The Lake MacBride Raptor Center

On Saturday we got to have Wally's friend Joel for the afternoon. Since it was sunny, we took advantage of the weather and went to the MacBride Raptor Center. We had never been there though we go to the lake all the time. The Raptor Center cares for injured raptors and tries to re-introduce them to the wild. I don't think they had any that they were rehabilitating at the time, just several owls, hawks, eagles, etc that could never be returned to the wild.

Our favorite owl that made clicking sounds. Neither of us can remember what kind he is though.

A great horned owl.

Though Wally might be huge for a 4 year old, he is pretty puny compared to a bald eagle!

I don't remember what this little guy was, but he is incredibly cute!

We saw this lovely turkey vulture eating a rat. The boys didn't seem to want a dead rat for dinner though!?

The boys had a great time running the trails and climbing the rails. It was a beautiful day!

Who is who? The boys were dressed the same and are nearly the same height, so it was hard to tell who was who!

Bald eagles are just amazing!

This is a blurry video (not sure why that happened), but I loved hearing the eagle "talk."

We had a great time at the Raptor Center and will be out again soon. We've been enjoying watching bald eagles at: www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/

Totally random change of subject...

Wally bought this extension cord winder with his birthday money in August at the church rummage sale. Every-once-in-a-while he brings it out and comes up with some creative thing to do with it. The other day he used it to "launch" balls for the dogs - the balls went about 3 feet. Last night he built a Ferris wheel for his little stuffed animals. I suggested the pipe cleaner, but he did the rest. Engineer! Engineer! Engineer! (That is me cheering him on).

I like how Wally starts humming a tune for the Ferris wheel. I'll have to find one to take him on some day.