College girl left for Ohio early Saturday morning, so the rest of us decided to do something fun, instead of sitting around missing her. Dad decided to take us to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science--VINS, as it is known around here--or the "bird place". VINS specializes in rehabilitating injured birds, releasing them if possible, or keeping them on the premises if they are not able to be released into the wild. They are well know for their raptors. We attended an educational show where we saw a live Red-tailed Hawk and a Barred Owl. They were impressive creatures! We learned the distinctive features of a raptor. I am not mentioning them here, as I may have the boys do a 4 square on it this week! (oooh mean mommy!). We viewed the rehab center (where they were operating on a bird!), we strolled through the outdoor enclosures where the "permanent" birds are kept, viewed turtles, blue dart frogs and a tiger salamander in their indoor children's room and looked at great living books in the children's book room (Charlotte Mason would've been pleased with the books in there--I know I was!) We also walked down a trail to see a vernal pool and discussed the properties and characteristics of a vernal pool--again potential 4 square material.
The outdoor enclosures were particularly impressive. We saw many types of big birds (mostly raptors) Peregrine falcons, hawks, many owls, even golden and bald eagles...talk about majestic! All in all, it was a great trip.
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