Gibwanasii!

Meet the newest member to the education team at the Audubon Center. Its a male American kestrel! He came to us through a rehab center in Utah. Somewhere along the line he became imprinted and was turned into a rehabber after coming down to see construction workers repeatedly.

Since we just got this bird on Monday, he is still getting acclimated but so far its looking like he will be an awesome education bird. We named him Gibwanasii, which means American kestrel in Ojibwe. I can't wait to start training him!

Training and Other Happenings

I have been rather busy the past few weeks. The new interns have arrived and we have had several groups on site. My time has been split between working in the barn, helping to train the newbies and working with the groups that are on-site.

Last week, there was an Elderhostel group on-site. I drove a the group for a day and got to tour two local museums: The Hinckley Fire Museum and the North West Company Fur Post. For me it was a bit of a treat because it broke up my normal work routine and I hadn't been to either yet. Spending the day with a group of seniors is always interesting. I think I told my life story about a dozen times but had a good time. I also got to talk about cranes for a few minutes when we drove by 4 in a corn field!

 Ricing demonstration at the Fur Post

Hinckley Fire Memorial

In addition to the groups on site, I have been getting to know the six new interns. All but one is from the midwest (not a lot of diversity this year). The other is from Cameroon. It is interesting getting used to all the new noises and faces in the house. During work hours, I have been helping train the new folks in on classes and team building exercises.

A majority of the education team doing team building!

Myself, Jess and Jane on the course!

Besides working a TON of hours, nothing else much has been happening. I am looking forward to everybody getting settled in and gearing up for the upcoming school year!

What a Week!

The past week has been insane! We had the Ways of Wildlife Camp with 18 campers and many field trips connected to animals.

On the first full day of camp, my half of the group went to the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. We got a behind the scenes tour and got a glimpse into what it takes to run an aquarium. It was lots of fun and we saw a bunch of fish. As a special bonus, the tall ships were still in the Duluth Harbor when we got there. 

My group in with the scuba diver in the sturgeon tank!

Me and a moose

Tall ships in Duluth

The next day we went back to Duluth to be a zoo keeper for the day at the Lake Superior Zoo. Here we went behind the scenes and cleaned the kangaroo enclosure. Then we got to explore the zoo before rushing back to the center for a Wildcat Sanctuary program. As part of this program we made enrichment for the cats which basically means we used cardboard boxes and paint to make giant cat toys!

Campers in front the the 'roo exhibit

(notice the matching t-shirts we made!)

Me showing my arm span!

The awesome cat toys!

On Wednesday, we learned about wildlife rehab. We took out a bunch of salvage animals and learned how to do a physical and bandages on an injured animal. It was a great lead in to our afternoon at an animal hospital. We took a tour of the vet clinic and rehab facilities in Garrison. Afterward, we took our picture by a huge Walleye (Minnesota's state fish)!

Me in front of the giant walleye!

On Thursday, we started the day in the barn. Half the group did kestrel handling and the other half did barn chores. It was fun to see how excited the kids were to gut the food or feed a herp. That afternoon, we drove down to the Wildlife Science Center. We saw the wolves, bears and other critters that they house.

Four wolves checking out our group!

Friday morning was a repeat of Thursday and then the campers got picked up after lunch. All in all this was a crazy week. It was exhausting because I worked nearly 90 hours but it was fulfilling at the same time. Through the week we got to see alot of critters and the campers learned how much work goes into caring for animals. It was great to see the kids get so excited to see, touch or feed an animal!

~krazy kestrel~

Every now and then, you have a day where nothing goes quite as planned.

Take today for instance. I started a new step in my training of Isis. She was being a rockstar and doing really well. She was actually eating small pieces of food from my hand for the first time. Problem was I couldn't finish my training because of all the things going on in the barn.

By time I returned with the last of her food, she was hungry and unhappy. Usually, she flies to her food platform and waits for me to feed her. This time, she perched on my shoulder. Then, as if to show her dislike of the days activities, she footed my ear before flying off. Yes, you read that correctly - she grabbed my ear with her talon.

Once the laughter subsides, you will be glad to know that I am fine. I find the humor in the situation but was still freaked out a bit while it was happening.

Heres hoping our next training session goes more smoothly!!