A Message from the President, and the Founder

It All Began in September, 45 Years Ago

When people ask me how I "got into" raptors, I tell them that my life was first changed by a book, and then a sticker. The book was Gifts of an Eagle, by Kent Durden. The sticker was, and is, available here. The rest, as they say, is history...sprinkled with passion, hard lessons, blood, sweat, tears and love.~Anne Price, President

*****

Back in late 1979, when I began exploring the feasibility of creating REF as an "art project", I had little support from those with business acumen and experience, nor those in the natural history art world. I got a lot of smiles and comments, "Oh, that's very nice" and "Good luck." My mother was more direct in her Ukrainian peasant fashion and broken English, "Are you stupik?" Quitting my regular paycheck as an artist and naturalist with the Denver Museum of Natural History inclined my Mum to ask that question many times. She's gone now, but I can hear her muttering just loud enough for me to still feel the sting of that query. I'm hoping that I'm not quite as "stupik" as I was then, but I might still be deluding myself. The picture above however, gives me some small measure of satisfaction with that "eureka moment" back in 1979: the sight of a raptor still manages to evoke the same response on the faces of those two young girls. Experiencing wildlife up close, and in person, makes permanent impressions. Good ones, I hope. Thanks to Anne Price for capturing that moment.

None of that would have been possible without the support of many people along the way. Some of those kind and supportive people are still flying with us. To them I am forever grateful, and humbled by their generosity, understanding, and continued involvement. Our docent team is one of the best I've ever met. Kevin Corwin has been with us for more than three decades; Jenni McAllister, Jennifer Redmond, Mitch Skinner and Beverly Rice are also in the decade/s category. Our office volunteer Kim Kistler, whom many of you have met at the sales table at many of our events, is in a decade category all by herself, keeping our membership rolls tidy, and performing multiple office functions with efficiency and good cheer.

Marie Bolster's generosity on many fronts, going back to when we met in 1984 at the Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup, is still providing stalwart support, supervision, guidance, and humor to keep my Mom's admonition a distant echo most of the time. She also does this from a much closer vantage point as my wife and partner. Anne Price, who started with REF in 1986 as a University of Colorado student and docent, has served as Curator of Raptors, Chief Lecturer and Docent Manager. She now also deals with more executive functions, all the while still fostering a fantastic docent team and managing our demanding collection of non-releasable raptors.

Alexander Reshetniak's patience and understanding while his father spent months on the road traveling with his "birds" to numerous venues across the country cannot be overlooked. However, as an artist immersed in the professional theater world, (Denver Center for the Performing Arts among others) he intuited more than most, what motivated his father's actions and still does. The Grout Family deserve a hat tip for Savannah's diligent efforts assisting Anne in managing the mews along with Kevin Grout's help in manufacturing custom equipment for trapping rabbits and perching eagles. Very recently, the Considine Family has added their generosity in supporting our newly documented peregrines nesting in downtown Denver with camera installation to monitor next year's breeding season.

Providing us a visual feast of raptors, Jeff Wang has evolved on our pages as a dedicated and exceptional photographer sharing his "raptor captures" with us, and to every raptorphiles' benefit. Karen Metz must be thanked for her dedication to our educational mission by availing our audiences with the benefit of her many decades monitoring raptors, and the creation of an extensive library of raptor images she shares with us via her excellent raptor ID classes. This class is eagerly awaited each year, and has once again sold out for October 19th at the Barr Lake Nature Center venue.

Susan Grant Raymond, who worked at the Denver Museum of Natural History as a sculptor during my time there, continues her generous support since our very early beginning. Robert P. Koehler and his wife Roxanne were also part of that very early supporting flock, and I must not fail to credit to William Greve, whose work at Zapata Oil, George H.W. Bush's company, opened the doors for REF's presence at the White House in 1982. Bill provided generous support in our early years that created some of our first posters featuring the work of artist Donald L. Malick. Don would go on to illustrate the most successful raptor book ever published when measured by units sold, and the number of years still in print...since 1984! It still continues, thanks to the newest and best edition published by the University of New Mexico Press.

The last 16 years at Prairie Center have been made possible by the kindness and generosity of the Kroenke Group, THF Reality, Jim Lewis, and R.Otto Maly as they continue their support by giving us a physical home with an affordable future despite the economic roller coaster we all find ourselves on.

The list of links below will take you to our Testimonial page and illustrate a very wide scope of accomplishments REF has achieved since our humble official beginnings in 1980. These achievements along with the millions of people who have experienced what the young ladies above express, have all happened because I was able to comprehend an opportunity which came to life with thousands of people helping it take flight.

Terry Grosz, I hope you are smiling out there somewhere for helping me get this flying, and be on the lookout for a little Ukrainian woman who won't put up with any excuses...even from you.

Thank you!~Peter Reshetniak, Founder

Some Quick REF History Links: White House Visit, Colorado’s First Environmental License Plates, Best Raptor Book Ever,  Our Raptors Cruise to Alaska, Consulting on National Memorial Sculpture, US Naval War College Special Program, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, Birds of Prey International Skiing Championships, International Falconry Festival, National Geographic, State & County Fairs,  Natural Solutions Consulting Services

Jeff Wang's Raptor Captures

The hawk of spring is outta here! Swainson's hawks, the most commonly-seen hawk in the Denver Metro area during the summer, are bulking up with food and preparing for their approximately 8000 mile migration to Argentina. These close relatives of the red-tailed hawk have longer wings (good for soaring and riding thermals) and shorter tails than their larger cousins. Arriving in Colorado by the middle of April, they immediately get down to the business of nest-building, while the red-tails are already incubating. The young who fledge around the end of July only have a few short weeks to master hunting and flying, before they join the massive flocks or "kettles" of experienced adults to begin the arduous journey south.

In this series of photos, Jeff captured a hawk making off with a prairie dog meal. Swainson's also feed on small birds, mice and especially at this time of year, many, many grasshoppers!

5280 Peregrine Watch Update

The peregrine parents are still hanging around downtown, though the juveniles haven't been spotted in several weeks. They seem to enjoy being literal "empty nesters", with one of the parents bringing in a meal of norther flicker in the upper photo. Anne did spot a juvenile peregrine flying northwards while working in our mews in the last few days of August. He or she began soaring in lazy circles, long enough for one of our docents to also get a distant look. Possibly one of the downtown teenagers exploring a bit?

From the very fast, to the very tiny: Jeff's excellent photos above showcase the difference in color, as well as size, in American kestrels. The smallest US falcon weighs approximately 3.5 to 4.5 ounces and stays in Colorado year-round hunting mice, small birds, and in the summer, reptiles and insects. The females have rusty and black wings, and rusty tails which are striped throughout the entire length. The males have a single, black band near the tip of their tail, and beautiful gray wings. Though not able to stoop (dive swiftly) through the air as quickly as a peregrine falcon, these diminutive falcons are masters at hovering, with their long tails acting as the perfect counterbalance.

Special thanks to Unico Properties LLC, for being Denver’s premier peregrine eyrie (nest site)!

YouTube Request!

For those of you enjoying the videos posted on our channel, we very much appreciate your viewership. If you like what we're doing, please subscribe and please post comments. The latter improves our status with YouTube analytics in several key areas, and when we get to 1,000 subscribers, we can benefit from advertising revenues. Right now, we get no financial support from any of the promo pieces that appear with our videos.

Additionally, if you forward our YouTube videos to people that are of the avian inclination, our subscriber base will grow faster. Thank you for your support! ~Peter Reshetniak, Director of Special Projects

A Special Anniversary Offer on All Three of Our Books!

Celebrate our 45th anniversary by purchasing our

three books at this special price!

Just click

WISH LIST

We're still looking for a gently-used, 20-25 foot RV (Class C) that would serve as a mobile office for traveling programs around Colorado and farther away. Or maybe you have an SUV or pickup truck you would like to donate? We can put it to good use! Please give our office a call if you have a vehicle you think we could use!

(303) 680-8500

Thank you!

Raptor Chronicles

Previous Issues Archived Here

Just in case you've missed any issues, we currently have issues dating back to January 2020.

Our October Raptor ID Class is SOLD OUT!

Thank you to all who've signed up...we'll see you at Barr Lake State Park on October 19th.



Join the 80 Families Supporting Our Raptor Sanctuary

Help Us Reach 100 Supporting Families!

REF Staff: Anne Price, President & Curator; Peter Reshetniak, Founder & Director of Special Projects; Savannah Grout, Mews Manager

Docents & Volunteers: Kristy Bortz, Clarissa Cigrand, Megan Considine, Kevin Corwin, Karen Gonzalez, Kim Kistler, Linda Julia, Jennifer McAllister, Denis Murray, Karen Ogle Anne Price, Jennifer Redmond, Peter Reshetniak, Beverly Rice, Mitch Skinner and Ann Stanz

Docents in Training: Robert Mitchell, and Peggy Plaus