Raptor Free-flight at the AZ-Sonora Desert Museum

Fun news on a Monday: 

this photo/highlight ("Up close at the Raptor-Free-Flight") was just chosen as one of the week's finalists in the AFAR/Vayama "Catch the World" Contest!

(Thanks, AFAR!)

...which got me thinking about some other scenes from the Raptor Free-flight, which only has a couple of weeks left for this year's season...Check it out NOW, or you'll have to wait another six months.

It really is one of the coolest things to see/do in Tucson--no, in all of Arizona. 

Six years ago, (already?!), when my wife and I visited, before deciding to move here, we spent a day at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum--this shot of an owl is from that day:

It may be 'just' a barn owl, but still...way cool...

Over the years, we've been several times--almost every out-of-town visitor who stays with us agrees that it's one of the highlights of a stay in Tucson. So--a few more 'postcards' below...

Harris Hawks--one of only two raptor species that hunt as a 'pack'...

(I can't remember exactly what species this one is...such a great face...)

Not so pretty, perhaps, but Chihuahua ravens are BIG...and smart...

Ahh, kestrels...check out those big brown eyes...and the blue 'eye-shadow'...

Docents frequently have some of the raptors, such as this owl, out-and-about; up close and personal: 

Go.

(Do NOT watch Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS before going.

This last caveat's for you, L., dear amiga up in Seattle...

Alas, ornithophobia...)