Thank you from The Raptor Center

Thank you to all who made the auction a success! If you are a winning bidder, you can contact Ellen Orndorf at eorndorf@umn.edu for details Friday, September 30, or we will begin contacting everyone next week to arrange details of pick up of your items.

Final Hours of TRC's Fundraising Online Auction!

There are just a few more hours to bid on some fantastic items and experiences in our fundraising online auction! The Raptor Center offers several fun opportunities alone; we offer the opportunity to release a rehabilitated raptor back into the wild; spend a day behind the scenes with our TRC staff; or have some of our winged ambassadors come to your home! (Please read disclaimers on all items.) Due to the amount of activity on our auction, we will extend the time of closing from 6:30pm to 8:00pm tonight. Good luck, and thank you for helping The Raptor Center!

Minneapolis Experiences, and Randall McDaniel Memorabilia in Our Online Auction

The Raptor Center is excited to highlight these very special packages to lucky winning bidders of our fundraising online auction! NFL Hall of Famer, multiple Pro Bowler and your #64 Minnesota Viking Randall McDaniel has generously donated several items, including a signed jersey, signed Hall of Fame yearbook from his 2009 induction, and autographed mini-football and mini-helmet with 2009 inscription!

We also put together a true "Minneapolis Classic" with a $30 Punch Pizza giftcard, two vouchers for Mill City Museum, a $25 giftcard to Joe's Garage,
a $30 giftcard to Punch Pizza, and finally four sets of two-ticket passes to any Patrick's Cabaret event. Click here for these and many other items and experiences!

Onlt Two Days Left for Online Auction!

Only two more days left to bid on items in our fundraiser online auction! Click here to see the packages of items and experiences! One fabulous package lets you experience/remember all that the University of Minneosta has to offer; Package includes: 1-year University of Minnesota Alumni Association membership and gift basket (comprised of an Alumni Association t-shirt, 22oz Alumni Association water bottle, a black leather Alumni Association keychain, an AlumniAassociation pen and an Alumni Association notepad with calculator), Dinner for 2 at the Campus Club located in Coffman Memorial Union ($50 value), 2 Tickets for Jin Xing Dance Theater Performance (Feb 18, 2012) at Northrop Auditorium, and One-Year Dual-Level Museum Membership to the Weisman Art Muesum.

Fall Release and TRC Happenings

Please plan to come out to our fall public raptor release on Saturday, September 24! It is at Carpenter St Croix Valley Nature Center, in Hastings, MN. The event is from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Karen Kaler, wife of new University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler, is one of several folks who will release several rehabilitated raptors back into the wild. This is a great FREE family event!

On Tuesday, September 27, please join us for the first in our Raptor Tails series: "Feathers and Flight - Fabulous Feathers and Migration. The Raptor Tails series are activity-oriented learning experiences for ages 3-5 about raptors and their environment. Children will hear stories, take part in activities, and get to meet a live raptor each session. The goal of this program is for pre-schoolers to develop a positive relationship with raptors and the environment.

Bald Eagle Band Return

The Raptor Center applies a federal band to most of the rehabilitated raptors released back to the wild. Although only an average of 5 band returns a year are received, the information these provide is invaluable in critiquing our rehabilitation techniques and in learning more about raptor movements and behavior.

Last week, we received band return information on a bald eagle we admitted on 11/13/2005. At that time, this female eagle, weighing in at 4430g, was 3-4 years old. She had been shot in Wanamingo, MN and suffered a fractured left ulna (one of the bones in the middle of the wing) along with bruising and swelling of tissues where the projectile entered. Dr. Hugo Lopez, a veterinarian from Portugal, performed the surgery to repair the wing and the bird recovered well. She was reconditioned over the winter months and released at Carpenter Nature Center in Hastings on 3/18/2006. She survived 6 and ½ years after that traumatic event and was recovered northeast of the Hwy 56 bridge along the Cannon River last week. We do not know how or why she died, but are grateful that our skill and compassion gave her several more years to soar in blue skies, and that the silver band she wore from that time forward was able to provide us with feedback on our efforts.

TRC Clinic Patients 9.12.11

The Raptor Center has received 489 patients so far this year. We currently have 65 patients. Some are in individual patient cages while their injuries heal. Others are in large flight rooms or outside in the rehabilitation courtyard for exercise before their release. The following table shows the patient census by species:

Eagles
Bald Eagle 16

Hawks - Buteos
Red-tailed Hawk 14
Broad-winged Hawk 4

Hawks - Accipiters
Cooper's Hawk 4

Falcons
Peregrine Falcon 3
Merlin 3


Owls
Great Horned Owl 6
Eastern Screech-owl 1

Others (Osprey and Turkey Vulture) 3