Open House

Last Open House This Year: September 29, 2018

Location: 17101 E. 136th Avenue, Brighton, CO 80601. Take Exit 20 off I-76 and go west. Phone: 303-680-8500

OPEN HOUSE: Come see our birds…Live eagles, hawks, falcons, owls and more!

Gates open at 10:30 AM and close at 1:30 PM. We’ll be giving one informal presentation at approximately 11:45 AM on the patio. Bring your camera! Sensible walking shoes recommended for gravel surface. Suitable for all ages, but strollers aren’t advised. This is a non-smoking facility, and please, no pets.

This is a free event to thank you for your support and to share our great birds.

Cash donations are welcome! Or, if you can provide any of the following items in lieu of cash, they will be most welcome:

paper towels (we go through lots of these)
blue “shop” (paper) towels
tubes of Preparation-H ointment
bleach
nitrile exam gloves in small and medium sizes
surface wipes (Costco’s brand is great!)
30 gallon + size trash bags
White distilled vinegar (great for cleaning and keeping mice away!)
1-gallon size ziplock bags

Invite your friends! There will be giveaways and light refreshments.

RSVP: Please kindly let us know if you will be coming. An RSVP is required to attend.

In case of a weather cancellation, please let us have your contact information.

Click on submit button only once. Thank you!

Raptor Education Foundation

3 days ago

We didn't want to risk transporting this beauty from the rehabilitation facility in Indiana to our facility in Brighton, via two flights, so two of REF's directors undertook a marathon drive to meet the rehabilitator in Davenport, Iowa and pick up our new snowy owl. Thanks to our Seattle member, Susan Anstine, who made arrangements with her friends, Ginny Dignoti and Tom Cooper to host us for an overnight stay in Omaha, Nebraska. After an eight-hour drive from Denver, Tom and Ginny provided our crew five-star accomodations and dining both coming and going to pick up the big white owl. We are forever grateful for their hospitality and splendid cuisine!

When we arrived back to Brighton Friday evening, we removed the aluminum band the snowy was wearing when he was originally trapped at an airport in Ontario, Canada, back in December 2013. And yes, the band and disposition of the bird was reported to the Bird Banding Laboratory! We trimmed his talons and beak, and placed anklets and jesses on him so he can begin his training as one of our educational ambassadors. In this video, Anne Price, REF's Curator is shown working on the owl and gearing him up, and eventually standing on her gloved hand, taking in his new surroundings. We're going to take it slowly now, and let him go at his own pace. Stay tuned for more updates!

For more on our most recent acquisition, please visit:https://www.usaref.org/snowy-owl-project/ ...

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Raptor Education Foundation

7 days ago

A beautiful short film by REI and HawkWatch International on the annual migration of raptors through the West...this is the BEST time of year!

youtu.be/bruY0cRbbIg?t=9Each fall our skies fill with the wings of migrating raptors. This ancient migration spans two hemispheres, binding our backyards to the forests of the far n... ...

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Raptor Education Foundation

7 days ago

I know we've been a bit silent recently, but Peter and Anne just returned from the 2018 Eagle Meet in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where we reconnected with old friends, and experienced some wonderful times in the "Sagebrush Sea" with hunting golden eagles. This week-long event also featured guest speakers on topics such as using falconry techniques to rehabilitate golden eagles, as well as an excellent presentation by Chris Parish of the Peregrine Fund on the newly-formed North American Non-Lead Partnership: www.peregrinefund.org/non-lead-ammo

Stay tuned for photos and videos of the magical landscape and apex predator action of the golden eagles we were privileged to be in the field with! ...

Non-lead Ammunition Alternatives | The Peregrine Fund

peregrinefund.org

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Raptor Education Foundation

4 weeks ago

The past few weeks Peter has been watching the Commerce City nest, where the E-470 bald eagle pair relocated after a series of nest disasters. Last year they came back to an interim nest which had collapsed and they rebuilt on this current site. Today, September 24, after visiting yesterday and finding nothing, Peter found the pair facing into the wind and taking claim of the nest that they had build in about one month last year. This intrepid pair has returned from parts unknown and we're sure many of us wish them luck for the 2019 season. Three cheers for our eagles, and stay tuned! ...

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Raptor Education Foundation

1 month ago

Winter is coming! We are extremely excited to announce that after years of searching, and nine months of work and waiting, we now have approval from both our USFWS office here in Denver and the Region 3 office in Minnesota to acquire this non-releasable male snowy owl.

He was found down in a farm field on January 11, 2018 with a right wrist fracture. He was originally banded December 30, 2014 at Tilbury Airport in Ontario, Canada, and his weight at banding was 41 oz; he has since been definitively DNA-sexed as male. Based on his sub-adult plumage at banding, we are estimating him to be five to six years old. Snowy owl plumage can be VERY tricky when identifying age and gender.

We're going to re-model our large owl enclosure so the snowy owl can have his own area. This is where we need your help...please see below. He will be staying with Anne at her facility (as all our new birds do) to assess his flight ability, learn to sit on a perch and stand on a glove. Until we determine how much training he'll need, we don't know exactly when his first public appearance will be. However, we'll be holding a special debut for REF members, just in time for some nice cold weather!

Two of REF's directors are going to drive out to Davenport, Iowa to pick him up, in a marathon road trip from roughly October 16-19. We are unwilling to risk the airlines (it would be two flights, with a stopover at Charlotte, NC…not the place to be right now!) for this incredibly-rare opportunity. A Seattle member has helped arrange a free stay in Omaha for the first part of this mad dash east. Thank you Susan!

By the way, if you're not aware of this awesome project and their research, check them out: www.projectsnowstorm.org. We're going to be consulting with them on some of the finer points of husbandry for our new star.

Because acquiring a raptor is a slow and laborious process, it's often difficult to project when we will need to budget for housing, transportation, etc. Every case is very different and brings with it unique challenges, as it was for our young female bald eagle. We hope you will support us as we work to bring our new ambassador, the largest and most powerful in North America, to his new home in Brighton, Colorado.

Thank you to each and every one of you for your ongoing help as we move into fall, and hopefully cooler temps for our new family member. We are hugely appreciative of your support!

Thank you for your generosity. Just click on the link below for the rest of the story.

New Owl Habitat: www.usaref.org/snowy-owl-project ...

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Raptor Education Foundation is a Certified Mile High United Way Affiliated Agency

Mile High United Way: (REF) Designation Code: 0294

Admin Staff: Anne Price — Corp. Secretary, Peter Reshetniak — President
Raptor Staff: Anne Price — Curator
Research & Project Associates: David Goode, Architect:Eagles Landing
Mews Manager: Savannah Grout
Docent & Volunteer Staff: Elise Bales, Morgan Brantmeyer, Chris Canipe, Kevin Corwin, Bernhard Hafner, Kim Kistler, Linda Julia, Jennifer McAllister, Melissa Nesavich, Anne Price, Jennifer Redmond, Peter Reshetniak, Beverly Rice, Mitch Skinner, Skye Taylor
Eagle Brigade, 2018
Docents In Training
IT Support: Trey Spangenberg
Legal Eagles: Fairfield & Woods
ISP: ECENTRAL

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REF holds any and all information it gathers regarding its members, clients, supporters, partners, and funders in the strictest confidence. We do not sell or give away names to any entity whatsoever, except as required by law.

Raptor Education Foundation © 2015