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Raptor Chronicles
By Colorado's Oldest Raptor Sanctuary
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Next month, we begin our 44th year of operations. It seems impossible to comprehend the time that has elapsed. Yet when I look back and think about the birds which have come and gone, as well as the people who have done the same, I realize that REF has built a community of people devoted to raptors and dedicated to advocating for their needs. Such an astounding creation does not happen overnight.
I recently did a Zoom interview with a newly-minted high school graduate who is attempting to figure out "what's next". She asked me a series of questions that inevitably lead to an examination of my 44 years of working with raptors, which in turn had me reflecting about the changes in wildlife populations around the world; the successes, failures, and "what if's?"
What hasn't changed in my 44 years of wildlife education, is the deep sadness I feel when saying goodbye to a wonderful bird who has spent many years thrilling children in classrooms. They are all unique and special, these wild raptors who have learned to accept and even thrive, living with humans. The people who support our work and assist us in so many ways are equally so. I've always said that raptors bring people together, and as people, we must grieve and celebrate when they too, leave us to fly free.
Thank you Cheri, for watching the eagles.
I hope you enjoy Jeff Wang's beautiful photos of our new golden eagle and merlin; his work will also be featured in our upcoming Raptor ID class on October 14th...you won't want to miss it!~Anne Price, President
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Raptor ID Class Announcement! |
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Juvenile bald eagle photo by Dick Vogel |
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Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) Senior Volunteer Raptor Monitor Karen Metz and REF President, Anne Price are teaming up once again in a brand-new class The Who’s Who of Colorado Raptors. The class will be held at the Barr Lake State Park Nature Center on Saturday, October 14, from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Karen’s outstanding slides will be accompanied by twelve of our raptors for up-close viewing, comparisons and photos. Coffee, tea and other morning refreshments will be provided.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: October 9 at 5:00PM
Early Bird Registration Specials. Only 40 spaces available. Additional discounts for two or three reservations at the same time. Register Here and get full information to share with friends. This sells out quickly. Don't miss this chance to improve your
raptor IQ!
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Female Golden Eagle Training Update |
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It's been nearly one month since our new female golden eagle arrived, and I've been working with her very slowly, every single day. Fortunately she appears to be in excellent health, and has a very good appetite. Female golden eagles have a tendency to throw their weight around, because, well...they can! They may not be the bullies that bald eagles are, but they have the confidence to fight and stand their ground, rather than retreat. I'm experiencing this behavior and gradually working on building her confidence and trust in me. |
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She misses NOTHING. Eagles are renowned for their vision, but she is especially aware of everything I do, and everything going on around her. The color vision and highly-discriminatory nature of raptor vision is on full display every time we work together. |
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Although the primaries of her left wing (the injured one) aren't visible in the photo above, her beautiful second-year tail is, along with her dragon-like "hallices" (singlular: hallux) or rear-facing talons. She is absolutely magnificent.
Thank you to Jeff Wang for the wonderful photography!
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Lots of Other Ways to Help! |
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A Special Anniversary Offer on All Three of Our Books!
Celebrate our 43nd anniversary by purchasing our
three books at this special price!
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Our Online Store is Open!
A new look...click on the image below.
SORRY...OWL PURSES SOLD OUT
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Help Our Book Fly Higher:
Order Today!
Reviews
“A unique book aimed at introducing young and beginning birders to the world of raptors. . . . Creative for certain! Helpful, too.”–Jim Williams, Wingnut Blog, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A very cool new book.”–Doc Kirby, On The Bookshelf
“Bird enthusiasts of all ages will find this book full of educational fun.”–Skipping Stones
“All the essays were well-written and provided lots of easy-to-understand information, which allows the reader to identify many different types of raptors. I also really enjoyed the further reading at the back of the book about the kestrel box. The instructions were clear-cut, and the activity was easy and fun to do.”–Hannah, age thirteen, Kids’ BookBuzz
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We've got a new raptor design to share with you VERY soon, hot off the Jabebo press. Anyone care to guess? ;-) |
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Help us put another 1,000 eagles on the streets of our great state! Qualified members of REF are entitled to display them on their cars. Put Colorado's first and best environmental plates on YOUR vehicle!
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One of our members sent us this picture of his Cobra with our license plates. Anyone else out there with a classic car wearing our eagle? Send us your image! |
Special thanks to The Kroenke Group & THF Realty for extending our lease and keeping the fee at zero dollars though 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! Check out some of the newest intersections as of October 2021.
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WISH LIST
RIDING LAWN MOWER
Yep, keeping our property mowed in this very wet year is a challenge. If somebody has a riding mower to donate, please contact us. Thank you!
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
in case you missed any issues, we currently have issues dating back to January 2020!
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Limited Edition Eagle Pin |
An exclusive creation for us, this fine pewter pin has been hand painted to let everyone know what you think of America's living national symbol. Available in a very limited edition, while they last. This beautiful pin measures 1 1/8" by 1 1/2". Two clasps keep it firmly attached. $50 each includes shipping. Discounts for multiple purchases. Click here to order.
If you don't wish to use PayPal, then please click here.
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Thank You...We're Over the Top! |
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Many thanks to the following individuals, listed in the order their donations were received: J. Mastra, K Sena, L. Bessinger,
T. Smith, S. Anstine, M. Forbes, D. Carr, R. Koehler, A. Cooke, R. D. Gibson, C. Miller, J. Reisert, A. Sarg, H. Ray.
The additional contributions resulted in a grand total of $970! This exceeded our initial target, but with the arrival of the new golden eagle and merlin, we needed additional vaccines. We also did an extensive medical workup on the new golden with complete blood work, chemistry panel, fecal screen for parasites and a test for the respiratory infection aspergillosis. Everything has come back clean, and that also means training can continue on her schedule.
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Cheri Bossio Memorial Tribute |
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During the very early days of a pair of bald eagles expanding a red-tail hawk's nest into their own much larger nesting platform, REF organized a dedicated group of volunteers known as the "Eagle Brigade" to watch the young eagles as they were about to fledge. The nest was located precariously close to the high speed E-470 beltway, and a young eagle's first flight could have easily result in a disaster for both human and eagle.
One of the most active members of the Eagle Brigade was Cheri Bossio. Cheri became so dedicated to safeguarding the nest area that she bought a Nikon mega-zoom camera with a 2000mm lens to peer directly into the nest. Cheri gave many of these videos to REF for our use, and the video tribute above was produced using one of Cheri's segments recorded on April 17, 2015. Cheri was also there to help record the rescue of two young eagles after a storm that collapsed the nest. That video is shown here. Both juveniles went into rehab and were released a year later. The nest was never rebuilt in that location. The parents moved to another area and the Eagle Brigade followed. We are very grateful to Stacie and Dara Bossio for helping us create this tribute to their Mom. The following paragraph is from Cheri's obituary:
"In 1989, Cheri moved to Thornton, Colorado, where she spent the majority of her years after leaving her beloved farm and horses in Watkins, Colorado. Cheri had a passion for sports and held a special place in her heart for the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, and any teams her girls played for. She was heavily involved with the Raptor Education Foundation and Wildlife Sanctuary which perfectly combined her love for wildlife. She enjoyed spending her retirement from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals where she worked for 30+ years, by tending to her spectacular garden, sharing memories with friends at the Roving Corks camp outs, getting first to finds in the middle of the night with her GeoCaching friends, and hanging out with her friends from her knitting club, Generic Knitters. Cheri's absence will undoubtedly leave a void in the lives of those who were fortunate enough to know her. Her love for family will continue to inspire all those she left behind. In honor of her life a Memorial Service has been planned on September 25, 2023, at 11:00 AM at the Messiah Community Church located at 1750 North Colorado Boulevard Denver, CO 80220. We invite all those whose lives were touched by Cheri to pay their respects and celebrate her life at this service. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Raptor Education Foundation. We would also appreciate and she would enjoy if you would join us in wearing tie-dye to the service to celebrate our Momma's life."
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Join the 57 Families Supporting Our Raptor Sanctuary
Help Us Reach 100 Supporting Families!
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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 increase the number of families supporting us...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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Photo courtesy of Jeff Wang |
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It's been an august August, for certain! On August 22nd we received this lovely female boreal merlin from Florida Wild Mammal Association in Crawfordville. She was admitted in February with a right elbow fracture which hasn't healed properly, but she still has good mobility. We are grateful for a volunteer transporter in Florida who drove 3200 miles round trip to deliver her safely to us, as the summer temperatures in the South made airline transport impossible.
We believe she is the same age as our new golden eagle, so approximately eighteen months old. She is sporting fresh adult plumage and is quite dark compared to the more common richardsoni, or prairie race merlins that we see here out west. She will soon be introduced to our kestrel pen and her new roommates, our eleven plus year-old female kestrel and eight year-old male merlin. Remember that female raptors are larger than the males; the little fellow has no idea what's in store!
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In addition to America, our Facebook followers are found in the following countries:
United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Pakistan, Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Mexico, Ukraine, Russia, New Zealand,
Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and France!
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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 automatic monthly pledges...thank you!
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REF Staff: Anne Price, President & Curator; Peter Reshetniak, Founder & Director of Special Projects; Savannah Grout, Mews Manager
Docents & Volunteers: Jean Anhalt, Kristy Bortz, Kevin Corwin, Karen Gonzalez, Kim Kistler, Linda Julia, Jennifer McAllister, Denis Murray, Karen Ogle, Peggy Plaus, Anne Price, Jennifer Redmond, Peter Reshetniak, Beverly Rice, Mitch Skinner and Ann Stanz
Docents in Training: Clarissa Cigrand, Robert Mitchell, Zachary Nastri, and Mila Ringo
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