Eagles & Ag kicks off with reception Friday

Two raptor experts will speak at the upcoming Eagles & Agriculture reception scheduled for Friday evening at the Carson Valley Inn.

The Friday reception from 6-8:30 p.m. features speakers Don McIvor, Nevada director of bird conservation on joint appointment with the Lahontan Audubon Society and Allen Fish, director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory for 20 years.

McIvor is the author of the newly released book "Important Bird Areas of Nevada."

Fish has taught hundreds of classes in raptor biology and identification for the National Park Service, California Academy of Sciences and Audubon chapters. He has studied bald eagles along Cache Creek and the Klamath Basin in California.

To make reservations, call the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Authority at 782-9960. The cost is $25 per person for the reception, which includes appetizers.

The reception kicks off a list of Eagles & Agriculture activities including photo workshops on Friday and Saturday, a tour of Carson Valley and a buffet lunch on Saturday (hopefully including sightings of many eagles and other birds of prey that gather where calves have been born to feed on the afterbirth), a rafting and canoe trip on Saturday and Sunday and an Owl Prowl tour (sold out). In addition, a photography contest is offered. The winner of best photo of an eagle receives $200, best agricultural/wildlife photo receives $50.

For more information on these events, call the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Authority at 782-8144 or (800) 727-7677.