On the first day of May, our 39 year old golden eagle got a brand-new and larger bath tub. With the temperature over the past two days hovering in the mid-80s, our Aquila quickly surmised what Peter was doing. Within ten minutes of him completing the install, she decided to go for a dip. For those of you whom have never had the opportunity to watch an eagle bathe, please enjoy, and remember that in these viral times, we're relying on your donations to keep our birds fed and cared for. Thank you and keep cool!
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We continue to have cancellations of programs, however, many of our wonderful clients have asked to "push back" some of their events and presentations where possible, for which we are very grateful. Our landlords, THF Realty & The Kroenke Group, have reduced our lease costs to zero, which has been a critical gift during these lean times. The expenses of electricity, bird food, veterinary care, facility maintenance, utilities, gasoline, office supplies and postage still all require payment to keep our operations going. We are, however, striving to keep our birds healthy and ready to respond when the massive restrictions are lifted, and/or when a new opportunity presents itself.
Anne Price and our female short-eared owl will be the featured guests on Monday, May 11th for "Nature Chat" with the Highlands Ranch Community Association Backcountry Wilderness Area. This will be the fourth appearance in about five weeks, and we are so grateful for the wonderful collaboration with Mark and Lindsey, as they are doing the "heavy lifting" with Facebook Live.
(Check out the most recent appearance farther down below!)
We've been posting the chat on our Facebook page within thirty minutes of the end of the talk, but if you're able to watch live, just visit the
HRCA Backcountry Wilderness Area page.
Have you thought about a monthly donation to help us with operating expenses until we're allowed to open back up to the public?
If everyone on our membership mailing list (just over 3,000 people) contributed just $5 per month, we would easily weather this viral storm. Donations of $15-20 per month, for instance, would feed one kestrel for that month. When you click on the donation button, PayPal makes monthly contributions easy. If you don’t use PayPal, our Square Up credit card system will allow us to automatically charge your card on a prearranged schedule that’s co
nvenient for you. Please call us at 303-680-8500 so we may personally assist you. Our Gift Cards, shown below, are also an easy way to share the support of our birds with family and friends. Don't forget our
Driving for Wildlife
campaign too.
Check out
how easy it is to get your car involved. If you're active on
Facebook,
that's a great way to help us out too!
Our docents make it possible to stretch our resources and accomplish a great deal with every dollar we receive. They have been our lifeline for years, and their dedication during this stressful time has been absolutely exceptional. Additionally, we are closely watching the CDC and State of Colorado guidelines and are working to maintain the health of all the humans, as well as the birds at our facility.
As Coloradoans slowly begin to resume their "normal" lives, we'd like to thank everyone for your donations, large and small, including folks who have kindly sent in gloves, bleach, and other supplies. Every little bit helps!
Stay tuned for more information as we determine the best and safest way to resume our
Small Group Tours later this summer!
Thanks to the following members and visitors who have donated a total of just over $3,000 since our past two newsletters: B. Birdsall, L Chapman, C. Cunneen, A. Keeth, K. Kondo, L. Crosby, K. Metz, M & J. Smith,
Chris Cunneen J Forbes, K. Herron, J. Mastra, B. Elsasser, P. Lautenbach, M Greve, H. Gaines, R. Furlong, T. Weber, K. Waterman, D. Smith, J Kolk, C. Marcellus, S. Harmon, R. Vice, M. Morales, K Orm, J.A. Kettner, E. Bee, S.B. Spiwak, C. Milnick, T.J. Weedin, T. Smith, and R. Lynn, S. Livingston, G. Tylee
Thanks to all of our monthly donors who continue their support. We welcome all donors
large and small as we face these perilous times.
Thank you for your generosity and support!
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Preventing Another Virus Threat
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As most of you know, when summer approaches, we vaccinate all of our birds against the insidious threat of West Nile virus that first hit Colorado back in 2003. Seventeen years on, we know a lot more about detecting this disease, preventing it in the first place, and treating raptors that become sick. Unfortunately, there is still no "cure", only the treatment of symptoms, and we are still using vaccines designed for horses. Numerous studies have shown that vaccinating does save lives, and this is most important in raptors that are very young, or very old. Since many of our beloved birds fall into the latter category, we will be very grateful for your help purchasing vaccines. Just $17 will vaccinate one of our hawks, falcons or owls. Our eagles require a little more so we are aiming at a total of $500 for this season.
Just click
to support our vaccinations this year, and THANK YOU for your help!
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Color in Place: A Great Contest at Home!
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This is an easy way to learn about North America's raptors while you're at home with your kids...and it's a great opportunity to explore the world of raptors and win prizes.
Rules here:
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Crestmoor Drive Neighborhood's Avian Accommodations
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One of Denver's beautiful older neighborhoods populated with exquisite trees is also home to one of America's stunning apex predators. However if you just walked or drove along this street without paying close attention, you would miss all of it. Fortunately, the people living in this neighborhood are very accommodating to a family of avian neighbors who are hard to miss.They leave body parts scattered on the lawns and they white wash backyard patios with droppings.
This video series is a tribute to a quiet little enclave of people who have embraced a family of great horned owls,
Bubo virginianus
, nesting and raising one owlet among a fascinated group of fans. In the second of the series, we meet all three members of this Bubo family. Those acquainted with the nesting phase indicated a second sibling was present, however something happened and only one fledgling is now seen in the area around the nest.
Thanks to everyone on Crestmoor Drive that accommodated a lot of curiosity and intruding optics into their normally peaceful lives. In these viral times, we can learn to enjoy what beauty there is around us, including Colorado's most successful crepuscular raptor.
Thanks to Karen for sharing her neighborhood find. See more of this series on our
YouTube Channe
l.
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Commerce City Eagle Nest Failure
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Sadly, the news from the E-470 bald eagles at their new nest site is conclusive. Somewhere between April 24 and May 5th the nest was abandoned. The first segment of the video shot on April 17 with snow on the nest rim, shows one of the adults bringing in nesting material and the pair swapping duties. The next short clip is very shaky, recorded on April 24 with lots of wind, but it still shows one of the parents on the nest. The last segment of this video shot on May 5, punctuated with meadowlark song shows one of the parents, the female we're guessing, hanging out nearby. The nest is empty.
This is the third year the pair have failed to produce any offspring. Their behavior indicates the female is laying one or more eggs, but when the hatch date comes around nothing happens. After all these years, we believe the male is infertile. There are a variety of reasons this could happen, and there's no way to confirm any theory. For the female, however, instinct may drive her to look for another mate, but because we have no accurate way to differentiate the current male from a possible new mate, all we can do is see what happens to the nest next year. The two nests are in close proximity and appear to be quite sturdy. If they survive the coming months of wind, hail, and rain then we might see one of them occupied next season.
Thanks to everyone who has followed our numerous posts over the years. Nature's patterns don't always lend themselves to happy outcomes, and being a raptor is a difficult way to make a living. We are grateful to all of you who are contributing funds during these viral times. Your support is deeply appreciated!
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Fourteen Families are Supporting Us. Please Join Them!
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REF is very excited to announce that we're partnering with King Soopers and their Community Rewards Program! 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!
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. Watch for periodic reminders, and please share with your friends and family!
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Shouldn't You Be Driving 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 Announced!
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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. We are offering an "early bird" discount for those who book by June 15th.
Click here
for booking and additional information. Typically our photo shoots sell out within a month. Don't miss this opportunity!
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These two stunning purses are available for purchase. They are both hand made beaded purses from the village of Ubud on the Island of Bali. Each is one-of-a-kind. For more information and to purchase these beautiful examples of Balinese artistry just click on the purse. Thank you for your support!
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Help Our Book Take Flight: Order Today!
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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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Last September we celebrated three years since 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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Searching for the Perfect Gift?
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Raptor-themed gifts for raptor lovers
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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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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 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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Staples Contributes Supplies
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A condor-sized THANK YOU to David Carr, Kathleen Garcia, and the wonderful, hard workers at the Staples Warehouse in Brighton, Colorado! Our neighbors, just "down the road aways", recently donated much-needed paper towels, cleaning supplies, gloves and reams of laser printer paper. Thanks again everyone, and we're hoping we can bring the birds by for a visit before the end of year!
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REF's Facebook Live Events!
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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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