 |
| Jonah, fourth from left, and his family and friends. |
The Raptor Center recently made a new friend who impressed us so much
with how beautifully he expressed his love of raptors. Jonah, 13,
agreed to share his journey so far in a guest blog post. He is also a
talented artist, as you can see from his drawings.
We thank Jonah and his family and friends for being a
part of spreading the message how raptors are an important part of our
shared world, and we look forward to another visit soon.
 |
| Jonah's drawing of Northern Saw-whet owls |
 |
| Jonah drew a hawk, hunting for prey. |
"Hello, my name is Jonah, and I am 13 years old. This is my first
post for The Raptor Center blog. After sending The Raptor Center a
Thanksgiving thank-you letter for caring for the sick, poisoned, injured
and human-imprinted raptors, I was asked to write for this blog. Aside
from having a deep love and respect for animals and nature and a fiery
passion for their conservation and protection, I like reading and
drawing.
So, it's February, which means romantic lovey-doveyness everywhere. Blech. The only kind of
love
I'm going to be talking about is how I first came to love raptors. I've
always loved animals since I was a baby (literally!), but my love for
raptors in particular, and owls in particular among raptors, did not
begin until fairly recently- the late summer of 2016, to be exact. I
love to read and some of my favorite stories are those with animals as
main characters. Naturally, I eventually was introduced to a book series
called Guardians of Ga'hoole by Kathryn Lasky. In case you have not
heard of the series or read it, the stories are set in a world where
humans no longer exist, and the main characters are owls, among other
animals. The author incorporated a lot of real facts and information
about owls into her writing and it got me curious to know more.
Next,
what really sparked the flame of interest was our cabin trip in
September when I heard my mom say, "Look! An owl!" but I missed it. From
that moment on I had a goal to see owls in the wild; I spent the
remainder of the cabin weekend listening for and looking for owls. I
heard one in a tree nearby but was never able to see it. Later, a small
bird that was probably a Saw-Whet owl swooped in front of our windshield
in a blurry flash. Since then I have seen wild owls right in our
neighborhood- probably the same nesting pair. I've seen them twice in
December silhouetted in the dark, moonless distance after hearing them
calling, and once (just today) in the daylight getting chased away by
crows as I glanced up from writing this!
All the other raptors kinda got
dragged along for the ride when my love for owls began and I have kept
track of the species I have seen ever since. I'm probably not the only
one who is kind of grossed out by all this February love madness, so I
strongly suggest joining me in the love of raptors!"
