Look who I got to see last week!
Trevor is thriving at UC Davis as a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology major. He's currently taking a class called 'Wildlife Ecology and Conservation' and loves it. Most of the lectures are from experts in different areas of conservation. They did a creek habitat field trip, which sounded like great fun, and he just finished a group project about wolverines that he really enjoyed. Trevor is eager to take more wildlife classes and get even deeper into the subject matter.
In the meantime, he loves the volunteer work he is doing at the California Raptor Center. Last spring, Trevor did a full day working at CRC as part of his Senior Project and was hoping he'd get one of the coveted volunteer positions as a freshman, which he did! He has a 4-hour shift each week. If you visit, you might see Trevor cleaning cages, feeding the Ambassador birds, and possibly even giving a bird some out-of-enclosure time on the glove. Of course, it's just as likely he'd be doing behind-the-scenes work. There are always many, many tasks to be done!
The California Raptor Center is where Trevor completed his Eagle Project in April 2022... and I'm happy to report it looks as good as ever!
One of the things I love about the raptor center is the growing amount of raptor-themed art. This gorgeous barn owl sculpture now greets visitors as they enter. Read all about how and why it was made in this article.
The front of the museum has two raptor portraits on the wall...
... while the entire back of the museum is an absolutely stunning mural called "Bird's Eye View." It is 8 feet tall and 22 feet wide. It features 11 key raptor species from California, as well as 84 insects that are either eaten by those raptors or as their parasites. Trevor and I saw it for the first time at Biodiversity Museum Day. Read more about this impressive work of art in this article.
This life-size eagle sculpture has been at the CRC for awhile. I can't find an article about its origins, but I did find an article with a much better photo than mine.
Many of the enclosures and buildings at CRC are decorated with raptor silhouettes. They add a nice touch.
There's even art to enjoy in the parking lot!
If you've never visited the California Raptor Center, I'd encourage you to go check it out.