1st Eagle Release
Today was a very special day.. even better than all my other special days. It started with a up close and personal view of a Northern Hawk Owl. A bird of northern Canadian boreal forests, the Northern Hawk Owl is distinctive among owls for its morphology and...
test flying "Harley"
Yesterday, we took Harley out for several more test flights in preparation for his release. I heard thru the grapevine that some of the delay in his release, is due to a conversation with Harley Davidson about possibly funding a radio transmitter.
Flying a Snowy Owl
Thursday am Flight Crew – Dec 31, 2009
My first snowy
ONE of the highlights of my day, was helping fly a Snowy Owl at the Raptor Center. This guy came from a zoo in North Dakota for a stay at the Center where we found very little wrong with him. Today, he was taken out to the field in from of the St. Paul...
Injured eagle near release
Reprinted from the Duluth News Tribune, December 19, 2009 Ben Wilson was a very happy raptor handler on Thursday. Wilson, a volunteer at the University of Minnesota Raptor Center in St. Paul, was taking photographs of Harley, the injured bald eagle, as it took flight...
Birding in Kansas City
Tina and I visited Kansas City over the Christmas week. Due to the snow storm that hit the Midwest, we didn’t visit Squaw Creek as planned, but stayed close to home. We did see 19 species visiting the bird feeders in my folks back yard. Two of the...
2009 pics of the grandkids
2009 pics of the grandkids: Zander: https://bnwilson.com/photography/Zander_2009/ Izzy: https://bnwilson.com/photography/Izzy_2009/ Aurora: https://bnwilson.com/photography/Aurora_2009/ Happy New Year!!! Ben
Long-tailed Duck
Minnesota birders have been enjoying sightings of this Arctic duck along the Mississippi River. Formerly known as Oldsquaw, the Long-tailed Duck breeds in the Arctic and winters along both coasts of North America. It is distinctive among ducks in plumage, molt...
Thursday Flight Crew
After flying a Red-tailed Hawk this morning, I stuck around the Raptor Center to watch Terry and Gary fly a couple of Bald Eagles in Como Park. Both birds are getting ready to be released. More pictures of the launches and flights are posted on Picasa at:...
Bald Eagle Rescue
On December 8, 2009, the Raptor Center received a call from local Hastings business man, Harry Meier, Eckhart Vacuum, 1631 Oak St. Harry reported that he had seen a downed eagle south west of town and that it did not seem right. The bird was within 50 yards of...