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 will be a guest on BirdTalk on May 2nd and will speak a bit about the next
Color in Place
contest (see below!) Thanks to Scott and David Menough and Wild Birds Unlimited for sponsoring these appearances and our Color in Place contest. BirdTalk can be heard each Saturday at 12:00 Noon on
710 KNUS Radio
in Denver and is available
via the web
and Facebook as well.
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 convenient 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.
We realize that people are very concerned and facing numerous challenges right now. Thank you so much for keeping our birds in your hearts as you circle the wagons and keep your own families close!
Thanks to the following members and visitors who have donated just over $1,000 since our last newsletter: B. Birdsall, L Champman, C. Cunneen, A. Keeth, K. Kondo, L. Crosby, K. Metz, J. Smith,
Chris Cunneen
J Forbes, K. Herron, J. Mastra, B. Elsasser, and P. Lautenbach
Thanks to all of our monthly donors who continue their support, and we welcome all donors large and small as we face these perilous times
.
Thank you for your generosity and support!
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Color in Place: A Great Contest at Home!
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An easy way to learn about North America's raptors while you are at home with your kids. This is a great opportunity to explore the world of raptors and win prizes.
Rules here:
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An Earth Day Documentary to Remember
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The release of Michael Moore’s movie for this year’s Earth Day anniversary is perfectly timed, and it's free via YouTube. I must say that after having read about this movie in some reviews months ago, and now seeing the end result, I’m very impressed. Since 1993 I have taken a strong stand against many of the alternative energy schemes being foisted on the public. I took this position because solar and wind especially, are devastating raptor populations and other wildlife, plus they make no environmental sense. They are not clean or green; they are greedy and mean as the movie so brilliantly illustrates. No punches are pulled in the film.
I’ve not been alone in my perceptions in this matter, nor was I the first to be suspicious of the claims of people promoting the Utopia of wind and solar energy, but this is not a popular position among many environmentalists. Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Moore are to be commended for producing this very powerful documentary that may not win them many friends in one respect, but adds a great deal of clarity to a very confusing subject. Fair warning, if you are sensitive to the suffering of animals, the final few minutes of the movie are wrenching and sad.
This is the best 100 minutes of viewing I have seen in a long time!
~Peter Reshetniak, Founder, Raptor Education Foundation
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As you can see, we've blocked up holes and fortified the perimeter with re-purposed parking space cement bumpers, and a
t this point, we believe the problem has been fixed. We're hoping that no other critters mysteriously appear on camera overnight! Other than a few mice in our barn, a near-constant problem, we hope that we have now seen both the last of the snow (more on that below!) AND the skunk!
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On April 16th, upon arriving at our mews (raptor housing) during one of Colorado's typical late spring snowstorms, Peter immediately checked on all the birds. The heavy wet snow creates many difficulties and requires a lot of muscle work to keep everyone safe...see the video below on snow removal! After some hurried shoveling by Peter and Savannah, everything appeared to be stable. But a little while later, Savannah pointed out that our turkey vulture's log perch inside his cave had been moved substantially from its original position. After checking to see if one of the docents had moved the perch for some particular reason, we determined no human had moved it. Peter went to the vulture's enclosure and discovered that our vulture's ceramic heat emitter was off. A quick check revealed that the sticky, wet snow had managed to interrupt the circuit and trip the GFI outlet, turning the electricity off. The source of the moisture was quickly identified, dried off, and the heater was turned back on.
Peter then went to inspect the moved perch and saw that our vulture was now back inside his toasty cave. Prior to this, he had been sitting in the falling snow on top of his high perch, which was a bit odd considering the conditions. But in a “eureka” moment, as he looked at the new position of the perch in the cave, Peter came to the realization that the vulture had managed to pivot the perch from its original orientation (shown in the green outline) to the new position for one simple reason: the perch’s new position allowed the vulture to get within six inches of the ceramic heater, thereby keeping himself much warmer. Did he do this weeks ago when it was cold but when his heater was working? Or, did he just move the perch after his heater was off, trying to get closer to where he knew the heat had been coming from? Either way his actions imply a great deal of reasoning. It’s said that turkey vultures have a high degree of intelligence, and our accidental discovery confirms this, at least in our eyes. Here is a classic example of the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. It's no wonder that turkey vultures are the most common raptor in the United States!
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When we experience late spring snow storms in Colorado, they are often quite wet and heavy. We use a
marine-grade netting to cover the top of our outside mews and it will tolerate a tremendous amount of weight and stretching, but comes back to its normal form quickly. Our northern goshawk and prairie falcon were removed from their perches and the squawking in the background is our goshawk voicing her displeasure with the snow man's strange activities. Thanks to docent Ann Stanz for the video work!
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We've upgraded our Facebook banner to reflect our three primary mission goals of Education, Science and Culture. We hope you enjoy the glimpses of some of our programs and adventures, all featuring our wonderful birds, both past and present, and our fabulous, hard-working docents!
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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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Spring Open House Cancelled
Due to the COVID-19 emergency, we have cancelled our Spring Open
House.
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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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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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In September, 2019 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
almost 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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Join us on 710 KNUS and 990 KRKS Talk Radio with
BirdTalk
on the first Saturday of every month from 12 noon to 1:00PM, presented by Wild Birds Unlimited of Arvada and Denver, as we discuss raptors in your area with Dave and Scott Menough, the BirdTalk Guys. Be sure to tune in on May 2nd when Anne will be a featured guest!
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REF's Facebook Live Events!
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Thanks so much to Mark and Lindsey with HRCA Backcountry Wilderness Area for fun and informative live chats on April 3rd with our male golden eagle, and again on April 20th with our male Swainson's hawk. We are excited about this new partnership with HRCA and we hope to do another chat very soon featuring one of our falcons.
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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 and Skye Taylor
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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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