Black flies are also called buffalo gnats because the very tiny fly (5-15 mm) has a humped thoracic region that might look like the hump on a buffalo / bison. Black flies are true flies (Order Diptera) and classified in the family Simuliidae. I learned, during the 2018 black fly season, from a University of
What an eventful week! On Saturday, the other eaglet – D32 that was rescued on Friday 7 June – from the nest near the Decorah Fish Hatchery was transported to SOAR. D32 had excellent care on Friday evening and Saturday morning from Raptor Resource Project board member and veterinarian Laura. D32 spent several days evading
This hatch-year (HY19) bald eagle – DN9 – from the Decorah North Nest and famous from the Raptor Resource Project (RRP) nest camera fell to the ground under the nest on 6 June. RRP board member, Dave K, was able to locate and rescue this eaglet on 7 June. DN9 was transported to SOAR on
The hatch-year (HY19) bald eagle from the nest near the Decorah Fish Hatchery and famous from the Raptor Resource Project nest camera tumbled to the ground under the nest on 5 June. Hatchery staff were alerted and the juvenile was safely retrieved and taken to the hatchery. Also on 5 June, this eaglet began the
Saving Our Avian Resources Wins Award for Excellence in Environmental Education The Iowa Association of Naturalists (IAN) and the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition (ICEC) are proud to award Saving Our Avian Resources (SOAR) with an IAN/ICEC Award for Excellence in Environmental Education. The award is the Frederic Leopold Environmental Education Award for outstanding environmental education
With the 2018 fundraising season soon to be upon us, we wanted to share with you the progress on “capital” projects from the 2017 fundraiser! With funds from the 2017 year-end fundraising, a stand-alone 10’ x 20’ x 9’ mew (hawk house) was constructed. This hawk house will be for a future education ambassador, as
The Avangrid Foundation, Inc., in collaboration with Avangrid Renewables, is partnering with SOAR to help build a much needed food storage building! The Avangrid Foundation grant will help SOAR build a separate stand-alone structure to house all the food storage freezers and food prep area — removing these from the intensive care area of the
The 2018 SOAR release party was attended by over 150 people (our best guess) this past Sunday, 26 August. This year’s event was held at McFarland Park, just north of Ames, Iowa. McFarland Park is part of the Story County Conservation Board system. The Conservation Center at the park has a beautiful outdoor setting adjacent
SOAR is hearing reports about suspected shooting of turkey vultures in Guthrie County, Iowa. It is illegal to hunt, harm, harass, or possess migratory birds, except for a few permitted exceptions. Click to learn more about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. If you know of illegal activity that is or has taken place,
Believe it or not, the season is still spring even though in the period from 17-31 May 2018 most days recorded temps anywhere from 7 to 20 degrees above normal. Many of those days registered humidity levels above 50 percent. Elevated temps are not easy for all animals to tolerate, cavity-nesting birds can become overheated