Birdwatching enthusiasts let passion take flight with events
Lakeway bird store plays host to educational show, showing off various species.
Birdwatcher enthusiasts Laura Hopkins and Gary Cobb have been operating Wild Bird Center in Lakeway for six months now, and it’s a dream come true for them, Hopkins said. They get to share their bird expertise with their customers, many of whom share their love of western Travis County’s flighted wildlife.
“The community has been phenomenal,” Hopkins said. “Everyone is very supportive. We couldn’t ask for a better place to be.”
The birdwatching bug bit the couple when they were living in Chicago and bought a cheap bird feeder. Soon, they saw nearly 80 different species of bird in their yard. Though Hopkins was working in marketing research, and Cobb was working in environmental consulting, the couple realized they’d rather be operating a bird supplies store. Wild Bird Center sells many different kinds of bird feed, plus bird houses in all sizes and handy guides.
“I love it,” Hopkins said. “I’m happy to come to work. I’m fortunate to be able to do what I love . ... People love nature out here. They come out here to be a part of nature.”
On March 3, the Wild Bird Center off of RM 620 and Lohmans Crossing store hosted a biologist to give a talk on attracting hummingbirds to your yard. And on March 4, it hosted the Urban Interface, a nonprofit that cares for birds that can’t be returned to the wild, most notably raptors.
Urban Interface Executive Director Corey Batson and trained volunteers Makala Herman and Amanda Dale showed a large audience of bird lovers and children three raptors – a red-tailed hawk named Freya, a great horned owl named Hermes and a peregrine falcon named Valkyrie. All three birds will not be released back into the wild, two of them because of injuries sustained in the wild. All three species are native to the Austin area, Batson said.
“Most of our animals were injured and are non-releasable, and so they’re in a permanent home,” Batson said. “Now they help us educate the public. They are not pets. And if you find an injured or sick bird, please take it to a licensed rehabilitator.”
Raptors have tough talons on their feet and sharp beaks that help them to hunt, Batson told the younger audience members. The demonstrators told the audience about how sometimes red-tailed hawks prefer fox squirrels although they’re tough to hunt, and how they’re thought to be monogamous and territorial birds. They taught the audience that owls aren’t actually all that smart, and that most of an owl’s skull is taken up by its conical eyes that extend to the back of its head. The audience learned that the peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, and can reach speeds exceeding 240 mph.
“(The peregrine falcon) will dive to ambush its prey from above,” Batson said. “They actually hunt other birds ... they’ll get the sun between them and their prey, so their prey can’t see them.”