One of my favorite places to visit for wildlife and birding is Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in St Petersburg, Florida. Each year, they have a fundraising event and raptor fest, which I attended this year for the second time. The preserve suffered significant damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton last September/October, so I was happy to see so many people turn out to give support.
Raptor Fest features flying demonstrations by Earthquest, a non-profit organization that promotes environmental education. The star of the show was this Harris's Hawk named Arrow.
Harris's Hawks have so much energy and personality, they always excite the spectators.
There's usually a Eurasian Eagle Owl at these shows as they are large, spectacular owls.
This was a new one for me: a Steppe Eagle.
He was huge, and not in the mood to show off his flying skills on this day, so I hope to see more of him next year.
Another favorite was a female Peregrine Falcon named Sage. I first saw her last year and she was very accommodating for photographers. Here she is with her handler, Steve Hoddy.
There was another featured falcon who put on quite a show for everyone - he, and others, will be in the next post.
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