Happy Labor Day!
A Generous Anonymous Donor!
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We would like to thank the person in this video above, who walked up to our office door and placed a unique donation into the food cooler that we have outside the entrance. In 40 years of operations, we've never seen anything like this. When asked by Senior Docent Kevin Corwin if he needed a receipt, the gentleman declined. Kevin advised me some time later in the day, and thinking it was a donation of eagle food such as a rabbit, I walked outside and opened the lid...and almost fell over. The cooler was empty, except for a substantial sum of cash, folded neatly in the corner. Kevin could only remember that our benefactor drove up in a car with Utah license plates, but since he was masked, nobody could identify this very generous person. So whomever you are, thank you very much for your kindness! We hope you are on our mailing list and will read this. Peter Reshetniak, Founder.
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Though we haven't been able to do very many programs in person, we've been busy upgrading and retrofitting our falcon pen in preparation for our new gyrfalcon who arrived on July 16th. Our plans took an unforeseen turn however, when we made the tough decision to euthanize our 18 year old female northern goshawk on July 29th. She had been struggling with arthritis in both heel joints for two years, and while the NSAID metacam gave us a good two additional years with her, we knew it was time when she began having substantial difficulty standing.
She was a forceful personality and the lone female (and non-falcon) in our "falcon" pen. In her absence, we sped things along and moved our 18 year old male peregrine falcon to her former location, and completely rebuilt her hood with polycarbonate. This will keep him dry in rain and snow, and allow that nice southern sun to reach him in the winter. Our new gyr, who moved to the pen on August 30th, is enjoying the shade and will feel right at home in this location during the winter, as it receives a bit less sun. Since he's an arctic bird, the colder, the better. And by the way, being imprinted to humans, our new guy is always pretty happy when someone gets close to him on his perch, hence the "chupping" and courtship bowing behavior in the video!
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We have resumed our Small Group Tours and we are very excited to host visitors again! Up to six members of the same household may visit, and masks are required for everyone over age six. The weather will be cooling this month (really cooling in Denver this week!), so we encourage everyone to to visit our website and schedule a tour.
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Commerce City Eagle Update |
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I've been checking on the Commerce City eagles at their nest site, which has failed three years in a row. Our conclusion is that the male is infertile. I stop by periodically on my way home and I have found one or two of the adults present. On August 20th they were both there in the heat of the afternoon which made long telephoto videos a little shimmery. Since we cannot know if the male is the same bird from previous years, or even if this pair is the same pair from last year, what we do know is that it looks like we'll have a pair attempting to breed again next year. Both nests are still standing, and it will be interesting to see which one will be used for 2021. Enjoy!
~Peter Reshetniak, Founder & Director of Special Projects
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25 Families are Supporting Us...Please Join Them! |
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Have you signed up for the King Soopers Community Rewards Program yet? Do you have a Loyalty Card and digital account? Just visit https://www.kingsoopers.com/o/store-services/community-rewards , log in, and enroll to have REF receive donated funds from King Soopers and Kroger! We'd love to double the number of families supporting us by the end of the summer...please share with your friends and family!
OUR COMMUNITY REWARDS NUMBER IS TF405. Simply log into your account, look for "Community Rewards" on the left hand side, and enter TF405. Our name will appear, and you can link your card to REF. You save on groceries, earn fuel points, and we'll receive a quarterly donation from King Soopers.
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Kalaloch Eagles: Olympic National Forest |
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During the last week of August I had the opportunity to escape the smoky, hazy atmosphere in Colorado for the Olympic National Park in Washington. Based out of a cozy cabin on Kalaloch Beach, the oxygen rich marine air and empty beaches quickly lifted me and my wife's spirits. Daily walks for miles along the flat sandy beach north and south of Kalaloch Creek brought us great views of sea otters, California gulls, Caspian terns, western sandpipers, sea lions and bald eagles. The latter appeared indirectly at first as seen in the video above.
On our first day, as we walked along looking at the beach ahead, scouring the sand for interesting rocks and shells I looked up and about 50 yards ahead it seemed as if a long arc of snow covered the dark gray sand. Coming closer I could see the arc was actually composed of downy feathers which had been plucked from the body of an immature California gull. Its body was a few feet from the feather and its entire chest cavity was visible, minus all of the meat and organs. Looking at the sand, I discovered footprints of a large raptor.
Later that same day, heading south of Kalaloch Creek a pair of bald eagles appeared and we saw them for the next five days. Seeing bald eagles in the Pacific ocean brings home the fact that our living national symbol is one of the ten sea eagle species found world-wide.~Peter Reshetniak, Founder & Director of Special Projects
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After years of using a photo of our 1985 Jeep Cherokee with our now 39 year-old golden eagle sitting on top to promote Colorado's first environmentally-themed license plates, we decided we needed an upgrade. Back in my early days I was involved with the Sports Car Club of America, and one of the most successful cars on the circuit was the Shelby Cobra. Becky and Paul (pictured above), the owners of Dave's Automotive have serviced all of our vehicles for more than two decades. They stepped up and arranged for us to borrow the 1965 Cobra replica pictured with our female bald eagle sitting on the roll bar. In the picture below, Anne Price is pictured with Don, the owner of the Cobra. Don is a retired Denver firefighter who has an interesting car collection, including a fire truck! HUGE thanks to Becky, Paul and Don for making this come together with America's living national symbol eyeing the snake she just captured!
Whatever kind of car you're driving, if you have our license plates, you'll be Driving For Wildlife! Help us put another 1,000 eagles on the streets of our great state!~~Peter Reshetniak, Founder & Director of Special Projects
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As summer winds down, there are three things we won't miss in our mews. One, is the heat. Two, yellow jackets, which are determined to build large nests in every opening and tiny hole imaginable, including my truck, the gates of our enclosures, and the tracks holding said gates. Third? Snakes! Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE snakes. I live with a 61-inch California king snake and a lovely piebald ball python. Snakes are awesome predators, but when they come into our mews seeking shade or water, they tend to startle, surprise and scare both the birds and the humans. However when you're as large as this bull snake, who was nearly six feet long and fortunately waited until Peter drove up to the office door, I guess you just don't have much to fear and can take your time when out for a morning stroll...um, slither! ~Anne Price, President
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Join Us & Drive For Wildlife! |
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and support us every time you drive!
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A Special Anniversary Offer on all Three of Our Books!
Celebrate our 40th anniversary by purchasing our three books at this special price!
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Fall Photo Shoot Booking Now! |
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We are excited to announce a full day photo shoot on Saturday, October 10, 2020. This year we are offering a flying raptor photo shoot in the morning, and a posed photo shoot in the afternoon. You can book one or both sessions depending on your interests. If you book both sessions a $25 discount applies. Click here for booking and additional information. Don't miss this opportunity!
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Help Our Book Take Flight: Order Today! |
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Thanks to Laura Chapman, former REF Docent who gifted our coloring book to her neighbors and sent us this darling photo of Alexa, age 9, and Nevaeh, age 7, busily working on the turkey and black vulture pages! |
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This poster is available for a limited time. Printed on heavy poster board, 11.5" x 20"
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This month we're celebrating the arrival of our wonderful female bald eagle. She arrived as a timid, 18 month old sub-adult, and it's been a privilege, a lot of hard work, and a team effort that's resulted in the beautiful, confident and well-adjusted bird you see in the collage above. Thank you once again to Marilyn Stevens for continuing to take these stunning images of our "girl", now five years old!
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Twenty-One Years Ago!
We created Colorado's first environmental license plates back in 1999. Only qualified REF members are permitted to display these on their vehicles. Tell your friends and help us put another 1,000 eagles on the highways and byways of Colorado! Just $24.95 helps spread our message that Coloradoans Respect Wildlife.
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Gifts Cards Available!
We've had many requests for Gift Cards. Thanks to the folks at Square we are now very happy to make gift cards available to everyone to give to friends, family, and total strangers! Lots of designs for raptorphiles. Currently our gift cards are only available in the electronic versions.
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This is where Colorado energy policies are heading:
"In my opinion California has until now concealed the true scale of their electricity supply problems from voters, by quietly importing vast amounts of power from other states when their own unreliable green electricity system falters.
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Special thanks to The Kroenke Group & THF Realty for extending our lease and keeping the fee at zero dollars until 2023! Support like this ensures we will make it through these challenging times. |
Thanks to our past and future partners, THF Prairie Center Development, L.L.C., THF Prairie Center Investors, L.L.C. and the City of Brighton, for creating the best intersection in Colorado just a minute or two north of our headquarters!
As the new villages grow at Prairie Center, so do the streets with cool names!
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Wish List!
We are looking for a gently-used, 25-foot RV (Class C) that would serve as a mobile office for traveling programs around Colorado and further away.
Or, maybe you have an SUV or pickup truck you would like to donate? We can put them to good use! Please give our office a call if you have a vehicle you think we could use! (303) 680-8500
Thank you!
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Jeff Wang's Raptor Captures |
We've enjoyed Jeff Wang's wonderful action photos of osprey fishing all summer, and he's really perfected his skill at capturing the incredible technique and agility of these unique raptors. What he hadn't seen before, was the pirating action of a bald eagle, the very same stealing of fish that so upset Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century. |
After plunging all the way into the water, something bald eagles don't intentionally attempt, the osprey
lifts out of the lake with his prize...
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Out of seemingly nowhere, a bald eagle spied the osprey's success and gave chase. While the osprey's five-foot wingspan might make it a more maneuverable raptor, the larger bald eagle is still surprisingly agile in the air. Inevitably the osprey was intimidated and dropped the fish. |
Jeff reports that despite the harassment, the bald eagle did not catch the fish mid-air and it appears that neither raptor flew away with a meal. Benjamin Franklin thought this behavior most unbecoming and referred to the osprey as "the noble fish hawk", while declaring that the bald eagle (already our national symbol by that point)
was a bird of "bad moral character"!
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All good parents teach their kids not to play in the street, right? Well this juvenile Swainson's hawk has not yet learned the lesson! This little "guy" (gender uncertain) was standing in the road outside the entrance of Barr Lake State Park. Fortunately, the vehicle behind the hawk spotted both Jeff shooting pictures and the raptor in the road, and slowed down to allow the hawk to fly to safety. Keep your eyes open for migrating raptors starting this month! |
Automatic Monthly Donations: Thanks to everyone who has set up a monthly donation via PayPal. We have people from both coasts, a few states in the middle, and in Colorado contributing monthly pledges automatically...thank you!!
(303) 680 8500
Copyright 2020, Raptor Education Foundation, All rights reserved.
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Docent & Volunteer Staff: Elise Bales, Morgan Brantmeyer, Kevin Corwin, Karen Gonzalez, Bernhard Hafner, Linda Julia, Kim Kistler, Jennifer McAllister,
Anne Price, Jennifer Redmond, Peter Reshetniak, Beverly Rice, Mitch Skinner, Ann Stanz
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Hours of operation:
8:30AM-4:30 M-F.
Hours vary by season; tours are
by appointment only. Please visit
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