Nature Center Celebrates Bird Life

The Morrison Knudsen Nature Center will celebrate International Migratory Bird Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 14. Enjoy a full day of bird observation and educational activities for bird enthusiasts of all ages. Families can participate in bird watching, owl pellet investigation, and wood carving demonstrations, bird Olympics, face painting, nature arts and other children's activities. Children will be entered to win raffle prizes when completing three station stamps in the Bird Day passports. The Anser Charter School Kindergarten students will once again be selling their hand-made bird cards, as well as showcasing student bird projects. Picnicking will be available in the formal backyard of the Nature Center for the requested donation of $1 per person. Schedule: - 9 a.m to noon - Live Bird Banding, Idaho Bird Observatory biologists. - 11 a.m. - Burrowing owl (live bird), Susan Ziebarth, MK Nature Center. - 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. - Birds of Prey Program (live birds) Larry Ridenhour, Bureau of Land Management. - 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. - Guided bird walks with Golden Eagle Audubon Society volunteers along the Boise Greenbelt. - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. - Activity stations, Bird Day passports and information tables. International Migratory Bird Day is a world-wide annual event to celebrate and support migratory bird conservation. The theme of International Migratory Bird Day 2011 is "Go Wild, Go Birding". Launched in 1993 by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, International Migratory Bird Day is now coordinated by Environment for the Americas, based in Boulder, Colorado. It is the largest-known bird conservation and education event of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. This year partners and sponsors include Bureau of Land Management, Boise National Forest, Rocky Mountain Research, Idaho Watchable Wildlife, Golden Eagle Audubon, Idaho Wood Carvers Guild, Idaho Bird Observatory, Sage Brush-steppe Chapter of the Idaho Master Naturalists, North Star Courier and Wild Birds Unlimited. For information, contact event coordinator Cass Meissner at the Nature Center at 287-2901; or read about it online at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/education/mknc/events/events.cfm.