This weekend you can go either north or south of our plant and find excellent programming centered around our avian friends.
The International Festival of Owls is taking place in Houston Minnesota. What started out eleven years ago as a birthday or “hatch day” celebration for an educational owl* at the Houston Nature Center has blossomed into a multi-day international attendance drawing event. The mission of the International Festival of Owls is simple; spark a personal connection to owls and the environments we share with them, provide financial support for the Houston Nature Center, stimulate tourism in the Houston area. With no other festival like it in North America, the festival rapidly grew into the only full-weekend, all-owl festival in North America. People started coming from all over North America and after creating the World Owl Hall of Fame (to bring recognition to owls and humans doing amazing things) award winners came from all over the world. Thanks to wide spread media coverage, the 2013 festival attracted approximately 1,800 people (which is pretty good considering that Houston isn’t exactly close to any major population centers and only has a population of 979!) Festival attendees have come from all over the United States, Canada, Jamaica, England, The Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Nepal, Taiwan, Kenya, and South Africa. http://www.festivalofowls.com/
If you want to expand outside of just owls, the National Eagle Center is a world-class interpretive center located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Wabasha, MN. They are home to five rescued eagles, four bald eagles and one golden eagle. During a visit to the National Eagle Center, you can experience these magnificent creatures up close. Currently they are holding their Soar with the Eagles program weekends in March. As winter turns to spring, they celebrate the spring bald eagle migration with their SOAR with the Eagles festival. Each weekend in March enjoy flying bird shows, live animals, their own live eagle programs, a raffle and much more! The big feature is the Flying Bird Show. Experience hawks, owls, falcons and vultures are flying right over your head, while learning about their important place in the natural world in this exciting flying bird show presented by Wings to Soar. The presenters are lively, fun and bring with them decades of experience with many magnificent birds of prey.
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