Incoming Owl

Our last visit to the Owl Foundation in Vineland was 2 years ago.  We were there on Saturday and it was an amazing experience.  We learned that owls are very nervous and get stressed in the company of people.  Our first picture with the owl's straight up 'ears' and squinted eyes shows the expression of stress.   The Owl Foundation was founded by Kay and Larry McKeever in the 1970's and they have received awards and honorary degrees for their work.  Its mission is to help owls that are injured, diseased or starving, to get back to a condition where they can survive once released.  They have a surrogate program for fostering chicks, so many of their permanent owls have parental duties every spring and summer. And while we were on tour there was an 'incoming owl' - a big box rushed to the Intensive Care Unit. There is wire mesh and screening on all the cages.  The screen is protection from West Nile Disease, which is a serious threat to the birds from northern regions.  The point and shoot cameras with zoom lenses were far superior to my SLR.  They had excellent close-up pictures of the owls in their 'upper corner perches' - as far from sight as possible.

Visiting Owls

It was a very rainy Saturday this past weekend.  We had the great experience of visiting the Owl Foundation in Vineland Station on the bank of Twenty Mile Creek, near the railroad crossing bridge.  It is a rehabilitation centre and sanctuary for injured owls.  Members are invited to visit once a year only.  It is still the home of the McKeevers who started the sanctuary in the 1970's. The mission is to return injured owls to a healthy state so that they can survive on their own and be released.  There are permanent residents who cannot survive on their own, and Big Bird, shown here in the house, is one of them, being blind in one eye. We were impressed with all the facilities - corridors for flying and training to hunt, nesting cages to raise chicks, big cages with vegetation to simulate a wild owl habitat, the intensive care unit, isolation unit, etc. Their site is here:  http://www.theowlfoundation.ca should you want to know more, and possibly donate to this important cause.

Fluffy and Duffy at RaptorFest in Grimsby

Hi everyone,

It's here!  I saw Niagara orchard trees in bloom yesterday - definitely some apricots.  I can identify the bark and shapes of hard fruit trees such as apples and pears.  I am good with cherry bark.  But there are so many varieties of cherries, and then there are apricots and peaches and they all seem so similar right now.  

Our image today is not about orchards and blossoms, though.  This is because yesterday we went to the RaptorFest at Grimsby's arena (named the Peach Tree Centre) and saw live raptors, tropical animals and birds and reptiles.  Did you know that last year almost 15,000 raptors flew over Grimsby last year.  Beamer Point is the defining moment of the escarpment - the closest point to the other side of the lake.  If I recall the facts, raptors decide whether they can get across the lake on the winds, or whether they will turn left for Hamilton or turn right for Rochester.  

Here's more information:

http://www.niagarapeninsulahawkwatch.org

http://onnaturemagazine.com/return-of-the-raptors.html

These are two month-old Great Horned Owls.  That means they were born in March, and nests were built in February.  We got to see them very close yesterday, as with all the animals and birds.