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 Common Barn Owl Watching From Above
What goes on in a rehabilitation facility that treats over 300 owls, eagles, hawks and falcons? The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program (720 East Vine Drive Fort Collins) is offering several Behind the Scenes tours scheduled for late April, May and June.
Visitors are invited to explore the treatment room, discover what it takes to be a gourmet chef for a raptor, have an up-close meeting with an educational raptor and learn about the steps necessary for an injured bird to once again take to the skies.
Each 1½ hour tour costs five dollars, requires an advanced reservation, is geared for older teens and adults and is limited to 15 persons. The tour requires standing and walking on even and uneven surfaces.
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 It's nesting season for osprey – often referred to as "fish eagles", osprey nest on tall structures and nesting platforms along riv ers and lakes and ocean shores. In Colorado we are fortunate that the population is increasing, and the Fort Collins area has several nesting pairs that delight us with a front-row seat to their family activities. Osprey nests are often quite large masses of sticks and grasses – forming a stable base for their youngsters to call home. Unfortunately, many osprey gather odd items to add to the nest – most notably, orange baling twine left in fields from bales of hay for feeding livestock. The twine often drapes down from the nest, and parents or young birds can easily get tangled in the twine,, resulting in serious injuries or death. We ask that people using orange twine for hay bales – PLEASE gather up the twine and throw it in the garbage – or re-use it – but don't leave it on the ground in fields where osprey (and other wildlife!) can get tangled in it.
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 The beautiful cover photo winner for last year’s 2012 calendar by Don Metzner.
Wanted: 13 great photographs of soaring eagles, inquisitive owls and other birds of prey.
The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program invites amateur and professional photographers to submit their favorite photos of birds of prey native to Colorado.
The top 13 photographs will be included in its 2013 Raptor Photo Calendar, an important source of revenue for the non-profit organization.
Photographs may be taken in the wild or in captivity. The 13 best entries will also be published on the RMRP web site. Winning photographers will receive a free copy of the calendar, retain copyright of their photos and grant RMRP the right to publish.
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 Let raptors inspire you each month with RMRP’s limited edition 2012 Photo Calendar.
We carefully selected raptor photos from the nearly 100 photos we received during our 2012 calendar photo contest. The resulting stunning assortment of birds are seen in a spectacularly beautiful calendar.
Are you looking for a gift for a raptor enthusiast? A bird watcher? That person who has everything? Perhaps a gift for yourself to speak to your soul? Look no further.
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 Spring is here, and it's time for the gardener in all us to get outside and spruce up the yard! Remember – the tree you're trimming may be hiding a home for a family of feathered friends. Great horned owls are nesting now, and may be in a big wad of sticks, or hidden inside a cavity or hole in the trunk or branch of a tree. Cavities in tree branches also make great homes for American kestrels and screech owls – which will start nesting in the next month or so. Before you cut down that tree, or trim off that dead branch – please take the time to check out any cavities for the presence of nesting birds. Listen for sounds inside the branch, or watch for birds flying in and out of cavities. Nesting birds are usually ready to leave the nest site within 2-3 months – so please practice a little patience and avoid evicting a family before they are ready to fly! If you have any questions about a possible nest site – give us a call at 970-484-7756.
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 A huge thank you goes out to all of our supporters, volunteers, community businesses and artists who helped to make the 19th Annual Gala Dinner and Auction a smashing success. We were thrilled – attendance was up by 20%, and more than 360 people helped us celebrate the world of raptors. Bidding was lively on so many items – we earned more than $60,000 to help support our efforts to care for injured birds of prey and inspire our children to be good stewards of the planet. Special thanks goes out to our sponsors: Bohemian Foundation, OtterCares Foundation, Fort Fund, and Dyanne Willow, Broker, ReMax. Save the date for next year's Gala: February 23, 2013!
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 This bird eats 3 oz. of food/day = 3 mice x $1.00/mouse = $3/day. He will be with us at least one year before he be released.The fire came from out of nowhere, surprising the bird, and scorching its feathers.
The young Swainson's hawk had found a great perch in an open area where he could rest and search the surrounding prairie for prey. But the perch was an intermittent methane burner from energy development activities on the prairie, and the flame caused serious burns on the feathers, feet, face, neck and abdomen. Fortunately, the bird was found and quickly transported to the RMRP, where our rehabilitation staff started immediate burn treatment. The hawk will need constant care through the winter months as the burns heal, and will be monitored closely for normal feather growth as well as normal beak and talon growth. It will takes months before the bird can return to the wild – but he has a good chance at regaining freedom, because YOU care. YOU care enough to support our efforts to heal his wounds, monitor his progress, and help him touch the skies.
This bird eats 3 oz. of food/day = 3 mice x $1.00/mouse = $3/day. He will be with us at least one year before his feathers have grown strong enough to be released.
Please continue your support today so that we can release more birds tomorrow.
Click here to make more miracles happen. |
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