Last month was the Naturefest at the nature center in Rocky River Valley. I wanted to go not only to check out the indoor craft show, but also the raptor presentation. So off I went Saturday afternoon, April 29th .
    It was a lovely day & while there were lots of people there, it wasn't packed. The art show had a variety of vendors, as well as educational tables from environmental groups. I asked a couple exhibitors for details & discovered resonable rates & a good return on business. It's something I'm definitely interested in participating in & will contact them about next year's show.
    It was prime time for wildflowers, I'd never seen so many in my life; bluebells, trilliums, violets & several others that I couldn't identify. I wanted to go on the naturalist led wildflower walk, but was afraid it wouldn't be back in time for the raptor show.
    At 2 pm I walked down a trail to a large tent where the presentation was to be held. I sat on a front row bench so my view wouldn't be blocked. A couple ladies from the Medina Raptor Center gave a brief talk on how they rehabilitate injured hawks & owls for return to the wild. Their passion was evident as they described the patience & time it takes.
      Soon they brought in the first live bird, which was a rough-legged hawk, a species I'd never seen before. I gave up trying to hear the speakers, as I focused completely on the bird & making sketches of it. Partway through they realized what I was doing & brought the bird closer to me, for which I was grateful. Next, another lady brought in a peregrine falcon, which was stunning. I've painted these birds before, but obviously never done justice to the sight of one close up. The falcon opened it's wings to reveal a checkerboard of grey on ivory feathers. I'm going to do a picture of that someday. The lady holding the peregrine attempted to make a fashion show out of it, swooping & turning her arm continually, making sketching more of a challenge than usual. She returned later with a saw-whet owl did the same thing. Ahk! In between, a little grey screech owl was shown by a calmer lady & I got a nice sketch of it looking down, which is an unsual pose.
   My camera's batteries were ebbing and working sporatically, so unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the raptors. However I got 2 pages of sketches of them, some vivid memories & a pleasant afternoon in the woods.