A Flock of Raptor Researchers
Raptor researchers flocked to Duluth last week for the annual Raptor Research Foundation conference. I joined the kettle* for a day to discover new intel on some of my favorite birds. I was also curious to find out what kind of people would gather for a whole week to talk about raptors. The hotel conference room was packed for the first session of the day. The crowd of 200 people had a mix of ages from all over the country. They definitely all had "bird nerd" vibes. During Dr. Jonathan Slaght's presentation about his work with Russia's fish owls, I was amused to hear delight from the audience at even mundane bird activity. A chuckle murmured across the room as a video showed an owl walking by a trail camera. It wasn't terribly interesting, but I was happy to be surrounded by people that could show such immediate fondness for the bird. Dr. Slaght went on to describe the fish owl's unique lifestyle of hunting fish in shallow rivers where hot springs keep the wa...