Show Low, AZ 6-11 to 6-13, 2025

 

While we have been in Show Low before we have never been to the Raptor Show at the White Mountain Nature Center.  We lucked out and got in at the last minute.  First up was Speedy, a Red-Tailed Hawk.  He was at a rehab center in the East, but they did not have room for him, so the Nature Center took him in.  Turns out when he got there he could not fly because of lack of space.  After working with him, he now flies like a rocket!

Next up was Garfunkle, a Eurasian Eagle Owl.  Eurasians are one of the two largest Owls in the world.  He eats other birds and due to his size and the strength of his talons he has no natural predator.  His wingspan is over 6 feet, so he has to be walked out of his area as his wings would not clear the doorway!  One of the volunteers had him fly directly over his head.  The owl flies right up to him (bottom left photo) and then rises to his perch!

Azul is an American Crow.  She is not a raptor.  She is very smart and can imitate sounds.! She even showed us how she could sort shapes.  When she got to the strangely shaped red one (see left bottom) she got creative.  You can see it in the short video below. 

Astro is an Aplomado Falcon.  They are among the most amazing fliers in the bird kingdom.  They use their amazing agility and speed to hunt other birds in mid-flight!  You can see in the video below how Astro can fly upside down and with this ability he can attack another bird from below!  The background for the entire show is a picture of what the area looked like before the building was in place.  What is amazing is if you look carefully, you can see where there is a door.  The front of the door is from an enlarged photo that was pasted on the wall.  The door jams (sides of the door) are hand painted!

We finished off the day with a dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse.  The plate of fried veggies was delicious - fried zucchini, fried green beans and fried mushrooms.  We had some steak tips - delicious but not worthy of a photo.  We topped it off with this double brownie dessert.  We had a great stop in Show Low and enjoyed being at 5000 feet to beat the ridiculous Casa Grande heat.

Now it's on to Albuquerque, New Mexico!