About the Raptor Rehabilitation Center & Pueblo Nature Center:
http://natureandraptor.org/raptor.html
Location: Pueblo Nature Center - Pueblo, Colorado
Map: http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Pueblo+Colorado&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.214763,56.337891&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Pueblo,+Colorado&ll=38.274626,-104.666533&spn=0.008035,0.013754&t=h&z=16
Observation date: 6/9/10
Number of species: 6
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 3
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica 20
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 4
Western Tanager - Piranga ludoviciana 1
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Tanager/id
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 16
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus 8
We first visited the Raptor Rehabilitation center, located just outside of Pueblo off HWY-45. The center is home to over a dozen injured or maimed birds of prey. We saw 3 Golden Eagles, 3 Mississippi Kites, 2 Swainson's Hawks, 2 Bald Eagles, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a Turkey Vulture.
The 2 Great Horned Owls that are usually housed there were acting as "foster parents" (we were told by an employee of the center). A pair of American Kestrels were absent too - their cage had been invaded by a hungry raccoon. The male was killed and the female so badly wounded that she had to be euthanized. Sad.
After we left the Raptor Center we followed the road down into a small canyon where both the Nature Center and a small cafe sit beside the Arkansas River. We got some coffee from the cafe and sat by the river for close to an hour. I spied a Western Tanager flying over the river, hoping from perch to perch. The Western Tanager is now 182 on my Lifelist.
-Photo courtesy of naturepicsonline.com , via Wikipedia
-SPQ 6/19/2010
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