Raptor rapture

Wildlife lovers have something to celebrate this weekend

NARROWSBURG, NY — Venues all around Narrowsburg will be swarming with wildlife enthusiasts this Saturday, January 19 for the seventh annual EagleFest.

Meet the birds of prey

LIVE Presentations that allow visitors up-close-and-personal views of live birds of prey are always well attended, and will be expanded this year. Bill Streeter, Executive Director of the Delaware Valley Raptor Center (DVRC), will bring six birds of prey with him for two programs in the Narrowsburg School auditorium at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Lauren Butcher of the Raptor Trust will bring three live owls for two live owl programs at the Tusten Theater at 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. And new this year, Giselle Smisko of the Avian Wildlife Center will bring several live birds for a program in the Narrowsburg School auditorium at 3:00 p.m.

Taking care of the environment

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTALISM will be in the spotlight in presentations by Julia LeMense Huff of the Eastern Environmental Law Center, who will discuss “Protection After De-listing,” and Eric Stiles, VP Conservation and Stewardship, NJ Audubon, will give a talk “Habitat Conservation and Environmental Issues” at 12:00 noon at the Tusten Theater.

Biologists from the tri-state area will gather to present updates on current eagle studies at 1:00 p.m. at the Tusten Theater, hosted by Don Hamilton of the National Park Service. Trisha Miller of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Penn State will present the Golden Eagle Migration Study, a study of the migration patterns of golden eagles in the Appalachian region of eastern North America. Scott Van Arsdale New York State Department of Conservation will present a status on bald eagle recovery in New York State.

Robert Smith, a professor at the University of Scranton, PA will present “Bird Migration” at 2:00 p.m. at the Firehouse Conference Center.

Wildlife movies will be shown at 12:00 noon, 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. at the Firehouse Conference Center, and regional conservation groups will exhibit in Town Hall throughout the day.

Nature in art

JOHN A. DIGIORGIO, fine art wildlife photographer, will exhibit a collection of images capturing his view of native America in a one-day photography show called “Native” at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance Gallery on Main Street.

Robert Lizza is the festival’s featured artist this year. Lizza’s inspirations as a painter today come from effects of illuminations created in nature. In his painting, he strives for extreme vivid colors and harsh shadows in his subjects derived from the unique and brief nature of light created during dawn or dusk. His signed and limited-edition posters will be on sale at the River Gallery, The Art of Living on Main Street (and also in the school auditorium) during EagleFest, and via the Delaware Valley Eagle Alliance’s website, www.dveaglealliance.org, thereafter.

Additional artists will be displaying their work at the second annual Nature and Wildlife Art Show in the school, with subject matter to include all nature subjects. Also, for the fourth year, entries in a student art contest will be on display. Prizes in the contest, whose theme this year is “My favorite wildlife species,” will be awarded during the event opening ceremony at 9:30 a.m. in the school auditorium.

THE ANNUAL SILENT POSTER AUCTION, for which regional artists have donated original artwork, will be on display throughout the day at the River Gallery. Silent auction bidding will close at 4:30 p.m. the day of the festival.

For the children

“THE ADVENTURES OF CHRISTOPHER OTTER,” storytelling by John and Teresa Crerand at 12:00 noon in the Tusten-Cochecton branch of the Western Sullivan Public Library. Hand puppets are used to educate children about good values, respect for others, about nature, its inhabitants and how they interact with each other.

Mary Paige Lang-Clouse, manager of the Tusten-Cochecton branch, Western Sullivan Public Library, will be conducting a program for children at 2:00 p.m. that begins with story telling and then simple take-home eagle crafts.

There will be ice carving demonstrations by Sculpted IceWorks all around town, spotting scope demonstrations by High Point Scientific of Montague, NJ and, of course, eagle watching from the Main Street deck with the assistance of volunteers from the Eagle Institute.

For more information visit dveaglealliance.org or naturesartllc.com or call 845/252-6509.