Seminar Bird Photo

The people of a small town in the Loess Hills put a Christmas Star decoration on top of one of the highest hills in the area. It is kind of neat to see it lit from miles away but the down side is that birds have trouble seeing it sometimes which means that they could potentially hit it and die from the impact. The star is kept in place by wires which are even harder for the birds to see.When I took a hike to the top with a group (from the prairie seminar) learning about the 6000 year old human skeletons found at the foot of the hill we came across an oriole that apparently hit the decoration. I stated that I didn't get one bird photo during the seminar but I forgot about this one. It is the poor Baltimore Oriole that hit the star. It makes me wonder what other kinds of birds have hit this while passing through.

Despite the find of a dead oriole it was a nice field trip and the view was amazing (at least for Iowans who don't have any mountains) and you could see for miles. The wires that keep the star in place that can be a hazard to birds can be seen easily in this picture.