A Birds of Prey program series at West Virginia State Parks, will be featured at 14 areas in 2015. These birds and others appear live with Ron and Wendy Perrone of Three Rivers Avian Center (TRAC) to introduce various birds and to share aspects of each species. The presentation includes information about the incredible abilities of raptors, their differences and how connected birds are with the ecosystems they live in.
“It’s a thrill to see eagles and other birds of prey in the wild, but this is an opportunity to see these majestic creatures up close,” said Dakota Farley, seasonal naturalist at Beech Fork State Park. “Guests to our parks and forests are in for a treat to see these creatures and learn more about them.”
Three Rivers Avian Center is scheduled to present “Wings of Wonder” – Birds of Prey at these West Virginia state parks and forests. Location and presentation times are posted on each park events webpage or call the park for times.
June 20, 2015 – Beech Fork State Park – 304-528-5794
June 27, 2015 – Babcock State Park – 304-438-3004
June 10, 2015 – Holly River State Park – 304-493-6353
July 10, 2015 – Cacapon State Park – 304-258-1022
July 25, 2015 – Lost River State Park – 304-897-5372
July 25, 2015 – Blackwater Falls State Park – 304-259-5216
August 7, 2015 – Canaan Valley Resort State Park – 304-866-4121
August 7, 2015 – Tygart Lake State Park – 304-265-6148
August 14, 2015 – Twin Falls State Park – 304-294-4000
August 22, 2015 – Blennerhassett Island State Park – 304-420-4800
August, 22, 2015 – North Bend State Park – 304-643-2931
August 28, 2015 – Watoga State Park – 304-799-4087
September 4, 2015 – Pipestem State Park – 304-466-1800
September 12, 2015 – Kanawha State Forest – 304-558-3500
Special summer programs and a variety of daily activities conducted at West Virginia state parks are open to the public at no charge. Times vary and should be confirmed with individual areas. For more information about special programs, click on “Park Programs” at www.wvstateparks.com.
Why outdoor education works
TRAC started presenting programs in West Virginia State Parks in 1993 and became part of the Special Summer Series in 1995.
According to Wendy Perrone, TRAC executive director, “In June of 2000, we presented a program at an area that is well visited for its great fishing opportunities, part of the program focused on the effects on wildlife and others of abandoned tangles of fishing line left hanging in trees, brush and in the water. Some of the injuries seen here at TRAC are from fishing line entanglements and many have been horrific. A few of the stories and some involving the ultimate death of birds were shared with the audience during the program. At the end of the program, as we were talking informally with visitors and local residents, a little girl broke away from the crowd and ran over to a nearby tree that was leaning out over the water. She returned, came up to me and triumphantly handed me a piece of tangled fishing line, complete with bobber that had been hanging in the tree. She announced that she and her friends would be collecting fishing line ‘from now on!’ We still have that bobber in the TRAC van.”
About: Three Rivers Avian Center
Three Rivers Avian Center is a private 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to wild bird conservation and to educating and involving people in ecosystem stewardship. Founded in 1990, TRAC’s 103 acre facility is located in the southern portion of the New River Gorge National River, between Sandstone and Hinton in Summers County, West Virginia. TRAC Executive Director Wendy Perrone is a graduate of Guilford College. TRAC Education Director Ron Perrone is a graduate of West Virginia University. Wendy currently serves as the New River Gorge Peregrine Restoration Coordinator, a five-year effort to re-establish peregrine falcon populations in their native southern Appalachian haunts. The Perrones are involved in many interpretative based organizations, wildlife rehabilitation organizations and assist conservation agencies as appropriate.
The public is invited to public tour days at Three Rivers Avian Center, held the first Saturday of each month May – October from 1 to 5 p.m. Other tours are scheduled by appointment only. TRAC is near Bluestone and Pipestem Resort state parks. For more information about Three Rivers Avian Center, call 304-466-4683 or visit www.tracwv.org.
