Migration Sensation

So, I was actually a bit disappointed in the Migration Sensation today. I'm sure if I were a woman who had no kids and really liked slide-accompanied lectures in dark rooms, I'd have enjoyed it. But I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

That's not to say the topics weren't interesting. They were! But when compared to years previous, with speakers like Amish farmer, conservationist and author David Kline and owl expert and enthusiast Paul Boyd, this year's speakers didn't really hold my attention.

This is the third year we've attended the Migration Sensation in Shreve, Ohio. The past couple of years were better, but not by much. I guess I just figure that they have an awesome draw--the wetlands around Shreve are some of the best for observing migratory birds and wildlife--they may as well do it right. The children's programs were a nice effort, but interaction would be much better than lecture. The lunch was very sad--overcooked, cold coney dogs for $2.75 each. It only cost us $15.00 to attend the event and all of the lectures, but it cost us $27.00 to eat lunch of soup and hot dogs, and everyone was still hungry. And since it snowed (!) today, it was too cold and wet to go observe the wildlife in the bog. Aside from that, the event begings at 7:00 A.M., and just TRY keeping a teenager interested in ANYTHING but sleep at 7:00 A.M. Next year, we hope to take our own food, hike even if it's raining, and maybe even try to help the organizers create better kids' programs.

But there were a few cool side benefits. First, there were two bird sanctuaries who had displays in the vendor area, and between the two of them, we were able to see, up close, a great horned owl, a red-tailed hawk, a northern saw-whet owl and an eastern screech owl. The screech owl was in a man-made log with a hole in the front of the top part of the log, and he sat so very still and was so very perfect that he looked like he wasn't even real. When Monet approached the owl, he said, "Wow. That almost looks real."

"Yeah, doesn't it?" I said, keeping Bard from spoiling my joke by a nudge of my elbow. "If you look really closely at his eyes, they almost look like they would wink at you," and I drew Monet closer to the little creature for a closer look. After just a few seconds, the owl winked and Monet jumped back, shouting, "Whoa!"

The other side benefit was the sign I saw that said, "Contra dance tonight!"

After all of the energy expended at the Migration Sensation, I wasn't sure I was up for a dance, but I really, really wanted to go...