December 9, 2007
First up today was Hootie, the "Night Shift", an Eastern Screech Owl that is one of the regulars at these programs. Kathy and I did a nice 2 person routine talking back and forth about the interesting facts of life as an Owl. Then she brought out one of the big guns, the "Day Shift" in the form of Katie the Redtail Hawk, another regular at these events. But they were both upstaged today by Utopia's newest program edition, Zephyr, a juvenile turkey vulture. This was only Zephyr's third appearance in public and he is making quite an impression. As turkey vultures do not have to capture live prey they do not have an opposable talon so it makes it harder for them to perch on a glove. To compensate for this Zephyr will spread wide his magnificent wings to aid in balance. As you can see in the pictures below, taken by my wife Audrey, this is no small feat. If I may anthropomorphize and romanticize here it almost looks like he is putting his arms around Kathy. We hope he becomes a regular member of the 'team' as they have their own unique place in the world as the clean up crew.
Richard
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