Do you remember the Grinch who stole Christmas and Cindy Loo who was no more than two the little girl from Hooville? Well she came to visit Alexandra, another kind of hoo at the Ottawa sportsman show too! Posing is Sierra Gates the newest sweetest small hoo.
Last night Frank and I had a fantastic evening visiting the Wild Birds Unlimited store on Yonge St. in Richmond Hill. This is the third year that we have attended Debbie and Andy Neale’s store and its always a great evening. Two of our educational birds, Seamus the North American Barn Owl and Max the Harris Hawk, were in attendance and spent two hours with a crowd of 50 or more people. It was amazing how many familiar faces were there; folks that have been a part of the presentations each year. We also met many new people that we were able to introduce to the beauty of birds of prey and the struggles they face in the wild. There were followers of Rhea Mae and Tiago in the audience along with young budding ornithologists and photography enthusiasts. It really was a great night!! Thank you so much Debbie and Andy for a wonderful evening and all of the folks that continue to support the CPF’s efforts with Peregrine falcons!!
The CPF was pleased to be in attendance this weekend at the 164th annual Woodbridge Fair in York Region and spend some time sharing our experiences with birds of prey with fairgoers. There were several highlights of the weekend, the best is always the time we get to spend with our volunteers, the public and most importantly our educational birds. Over the past three days we have introduced Cheyenne the peregrine, Nova the peregrine, Seamus the north american barn owl, Alex the great horned owl, Max the harris hawk, Kyla the kestrel and Bubo the european eagle owl to hundreds of people!! We spent our days sharing with others the struggles that these species have faced in the wild due to pesticides, loss of habitat and many other challenges that top predators such as these encounter, as well as the successes the CPF have been a part of during the ongoing recovery of the Peregrine falcon in Ontario. We had a wonderful time at the fair, connecting with adults and children alike, and introducing them to our feathered family. We look forward to seeing folks again next year!!
P.S. The maple buttered Beavertails were awesome!!!
This afternoon I had the pleasure of attending the Whitevale Spring Festival in Pickering with Oscar and Alexandra, two of the stars of our educational bird team. Oscar, our ten year old male Peregrine falcon, spent the first half an hour with me telling the story of the decline and recovery of his species to a packed house of families and friends and Alexandra, our Great Horned owl, finished off our time at the festival enlightening folks about the incredible adaptations that owls such as her possess. A hearty thank you to the Ontario Power Generation for sponsoring our visit to the Whitevale Spring Festival!!! What a great afternoon!!