Updated: Eagle Necropsy & Church Carnival

Strangest blog title ever. Anyways, an update:

Today they received the the necropsy report on the Bald Eagle Aaron found dead at the hatchery last month. It was a female eagle, 16 years old, who was tagged before she could fly (a "fledgling"). The eagle died of lead poisoning with a lead level of 29.2 (toxic is over 5) and she had atrophy around her chest and wing area (probably because she was ill from the lead poisoning). Metal fragments were found in her gastrointestinal tract. There were no signs of trauma. And we also learned that the bird was sent to the federal repository in Colorado, so it will not be returning to the visitors center.

Aaron and I were pretty curious where she was initially tagged at and how the eagle came to have such high levels of lead. Crazy stuff! After doing a brief internet search, I learned that high lead levels is a common concern for eagles (and many other birds and animals), check out this link for more information. Between the oil spill, bald eagles dying from lead toxicity and the government failing to do anything about the threat of the asian carp in the Great Lakes, I'm feeling very discouraged about our environment! And I'm so not a tree hugger!

Interestingly, Aaron's parents found a dead bald eagle on their property about 2 years ago. They also received the necropsy report and the one they found was an immature who starved to death - her parents abandoned her before she was able to survive on her own. :(

Let's hope the only Eagles we continue to come across are alive and thriving!!!!

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Tonight we attended a Family Carnival Night at the church. It was a cute little even with a petting zoo, games, pizza and silent auction. I've never participated in a silent auction before but I tried it out this time and I won! The first item I won is a haircut and 1/2 off highlights at a salon downtown - I received this for $20! I'm a little nervous to have my hair done by someone new, I tend to stick to the same girl once I find someone I like but I just couldn't pass up the potential savings! The second item I won is a gift basket filled with goodies. It included this Melissa and Doug toy, two pair of kids smart wool socks (those will be great for winter), a $20 gift certificate to a fabulous fudge shop, a cute travel mug, a $25 gift card to a trendy little downtown coffee shop, specialty popcorn, chocolate covered cherries, and a $35 gift certificate to a fancy downtown salon and spa, all wrapped up in this cute little beverage tub with cute matching napkins. Which, by the way, is one of my favorite items in the whole package. We use these tubs as coolers, toy storage, recycling bins... everything! The total value (not including the tub and napkins) was $135 and I snagged it for $55 - score! The kiddos had a ball, despite some meltdowns when we first arrived, and I know they wore themselves out there because I didn't hear a peep from them after we put them in bed! I made sure to bring my camera... yet failed to take any photos! Grrr! I do have a few from Jacob's birthday though, I'll add those soon.