As we worked on the new nest, one of the ferruginous hawks flew over and watched us for a few minutes. They have not been seen on the new platform yet but nesting starts in mid February. Let’s hope they accept the invitation to nest above the coyotes this year.
Over the course of the next day and a half, 73 youth and 36 adults came from all over Harney County to experience the StarLab. The first group on Thursday was made up of students, educators, and parents from the county’s outlying rural schools such as Double O and Fields.
The new director, Elizabeth Basa, a transplant from Chicago, brings her science education and business background, wrapped in a lifelong love of nature and conservation, to grab the MFS torch.
This fall, the Friends took a keen interest in the plight of these birds and sought a realistic, long-term solution. It took some doing, and the support of a major donor, but plans are now underway for the construction of a new nesting platform that will be installed mid-December.
The December wind at Malheur can be brutal, the cold cutting through the best of our jackets and gloves. Yet, for the creatures that do call Malheur their home year-round, the winds and cold form just another part of their world—phenomenon they are adapted to endure.
