ORANGE — If you’ve always wanted to get up close with an owl, hawk or falcon — any bird of prey — you should head to Orange Town Hall today for a program about raptors and their hunting skills
Wingmasters will present a free program featuring six North American birds of prey from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Ruth B. Smith Auditorium at 6 Prospect St. The event is part of the Orange Public Libraries’ Children’s Summer Reading program and is funded, in part, by Orange Cultural Council. It is appropriate for all ages.
“We try and make each event something that will teach people and give them something they can take away and do something with,” said Wheeler Memorial Library Youth Librarian Jason Sullivan-Flynn.
Wingmasters, a local raptor rehabilitation and education company, said in a statement that the purpose of the program is to expose people to different types of raptors and “explain predation, the birds’ place at the top of the food web, their different hunting adaptations and their status in a rapidly changing world.”
Sullivan-Flynn said the children’s summer reading program not only encourages children to read, but encourages both of the town’s libraries to provide educational programs that will hopefully instill interest in a variety of topics.
“It will teach everybody about the natural environment around them,” she said of today’s program. “Programs like this also let people know about the library’s summer reading program, and learn that the library isn’t just a building with books in it.”
Those interested in the summer reading program or related events should visit the Wheeler Memorial Library at 49 East Main St. Children in the program receive a reading log. They can track the number of hours they’ve read and receive prizes and raffle tickets when certain requirements are met.