High Desert

CAPTIVATING RAPTORS: MPA is on a road trip to Bend, Oregon, and that trip involved visiting the High Desert Museum on Monday.

Featuring wildlife, intriguing art, living history, and lovely grounds, the museum is a great destination any time. However, it was an especially special stop on Monday, because it was the last opportunity to get to see their "Raptors of the Desert Sky," an outdoor program.
With the help of human handlers, hawks, a barn owl, falcons and a big ol' turkey vulture put on an impressive show.  The raptors soared and swooped between perches, often flying just inches over the appreciative crowd, which is seated in the museum's pine forest.

A narrator shared facts about the feathered wonders darting about. While the turkey vulture might not win any bird beauty contests, its wingspan is impressive, and it is great at cleaning up carrion and more in our ecosystem.

I was absolutely enthralled by the barn owl. It approached the crowd from the west, and it felt like it was making a beeline right for Christian and me.  

You can see him getting ready to photograph it, below.

Below is a photo I captured of it, right before it went directly over my head, so close that my hair was tousled.

Below, the owl had just flown over CJ and Annabelle, and is heading for Charlie and Vitoria.

While Christian and I were among those sitting on the bench at the back of the amphitheater, the kids were sitting in the middle of the crowd. In the photo following, you can see CJ (wearing sunglasses), looking toward me. Coming up on him is a falcon, airborne. CJ was one of the taller people sitting in the audience, and his head got buzzed a number of times!

 Such a gorgeous creature!

 A couple of different species of falcons put on a show.

After the flying demo, the handlers brought out a couple of the birds, including this beautiful hawk.

Overall, the show had enormous 'wow' factor. We were all super happy to have had the chance to see it.

Naturally, we checked out many of the museum's other attractions, including an old saw mill with a man of few words manning it.

 There were outhouses about the property.

 CJ tried this one on for size.

 

We went to check out the otter exhibit, but they were all in their little den, taking a midday nap. We did see some tortoises and turtles on the go.

 And found a drowsy looking owl in an indoor enclosure.

There were numerous displays about natural resource management and stewardship, including this interactive one about balancing water needs. It took a few tries, but Annabelle eventually balanced out the fresh water demands of various groups.

Like moths to a light, the MPA crew was drawn to a display noting Central Oregon played a role in the Apollo missions.

 Here's Annabelle in a High Desert astronaut pose.

The photo below shows NASA folks going through exercises in the desert. The thought was the rocky terrain was rather like the surface of the moon. 
I don't think this 'moon walker' made the cut as far as equipment that made it to the moon.

There is, however, a rock from Central Oregon on the moon. Astronaut James Erwin placed it there during the Apollo 15 mission.

 It seemed like a big ask, but, believe it or not, the answer was, "Yes!"

 

 Based on our visit, we definitely give high praise to the High Desert Museum.