Wednesday, June 3, 2015

A Visit With the Owls

      I belong to the Red Deer River Naturalists (RDRN) which is a group dedicated to all things about natural history in the Red Deer river basin.

     We have just completed a project to produce a birding trail map for Central Alberta. It was a huge project but well worth the money and effort. We learned much from the experience. We had done a birding trail map for the city of Red Deer a couple of years earlier. 

     The next step in the process is to set up a website that allows you to copy one particular section of the map such as Dry Island Buffalo Jump .

    Last Sunday was the day we chose to show our new map off to the press and get some local publicity. 

    We had an afternoon session where the public could come and visit the owls and see the new maps and take one if they were interested. In the evening we had a speaker who is an expert on owls and falcons. He's a government biologist who worked on the project to bring the peregrine falcon back after the DDT tragedy. His experience is out in the field.

     Now the three owls and male peregrine falcon were on display for the evening session. People were able to touch the birds. All of these birds have been injured and are not candidates to be released into the wild.  Otis, the great horned Owl, is blind. Otis has been around visiting people and making presentations long enough that he has written a couple of kids books.

Otis, great horned owl


barred owl

male peregrine falcon