Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 51F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..
Tonight
Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 37F. Winds light and variable.
WHITE SALMON — The April 11 Wild About Nature talk was "Falconry: Bird Abatement and Captive Breeding by Master Falconer Jimmy Bathke and Apprentice Lara Schifferns."
While several hooded live falcons perched peacefully nearby, Master Falconer Jimmy Bathke demonstrated the equipment used in modern falconry, including costly radio tracking devises. Traditional items were also shown whose names and uses go back centuries, like jesses, the straps that hold the birds in place, and mews, the houses where the falcons live.
Modern uses of peregrine falcons in the gorge area include use by orchardists to keep birds out of bearing fruit trees, keeping birds out of airplane hangers, and driving seagulls away from landfills. “There can be thousand of the gulls at the landfill, but the peregrine falcons can drive them all away in fifteen minutes,” said Bathke. Intern Lara Shifferns told of a time her falcon was working at the landfill at Arlington and three eagles drove it away. The terrified falcon hid in a railway car and ended up in Seattle. A fellow falconer located the bird on the Boeing field and they were reunited.
Bathke discussed bird imprinting with his Goshawks. He nurtures them and even builds nests with them. This evening’s audience included many children eager to see the live birds.
Although sponsored by the White Salmon Community Library, the series is being held in the Mountain View Grange every Friday in April at 6:30 to accommodate the large audience. The free series Is created by Joy Markgr and additional sponsors include the Suksdorf Native Plant Society and Friends of the White Salmon River.
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