FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – On Saturday, Feb 26th Willow Bend Environmental Education Center in partnership with Liberty Wildlife, AZ Game and Fish, United States Forest Service and other Arizona Watchable Wildlife Experience partners held its Annual Eagle Celebration.
This event was a true celebration, as it was the first “in-person” community event at Willow Bend since the pandemic started. Last year’s eagle celebration was held online. And as wonderful as it was to visit with the eagles through the screen, nothing beats the real deal.
The day consisted of two separate presentations at Willow Bend. An all-ages presentation by AZ Game and Fish and USFS biologists and a family focused one led by Willow Bend staff. Both talks covered eagle ecology, management, and conservation. During the family focused program our young participants became ornithologists for the day and made observations about eagle characteristics, feeding habits, and habitat. One young volunteer got to dress up as an eagle to demonstrate key eagle adaptations.
But the highlight of the day was the appearance of live birds from Liberty Wildlife: Cochise an adult bald eagle, Chaco, a red tailed hawk, and a turkey vulture. The eagle displayed his impressive wingspan, powerful talons, and affectionate behavior while Joe and Jan Miller, wildlife rehabilitators and bird trainers from Liberty Wildlife, shared information about the birds, conservation efforts, and Liberty Wildlife rehabilitation center.
“We are so excited to bring eagles and other birds back to Willow Bend. Kids and adults alike were very enthusiastic, and everyone was very supportive of wildlife conservation. And that is what this is all about!” said Moran Henn, Willow Bend’s Executive Director. Joe Miller, from Liberty Wildlife, emphasized the importance of programs that rehabilitate and protect eagles, and shared a few simple ways each and every one of us can help, “from picking up fishing lines, leaving birds alone while in their nests, and notifying the appropriate entities if you see an injured bird or unlawful behavior” said Miller. Hannah Griscom, AZ Game and Fish Habitat specialist AZ Game and Fish was pleased with the public’s interest in local wildlife. She concluded that “we had another very successful year!”.
“That was amazing!” shared Sarah, one of the event’s young participants. “I hope we can do this again next year!”. “So do we”, concluded Henn, “So do we”!
The event was held thanks to support from the AZ Community Foundation of Flagstaff, Creative Flagstaff, City of Flagstaff BBB revenues and other supporters and donors that made it possible!
Willow bend’s mission is to provide education outreach services that build environmental awareness and an ethic of responsible stewardship of our natural and cultural resources.
To learn more about upcoming programs visit www.willowbendcenter.org
Through generous support from a Creative Flagstaff Arts and Science Project grant, the City of Flagstaff BBB Revenues and a City of Flagstaff Beautification grant the project will include a butterfly mural, free little library, and a number of engaging pollinator activities. We have a general design in mind for the mural, but we are looking for mural artists to make our vision a reality. This is a paid project with lots of freedom for creativity and development. If you are an experienced mural artist interested in a fun and rewarding project, please send your name, contact information, links to your established work (social media, websites, etc.), and attachments of at least 3 samples of completed mural work to 
Field trips filled our October including Flagstaff Junior Academy’s 3rd and 4th graders going on to Picture Canyon, Kinsey 2nd graders at the pond, and NAU elementary Early Ed. students visiting the Center.
little Baby George! Congratulations Melissa and family.
In August, students went back to school and Willow Bend had their first in-person board in over a year! We also hosted an in-person adult workshop “Gardening for Wildlife” to help educate about the use of gardening to attract native wildlife and restore habitats around Arizona. The workshop was held in partnership with AWWE (Arizona Watchable Wildlife Experience) and the AZ Wildlife Federation.
Our first in-person field trip of the semester started in September, with 4th-grade students from Sechrist Elementary. The next day we had Sechrist 5th graders for water quality testing at Frances Short Pond. We continued to lead field trips throughout the month. We also hosted another adult workshop with Mike Dechter to learn about Food Fermentation. We celebrated the Festival of Science at Science in the Park, with fun hands-on renewable energy and waste reduction activities. We also led a downtown geology tour with board member and USGS geologist, Daniel Foley.
Family hikes, warm weather, and monsoons were in season for Willow Bend this July! Our amazing Friends of the Willow Bend Gardens were hard at work restoring the gardens, planting, weeding, and creating pollinator habitats.
We then started our summer programs learning about insects and worms with the help of the Biodiversity Outreach Network. We worked with Kinsey Elementary to present the complexity and importance of these incredible little creatures.
n environmental education projects.
Congratulations to ALL teams that submitted to our 
