Last Day to Submit Name Suggestions for Northern Saw-whet Owl

Today is the last day to submit name suggesions for our Northern Saw-whet owl!  We hope you enjoyed meeting her at the State Fair, and we hope you come and visit us at The Raptor Center.

Keep watching our blog and Facebook; we will post the top name suggestions early next week.  We'll ask you to vote on them on Facebook to determine the winning submission. 

College of Veterinary Medicine's Pet of the Game Contest

The College of Veterinary Medicine, of which TRC is a department, has a contest to show your pet's Maroon and Gold spirit.  Submit a photo of your pet displaying his or her Gopher pride each home game for a chance to win Gopher football tickets and more. Three finalists will be determined by popular vote on the College's Facebook page. The winner will be decided by popular fan votes during the Gopher football game vs. New Hampshire on Sept. 8th, 2012.  More information here. 

Name the Owl Contest - Just a Few More Days!

We have had some very creative names submitted for our education Northern Saw-whet Owl.  There are still a few more days left to submit your choice as the contest ends at the end of the day September 4.  Please go to our website to submit your suggestion. 

Sept 1 is International Vulture Awareness Day

Nero, TRC's education turkey vulture, would like everyone to know that September 1 is International Vulture Awareness Day.   It is a coordinated international day to publicize the conservation of vultures to a wider audience and highlight the important work being carried out by the world’s vulture conservationists.

Nero would also like you to know that in addition to being quite handsome and interesting (see the cartoon at the bottom of this post), vultures play important roles in the health of ecosystems.  However, they also face some very real challenges.  Here is a video of Dr. Munir Virani, who works for the Peregrine Fund and is based in Nairobi.  He works with raptor projects in Africa as well as Pakistan and has been one of the most vocal in the plight of vultures worldwide.

There is a vulture in Germany who is helping the police force in a way that only his species can!

Show your vulture pride with a plush vulture or vulture earrings, now on sale at 20% off.  They can be purchased in The Raptor Center gift shop, or you can shop online!

CFANS Amazing Race at TRC

The Raptor Center loves being a part of the University of Minnesota, especially when students are back on campus.  This is Welcome Week, which for six days are sets of activities for incoming freshman.  The aim is to improve student engagement, first year retention and ultimately graduation rates by equipping students with the knowledge and resources to make a successful transition from high school to collegiate life.

The College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) organizes an Amazing Race activity, which introduces them to The Raptor Center.  Good luck students!  We hope you visit us again soon!

TRC Clinic Patient Census Aug 29

Northern Harrier

TRC's clinic has received 550 patients so far this year.  We currently have 81 patients. 

Eagles
Bald eagle   17

Hawks-Buteos
Red-tailed hawk   22
Broad-winged hawk   5
Red-shouldered hawk   1

Hawks - Accipiters
Cooper's hawk   14

Falcons
Merlin   5
Peregrine falcon   4
American kestrel   1

Owls
Great horned owl   8
Barred owl   2

Northern Harrier   2

TRC on WCCO Radio at the Fair

TRC's Executive Director, Dr. Julia Ponder, brought Juneau the peregrine to talk with Dave Lee on WCCO radio, at the State Fair.  Dave is a long-time supporter of TRC and we appreciated the chance to talk about TRC's mission and what we have coming up for this fall.