Nebraska Bird Partnership

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Wild Experience Room will provide free, hands-on, family-friendly activities on Saturday, March 20, as part of the 2010 Rivers and Wildlife Celebration at the Holiday Inn in Kearney.

The Wild Experience Room, organized by the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership, will be open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. "Live critter demonstrations" will include Birds of Prey, from Raptor Recovery Nebraska, at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Nebraska Snakes, with Dan Fogel, at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Activities will include making bird feeders, folding paper cranes, making bird band bracelets, looking for compost creatures, and more.

"We want to open people up to what's in their backyard," said Christine Thody, outreach coordinator for the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership, based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's School of Natural Resources. "You don't have to go far to experience nature. We have all these different booths to show people what they can experience without too much trouble."

In addition to organizing the Wild Experience Room, the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership worked with Audubon Nebraska and the Nebraska Bird Partnership to help plan the 40th annual Rivers and Wildlife Celebration, March 18-21, at the Holiday Inn in Kearney. Although there is a registration fee for the entire celebration, the Wild Experience Room is free. For more information, please visit the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership website.