Nature Center News

The Nature Center is pleased to announce the upcoming release of 3 rehabilitated raptors back to the wild!  A Red-tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, and an American Kestrel have all recovered from life-threatening injuries and are ready to be set free.  We will be releasing 1 bird each day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of this week (September 2, 3, 4) at 12:30pm.  We are excited to have great public turnout for the events, as these wildlife releases are special events that most people never see.

The Nature Center has been fortunate this summer to be the host for several injured raptors.  Caring for these wild birds of prey is arduous work, especially when they have limited mobility or eyesight.  The Red-tailed Hawk hit a window, the Great Horned Owl was struck by a car, and the young American Kestrel fell from its nest.  These are common situations that have deadly results when injuries are left untreated.  And while the natural world cycles with life and death, rehabilitation can save lives.  The upcoming releases are a time to celebrate, and the Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory cordially invites you to join us for the festivities.

On August 25, the Nature Center's field-savvy Junior Naturalist Interns discovered burning embers that had escaped a fire pit at the mouth of Hidden Forest Cave.  The smoldering wood chunks had been burning for many hours and the ring of burnt duff and leaf litter had grown to a few square feet.  The charred black dirt was smoking and too hot to touch, a strong indication of the potential danger of a spreading wildfire.  And with dry pine needles and dead trees close by, Noah, Jon, and Isa acted quickly.  Nature Center Manager Rob Bingham and Lead Naturalist Nicole Tripp called in the hot spot to firefighters.

Thanks to all the fun-loving volunteers that came out to the Nature Center this year to help juvenile Western Toads migrate out of Lake Aspen.  Hundreds to thousands of toadlets were collected from the dry grass around the lake and moved across roadways and bike paths to the safety of greener meadows.  We won't see these juveniles back at the lake for several years, but there will be a new cohort of toads ready to move next summer.  And the smiles we saw from kids and adults alike this year is proof that the Toad Patrol is not just successful, it's fun!

With the long Winter and Spring we had here in Central Oregon, most of the seasonal events nature provides have been delayed.  The wildflowers bloomed late, the hummingbirds arrived late, and the much-anticipated Western Toad migration is late.  We are actively monitoring tadpole development, and it seems that some of the population is getting ready to move. We don’t know how big the toadlet population will be this year, but they are beginning to come ashore and spread out into the dry grasses.  If there is a warm summer rain in the next 1-2 weeks, that will be the likely time for the migration to happen, so stay tuned.

One of the many services the Nature Center provides is to rehabilitate injured wildlife, especially raptors.  Currently, we are working with a beautiful American Kestrel that came in with a badly broken wing just one month after hatching.  In collaboration with Dr. Jeff Cooney, D.V.M., this young bird is now fluttering around and developing her natural instincts.  If she can overcome her original injury and subsequent malnourishment, we will be excited to release her back to the wild to live a productive life.  But if her injuries prevent her from returning to the wild, she will make an excellent education bird.  She is currently on display daily at the Nature Center and making quite an impression on staff and visitors alike.

The Nature Center Golden Eagle is getting a fantastic renovation to its enclosure.  Mary-Jo Shafer of Sunriver is currently painting a beautiful mural that depicts a sprawling Central Oregon vista.  The sagebrush steppe, with its juniper ridgelines, grassy hills, and reddish soil, is the quintessential place to see Golden Eagles in the wild.  And while our blind eagle cannot appreciate the mural, the viewing public can see it 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm.

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