Monday, October 22, 2007

Here & There Column 10-23-07

Julie with Bill Streeter, Director of the Delaware Valley Raptor Center in Milford, Pa.
Julia Steals The Show At Bethel Woods Harvest Festival

A beautiful magnificent golden eagle named Julia ("Julie") took center stage and captured the hearts of hundreds attending the September 30 Harvest Festival at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.
Julie was part of the "Close Encounters with Live Birds of Prey" exhibit presented by the Delaware Valley Raptor Center (DVRC) of Milford, Pa. at the Bethel Woods Harvest Festival ; presentation of " Earth Day In Autumn", a celebration designed to inspire awareness of, and appreciation for, the Earth's environment.
Juliie was introduced to the Harvest Festival audience by staff member Bill Streeter who noted that Julie arrived at the center in November of 2005 from Cody, WY. and was a replacement for their golden eagle of 24 years, Crystal, who died the previous spring.
Julie had originally been hit by a car and suffered a fractured left leg and a head injury which eventually resulted in blindness in her right eye. Her leg healed with no problems and because of the head injury Julie refused to fly for nine year, but, one day suddenly started flying.
The bird as Bill describes her is "breathtakingly beautiful at 14-pounds with a wingspan of 7 feet." Bill pointed out that Julie seldom flies but "does occasionally as we will find her on the front perches every so often."
Julie is the "star attraction" at public education ;programs like the one at Bethel and she is always the last bird to be shown and the result is always the same......as Bill notes, "a collective gasp of awe from the audience."
Julia's photo appears on the cover of "Golden Eagle Sovereign of the Skies" by Charles R. Preston.
Bill Streeter as director of Delaware Valley Raptor Center has a bachelors' degree in biology and master's in zoology. Bill brings to the center the ability to do its own lab work (parasitology and blood work), drug dosages, immobilization, x-rays and diagnoses and as a result birds admitted at night or weekends and even weekdays receive immediate professional care.
The staff at DVRC also includes Stephanie Streeter, Bills wife and Jan Lucciola along with many volunteers. Of the three staff members, only one has a small full-time salary and one a small part-time salary. All three staff members, however, invest full-time hours into the center while two maintain other jobs.
The center is a private, not -for-profit tax-exempt state and federally licensed rehabilitation organization dedicated to the rehabilitation and conservation of birds of pray (hawks, eagles, owls, falcons and vultures).
The goals of the Delaware Valley Raptor Center is to provide humane professional care for orphaned, ill and injured raptors so they can ultimately be returned to the wild, healthy and no longer dependent upon humans for survival. As a result of severe type of injuries some cannot be returned to the wild and are cared for at this center.
DVRC receives no federal or state funding and the primary funding for the center comes from education programs and member donations. The center has an adoption program, gift items for sale and member ship applications and the raptor center is open to tours by appointment for members only.
To contact the center write to Delaware Valley Raptor Center, 416 Cummings Hill Road, Milford, Pa. 18337, email at dvraptors@yahoo.com and if you find an injured, sick or orphaned bird of pray call them at 570-296-6025.
Give them any support you can.
Information about the center, its staff and Julie was provided to us by the Delaware Valley Raptor Center, Milford, Pa.

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