Up close with birds of prey

NEWS-LEDGER — APRIL 18, 2012 –

You’re invited to the Spring Open House at  the California Raptor Center (CRC) on Saturday, May 5.

The Open House and “Hawk Walk” are free. Donations are welcome, and are especially needed this year due to budget cuts.

The raptor center will be open to visits from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and there will be special presentations at 10:00 a.m. and noon.  You may also join the “hawk walk” from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., leaving from the CRC gate — bring your binoculars!

Staff at the CRC cares for injured raptors (eagles, hawks, vultures and owls), rehabilitating and releasing them back to the wild whenever possible. Some of the birds that cannot be released are trained to take part in education programs.

  Special presentations at the open house will demonstrate fascinating features of raptor biology and ecology, and visitors will be able to see many non-releasable raptors housed in display cages as well as birds out on the glove (including “Mikey,” the Red Shouldered Hawk, and “Spar,” the American Kestrel, who have both been featured with Huell Howser on public television).

The onsite museum will be open, and T-shirts and other CRC souvenirs will be for sale.

  Directions: From Interstate 80 take the UC Davis exit. Turn south on Old Davis Road heading away from the main campus. Cross the railroad tracks and keep going to the Putah Creek Bridge where there is a low-profile blue and gold California Raptor Center sign. Do not cross the bridge. Instead, turn left onto the paved levee road and follow it for one block until it dips down off the levee. Then turn right into the CRC parking lot. Parking is free. For a map visit  www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/calraptor

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