EDIT: Everything is posted now, so I'll respond to any questions I can answer for you now. Enjoy, and I hope you learn some new things!
Went to a bird banding event held by Wildlands Conservancy last night. Unfortunately this year has been a bit of a poor showing due to the warm weather, and we didn't end up with any owls.
There was still a great presentation on the owls of Pennsylvania and the bird banding process. We did get to meet some of the educational owls and handle some nice examples of things being discussed.
I got some time to talk to the guy running the banding and the lady running the animal education part of things and got some of my questions answered. I've been becoming really interested in learning more of the regulatory side of things. There is a real web of agencies that govern how wildlife can be handled.
When I was young I used to go out every Saturday with my dad and a guy that was part of a bird banding group. We mostly caught warblers and chickadees and a few others line that.
I learned how to hold birds, band them, untangle them from the nets, and all about their personalities. It was so much fun getting to hold wild birds and track their migratory patterns.
Many birds we would see on the same week every year. It's amazing.
I think they're way more strict about who can hold or untangle birds now. So I feel even more privileged to have gotten to participate as a kid (teenager).
That's great you got a chance to do that! Finding someone to tag along with seems the best way to get into it still.
When I was little, or neighbor had a blueberry bush he would cover with netting and I would sneak back there to look for birds caught in the net and set them free.
The last few years, I've been feeding my backyard jays and have come to know them pretty well and got to see all their babies this year and they all still come around every day looking for treats. It's fun to see the kids try to act tough, but the adults show them there still tougher.
It's good there are so many rules to keep out people that would traffic or harm animals, but it seems to make it hard for an adult to get into while still having a day job. I'm going to keep looking for a good opportunity to do something though. Nothing beats hands on experience for getting these memories!