Closer Than You Think

How a Birds of Prey program can spark curiosity right at home

There’s a different kind of attention that you give when a wild bird, especially one that of prey, is no longer distant but is an arms length away.

Not overhead or half-hidden in the trees, but present. It kind of changes your take on things a little? At least, for me it did.

That shift happened last summer at a local youth camp program in New Lebanon, NY, when a woman from the Connecticut Sharon Audubon Society visited to lead a Birds of Prey presentation for the local kids and anyone else who might show up. (I showed up - not many in the public)

She brought a few "broken" raptors with her. An American Kestrel, small but sharply alert. What a stunning creature. A cousin to the well known Peregine Falcon. And a Red-tailed Hawk, steady and composed, all while missing an eye. Each bird was there for a reason, both unable to return to the wild, but both part of ongoing education work that brings these animals into closer view for people who might not otherwise encounter them.

The focus wasn’t just on what they are, but what they require. The kids responded immediately. You could see it in the way they leaned in, in the questions they asked and answered. That kind of exposure matters. It creates a connection that’s hard to build any other way. It's alot easier to care for something when you're properly educated.

And that’s really the point of programs like this. Because these birds aren’t separate from where we live. They move through the same mix of woods, fields, and backyards that make up our everyday surroundings. They depend on those spaces, even the small ones, being able to support life beneath them.

What something like this can do, even in a short afternoon presentation, is shift how people see those spaces. It opens the door to noticing more. To asking questions. To thinking about what we’re contributing, whether intentionally or not.

That doesn’t have to mean anything large or complicated. It can start small. Letting part of a yard grow in. Not using a pesticide this year. Choosing plants that belong. Paying attention to what shows up when conditions change. Realizing what's NOT showing up as well.

My hope is that programs like this continue to reach more people, especially at a local level, and continue their work. That they spark curiosity early, and reinforce the idea that nature isn’t somewhere else. It’s already here.

Thanks for visiting us Sharon Audoubon Society. Please come again!