It will be our 10th (not quite annual) event. Bird program, silent auction, food, photo opportunities, merchandise sale and more. Note the shortened event length. More to follow, so stay tuned! We look forward to spending the afternoon with you all.
12 viewsAll ages are welcome to our public presentations. There is no charge for these programs, but donations are encouraged to help feed and care for the birds. All monies go directly to bird care – staff and volunteers at Indiana Raptor Center are not paid for their efforts. Many thanks in advance for your financial support!
4/22 Brown Co Earth Day at YMCA, 10-12
5/27 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 7 PM
6/3 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 7 PM
6/24 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 7 PM
7/1 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 7 PM
7/15 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 7 PM
9/9 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 2 PM
9/30 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 2 PM
10/21 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 2 PM
10/28 Brown Co State Park Nature Center 2 PM
All ages are welcome to attend our presentations at the Brown County State Park Nature Center. Program listings – date, location, and time – are available on our home page of this website. Location may change with weather conditions, so be sure to check at the North Gate to the park or at the Abe Martin Lodge or Nature Center for up to the minute information on location. Our team of expert educators and bird rescuers provide excellent insights into raptor biology, their roles in our environment, and the challenges they face in coexisting with humans. Presentations are free, with donations accepted to help fund the Indiana Raptor Center rehabilitation of injured birds of prey.
6/21, Monro Co Public Library, Ellettsville 11 AM
6/21, Monroe Co Public Library, Bloomington, 2 PM
7/19, Monroe Co Public Library SW, 5:30 PM
For the Monroe Co Library programs, please contact that library system for details; there usually is a count limit for attendees based on the room used, so may need to get on a reservation list
Indiana Raptor Center facility tours are available by appointment May through July and September through early November. Please call 812-988-8990 to make a reservation. Also please see the tour information listed below while planning your outing.
22 viewsThe Board of Directors at Indiana Raptor Center presents these instructions for tours of our facility. To accommodate any Covid concerns and to maintain a quality and safe experience for everyone, there are some restrictions and information that we do need share for these activities as follows:
Please call for further information and reservations at 812-988-8990.
We appreciate your patience with these rules and decisions and hope that all of you and your friends, families and colleagues can remain healthy and safe during this time of difficulty for people everywhere. May we all be kind to one another in the face of this health threat to the entire world and take seriously all calls for caution and restraint in public interactions.
All actions will be taken with staff, volunteers, visitors, off-site audiences, bird finders, and birds in mind.
Very Best Regards,
Patti Reynolds
President/Executive Director
It’s that time of year again, and if you’ve got raptor lovers in your life, we’ve got a shop for you! The Indiana Raptor Center runs a shop on the popular website Redbubble where you can buy a number of fetching tees, prints, mugs, tote bags, and more. Offering a selection of both illustrated designs and photographs, we think there’s something for every lover of birds of prey. Plus, your purchases help us in our unending mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured and orphaned raptors.
We’ve added some new products this year as well! You can find products featuring our logos as well as our popular “barn owl and Triceratops” patch design! Head to the shop to browse the selection.
132 views
InRC board member Domonic Potorti and Elmo the Barred Owl educate the campers at Happy Hollow in Brown County, IN.
Today is Vulture Awareness Day around the world. Vultures may not be the most popular birds among the general public, but they are vital members of the environment. They are facing a range of pressures around the world, most famously from diclofenac poisoning.
A few years ago, I accompanied Patti Reynolds and stalwart volunteer/ house taxidermist Markus to retrieve and injured Turkey Vulture. Her wing injury would prove to be of the sort that just can’t be fixed, but Markus, Patti, and Laura gave the bird their all in hopes of a good outcome. It is so often the case that the stresses these birds encounter before entering Indiana Raptor Center’s care prove to be too much, and the best that can be done is to provide a safe, stress-free environment for their passing.
Patti and Markus rescue an injured Turkey Vulture
An injured Turkey Vulture, rescued by Indiana Raptor Center
Laura Edmunds and Patti Reynolds tend to an injured Turkey Vulture
It was exciting to watch my first bird rescue. For my part, I got to hold a big net and help form a perimeter so Patti and Markus could nab her. She had not eaten recently, and therefore couldn’t manage the trademarked defense-by-repulsion method Turkey Vultures favor: good old-fashioned puke.
Bird rescue and rehabilitation is a tireless occupation, with many heartbreaks along the way. Please donate to Indiana Raptor Center to help us rescue and care for these birds. Thank You for your support.
Our friend Avery is our featured artist for July-August. Avery is a bright talented 8 year old Hoosier who is a good friend of the Indiana Raptor Center. Her artwork displays an observational power, and the budding skills to reproduce those observations, that are well beyond her years. Jack Wittenbrink, our supporting metal and papercut artist from New Orleans thinks she is something of a prodigy because her drawings depict correct anatomical features in proper proportion, while also putting the light of life, curiosity and spirit into the birds she draws. We are happy to have her as a friend, and will continue to feature her work on this website as long as she continues to grace us with more drawings!
A pencil drawing of a screech owl by young artist Avery
A drawing of a parrot by young artist Avery
A pencil drawing of a barn owl in flight by young artist Avery
Barn owl with mouse, by young artist Avery.
For our second post featuring beautiful raptor art, we turn our eye to Steve Goad. Hailing from Texas, Steve makes his living as a full-time artist and has worked quite a bit in the video game and publishing industries. His body of work includes still life, landscapes, and charismatic renderings of comic, sci-fi, and fantasy characters, but our focus here today will be on a his lovely raptors.
Red-Tailed Hawk, © Steve Goad. Shared here with the artist’s permission.
Freedom Haze, © Steve Goad. Shared here with the artist’s permission.
Golden Eagle portrait, © Steve Goad. Shared here with the artist’s permission.
To follow Steve’s work, please like his Facebook page, follow him on DeviantArt, purchase high-quality prints at Fine Art America, and of course head over to his professional website. We’d like to thank Steve for allowing us to share his work here and for also bringing his artistic talents to bear in these gorgeous renderings of birds of prey.
90 viewsBirds of prey inspire awe in us, and that awe often finds expression in works of art. Indiana Raptor Center’s Nashville headquarters are a virtual art gallery! To celebrate our appreciation of and respect for artists who create inspiring raptor art of all sorts – from felting to mixed media to comics to illustration – we’re beginning a regular series of artist spotlights here at our new website. Illustrator Claudia Hahn has agreed to be our first subject.
Claudia is a native of Germany, but now calls England home. She describes herself as “an enthusiastic fossil hunter and birdwatcher, a lover of owls,” and can even boast that she once “was the brief owner of a pet magpie.” She is especially interested in working on conservation projects, stemming from her deep appreciation of natural history. This love of the natural world comes through loud and clear in her work, as you will see in the selected pieces below.
First, we’ll start with a couple of owl species we’re well-acquainted with in the midwestern United States: the Barn Owl and Barred Owl.
‘Twilight in the Highlands,’ original oil painting by Claudia Hahn
‘Barred Owl,’ reproduction of a painting by Claudia Hahn
Claudia’s anatomical studies are as enchanting as her illustrations of live birds, as in this study of a wing.
Reproduction of ‘Bones,’ anatomical study by Claudia Hahn
Naturally, she also focused on raptors exotic to us, as in this incredible portrait of a Red Kite.
‘The Red Kite,’ original painting by Claudia Hahn
We hope you’ve enjoyed Claudia’s work and will follow her on social media: follow her at her artist website and portfolio, as well as on Twitter, Facebook, DeviantArt, and Tumblr. Even better, check out Claudia’s Etsy Shop where you can purchase originals and/ or prints of the works I’ve shared here and many more works that explore other facets of the natural world.
All images in this post © Claudia Hahn and used with her permission.
64 views