Clear Lake Education Center participants help owls "fly free."

This spring, Clear Lake Education Center, a new educational program debuted, called "Owls of Harry Potter and Clear Lake Too." This program focuses on several of the owls that Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling used in the series. Those owls also can be found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The students learn about the owl's habitats, the unique qualities they use in their daily lives for survival and hunting. One new part of the program is a service learning project that is done by the students to help owls at the Minnesota Raptor Center. The students as part of the activities construct a "tail sheath" for the birds of prey that are under going rehabilitation at the center.

This sheath is used to protect the bird of prey tail feathers while they are in captivity in a cage. The sheath is used to protect the feathers from getting damaged by the cage bars in which the bird is placed in during rehabilitation.

The students can design their tail sheath with artwork, messages and other designs. The raptor center staff enjoys reading the messages and the sheaths help the birds get healed.

The first students who prepared and designed the tail sheaths were from Central Elementary School, from Munising, Michigan. The students spent one evening preparing their tail sheaths.

The sheaths are now heading their way to the Minnesota Raptor Center to help the owls with their recovery. Established in 1974, The Minnesota Raptor Center specializes in the medical care, rehabilitation, and conservation of eagles, hawks, owls, and falcons. In additional to treating approximately 800 birds a year, the internationally known program reaches more than 240,000 people each year through public education programs and events, provides training in avian medicine and surgery for veterinarians from around the world, and identifies emerging issues related to raptor health and populations.