe Lightroom to edit photographs as well as manage a large quantity of images.If you do not have Lightroom on your computer, you can download a free trial at: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html Dates and Times: November 22, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. (Raptor Photography is 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. and Adobe Lightroom is 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.) January 17, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. (Raptor Photography is 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. and Adobe Lightroom is 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.) Cost: $60 Cancellation fee: 50% before November 17 for November 22, 2014 class 50% before January 11 for January 17, 2015 class Location: The Raptor Center Introduction to Drawing with Carbon Dust Learn how to get more out of your artwork using the carbon dust technique.  We'll discuss and practice pencil use, sketching techniques, sketch transfer, tonal shading, depicting texture, and more.  Your inspiration will be live raptors and raptor artifacts. Title: 2-Hour Class for Ages 8-15 Dates and Times: November 24, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. Cost: $40 Cancellation fee: 50% before November 19, 2014 Location: The Raptor Center Note: Sign up for the Raptor Photography class earlier that day, and use your photos as an inspiration. Your cost for the two classes (pairing of Raptor Photography for Kids and Introduction to Drawing with Carbon Dust) will be $70 instead of $80. Introduction to Drawing Get up close with subjects that inspire real awe - raptors! We'll discuss and practice pencil use, sketching techniques, sketch transfer, tonal shading, depicting texture, and more. Title: 1-Hour Class for Ages 8-15 Dates and Times: January 18, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. Cost: $40 Cancellation fee: 50% before January 13, 2015 Location: The Raptor Center Note: Sign up for the Raptor Photography class earlier that day, and use your photos as an inspiration. Your cost for the two classes (pairing of Raptor Photography for Kids and Introduction to Drawing) will be $70 instead of $80. Drawing Together This workshop will introduce live raptors to participants with a discussion of how they fit into our natural world.  Following the short presentation, the class will be introduced to the tools and techniques to portray live birds or bird artifacts.  Bring a camera of any type to capture reference material.  Title: 4-Hour Class for Kids Ages 8-15 and Special Adult Dates and Times: March 14, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. March 15, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Cost: $40 Cancellation fee: 50% before March 1 for both classes. Location: The Raptor Center  Additional materials needed: 3 Drawing Pencils-2H, HB, and 4B artist quality such as Faber-Castelle 9000, Derwent Graphic, or Staedler Mars Lumograph Small hand pencil sharpener or sandpaper sharpening pad 1 large kneaded rubber eraser, and a pink eraser wedge (Pink Pearl) 1 metal eraser shield 1 small plastic or metal ruler 1 inexpensive 2"chip brush for wiping off erasure crumbs Tracing paper pad, 11" x 14, most transparent you can find, such as Canson Foundation Calque or Bienfang Parchment 100.   Suggested Art Stores--Wet Paint St. Paul, U of MN Bookstore, Dick Blick

Thank YOU for Give-ing to the Max!

While GiveMN is still working on final totals for all the non-profits involved in Give to the Max day yesterday, we are confident in saying that YOU raised $75,000 for The Raptor Center yesterday.  This is in addition to the $50,000 match that was given to us by Rachel Hollstadt, the Sarah J. Andersen Fund of the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation, and the WM Foundation. This makes a grand total of $125,000 raised yesterday.

It is impossible to express our full appreciation for what those gifts make possible.  Because of you, we have the ability to be there for our sick and injured raptor patients; we can continue to bring our winged ambassadors to all audiences for nose-to-beak learning; we can continue to train veterinary students and veterinarians from around the world to become future leaders in raptor medicine and conservation.

TRC Interpretive Naturalist Mike Billington and
Maxime the bald eagle thank you.

TRC Interpretive Naturalist Dan Hnilicka and Alula the red-tailed hawk.
Alula thanks you for "buying" her lunch today!

TRC volunteer Amy Dean and Artemis the peregrine falcon.
Artemis thanks you for "buying" her lunch today!

Thank you again, from all of us - feathered and non - at The Raptor Center.  

Help The Raptor Center Soar Tomorrow!

The Raptor Center celebrated 40 years this year, because of YOUR help. Will you Give to the Max tomorrow, to keep us soaring for the next 40 years?

Answer to the Feather Quiz - Female Northern Harrier

How did you do with your guesses for the feathers quiz we posted on Sunday?

The feathers are from Meadow, TRC's education winged ambassador northern harrier.

Here is a great graphic that shows some more feathers from a female northern harrier.  Can you see the ones in the graphic that match up with the ones we showed you from Meadow? 

The graphic is from the Birds of Alberta site, which has not only male and female harrier information and feather graphics, but other great raptor information. 

Make Your Guess: Whose Feathers Are These?

These two feathers were molted by one of our education winged ambassador birds.  There is a ruler used for size reference. 

Which species do these feathers belong to?  Submit your guess as a comment here.  Answer will be posted on Tuesday, November 11.

Help Keep The Raptor Center Soaring!

Thursday, November 13 is Give to the Max Day.  On this day, people come to together in a tremendous and heart-warming show of philanthropy.  Give to the Max Day is one of TRC's largest fund raisers for the year.
http://tinyurl.com/TRCGiveMN2014

Why it GTTM Day Important?
Although TRC is part of the University of Minnesota, we receive less than 10% of our operating budget from the University.  Our program income from the education department makes up about 30% of our budget. And a whopping 60% of our budget comes from YOU.

All Gifts Up to $50,000 Matched Because of the generosity of Rachel Hollstadt, the Sarah J. Andersen Fund of the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation, and the WM Foundation, ALL gifts given that day up to $50,000 will be matched. This means a $25 gift will receive a $25 match, so the gift to The Raptor Center is $50! 

Giving Is Easy
We want to make giving as easy as we can for you!  If you would rather mail in a check, or call us with a credit card number, you can certainly do so.  Your gift will still go towards our match.  Ellen Orndorf can be reached at 612-624-8457 or eorndorf@umn.edu.

You can also schedule your gift between now and Thursday, November 13.  If you go to the website at http://tinyurl.com/TRCGiveMN2014, there is a "schedule" button right under the Donate section.

You can view a video message from Dr. Julia Ponder, TRC's Executive Director, here.  

The Raptor Center 2015 Calendar Now Available

Our 2015 calendar is now available!  You can purchase it in our St. Paul UMN campus gift shop, or online here. 

They are $15 each, and full of great photos of our education birds and clinic work.  Much of the work was done by one of our volunteers, Jeff Fischer.