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Alberta Birds of Prey Center
We took some extra days off around Canada Day, and because my husband works for an American company now, he also had July 4th off. The weekend weather forecast wasn't looking too great--chances of rain or high temperatures--but we played it by ear and managed to get a lot of fun stuff done.
We road tripped down to the Alberta Birds of Prey Center in Coaldale, about 2 hours south of Calgary. My last visit was in 2007 and so much has changed in 15 years. For example, now there's a duck pond, full of domestic and wild ducks and, of course, Canada geese. Baggies of duck chow are $2 and unfortunately, the ducks weren't too hungry as there were also a lot of little kids there, all with their own baggies. I filled the bird feeder with the leftovers, and the house sparrows, who usually eat anything, weren't too impressed. There was also a wetland, which was new to me.
Other improvements include a classroom building with windows to a large eagle aviary, new shelters for the hawks, eagles, and owls so visitors could see them up close, and an improved flying area. The flying area used to just have logs for seating. Now they have comfortable benches. We watched a bald eagle named Jefferson fly back and forth while the handler talked about bald eagle facts. I took my zoom lens and it was worth lugging it around because I got some really nice photos of Jefferson.
I had my picture taken with a burrowing owl named Sage and I looked like such a dork! You'd think I never saw a bird before 😄 Fortunately Sage was up to the task of looking majestic:
Lots of birds are on display although sadly, most of them are injured and can't be released. The centre also does rescue and rehab, so there's always hope when a bird is injured.
It's been ages since we went for a good long country drive, and although we lunch at McDonald's, it was still a nice trip. Hubs and I enjoy long car trips. We talk about lots of things and there's no interruptions. Overall, it was a satisfying day, despite arriving home at 9pm--we paid my MIL a visit on the way home. It was still the kind of day that heralds the beginning of summer :-)
We road tripped down to the Alberta Birds of Prey Center in Coaldale, about 2 hours south of Calgary. My last visit was in 2007 and so much has changed in 15 years. For example, now there's a duck pond, full of domestic and wild ducks and, of course, Canada geese. Baggies of duck chow are $2 and unfortunately, the ducks weren't too hungry as there were also a lot of little kids there, all with their own baggies. I filled the bird feeder with the leftovers, and the house sparrows, who usually eat anything, weren't too impressed. There was also a wetland, which was new to me.
Other improvements include a classroom building with windows to a large eagle aviary, new shelters for the hawks, eagles, and owls so visitors could see them up close, and an improved flying area. The flying area used to just have logs for seating. Now they have comfortable benches. We watched a bald eagle named Jefferson fly back and forth while the handler talked about bald eagle facts. I took my zoom lens and it was worth lugging it around because I got some really nice photos of Jefferson.
I had my picture taken with a burrowing owl named Sage and I looked like such a dork! You'd think I never saw a bird before 😄 Fortunately Sage was up to the task of looking majestic:
Lots of birds are on display although sadly, most of them are injured and can't be released. The centre also does rescue and rehab, so there's always hope when a bird is injured.
It's been ages since we went for a good long country drive, and although we lunch at McDonald's, it was still a nice trip. Hubs and I enjoy long car trips. We talk about lots of things and there's no interruptions. Overall, it was a satisfying day, despite arriving home at 9pm--we paid my MIL a visit on the way home. It was still the kind of day that heralds the beginning of summer :-)
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