In honor of our little bird nerd, we went to the Carolina Raptor Center.
And for those who do not live with a bird nerd or just don’t know, a raptor is a bird of prey. It refers to birds such as hawks, eagles, and falcons. The term also includes carrion birds.
So yeah, no dinosaurs.
The Carolina Raptor Center (CRC) is located in the Latta Nature Preserve and its goal is the conservation of raptors. It also serves as a rehabilitation center for injured or sick raptors and they also care for orphaned raptors. In most cases, after these birds have been treated and cared for, they are returned to the wild.
Unfortunately, not all birds are able to return to the wild; they remain at the CRC, and some of them become a part of the Raptor Trail.
The Raptor Trail is a 3/4 mile trail that winds through the Nature preserve, and along the way, you can see a bunch of different kinds of raptors. And there are a lot of educational signs along the way. So it’s a combination Nature trail and Zoo.
We saw a lot of different kinds of birds: kestrels, a bald eagle, a condor, vultures, and several kinds of owls. And we enjoyed talking to the docents.
Clara was in heaven. She loved everything about this place, and has declared that if we live in Charlotte, she will volunteer here.
We all had a great time. We stayed for a couple of hours and then we made our way home.
