Back to the Wild!

Sorry it has been a while since my last blog.  It has been a busy month and has gone by so fast!  Today is the first day of Summer and the longest day of the year!  After the winter we had here in Ohio, a long, hot Summer is welcome!

My husband fell off a ladder the end of May and had 2 fractures...so I have had added chores to do (his & mine!).  He is doing great and will have to wear the "boot" for 3 more weeks.  He is getting around now and I took him to the grocery store today!  LOL...

I wanted to tell you about a wonderful place we found when we went up to Lake Erie in May.  It is called "Back to the Wild".  It is in Castalia, Ohio and is a rehabilitation and nature educational center.  They had received a pair of Snowy Owls that were injured and we wanted to see them.

This is the outside when you first drive in.
You need to call first to make an appointment because they have school groups and the tours are run by volunteers.

 Inside there are live birds and stuffed animals.

Notice the foot prints on the floor...this is to keep one from getting to close to the injured creatures, so they won't be stressed and won't get to use to humans.

The grounds are nice, May Apples and Trillium was blooming.

This area has a variety of birds and ducks.

There is a Blue Heron that they have had for several years and our guide told us that every spring she makes her nest and then gathers rocks and puts them in the nest and then sits on them and she will even turn them like they were eggs.  Then after a while, she is done....LOL... The picture below is her sitting on the rocks......

The Great Egret and the Laughing Gull below.



Notice the Wood duck on the left by the rock...
He and his partner and their babies were there too.

Here are some pictures of some of the birds they have living there....

Barred Owl

Black Squirrel

They have a pair of Bobcats, a male and female, that can't be released into the wild because people took them when young and had them declawed and then didn't want them anymore.  So mean....but they are so beautiful...notice the white spots on back of ears.

 The female is on the right and the male is laying down on left.

These Cedar Waxwings and other small birds were in a cage outside.











This Chinese Pheasant was a very noisy bird.  A very loud screech! But his colors are so bright and beautiful.

Great Horned Owls

American Kestrels

Peregrine Falcons

Red-tailed Hawks

Owl

Turkey Vulture











They also had bird eggs and other neat items for close up view.......

This is an Eagle egg.....

They had 5 Eagles.....

This is a Juvenile Eagle about 4 years old.......

Then there was the male and female in a cage......

The male was very proud and seemed to enjoy getting his picture taken....

 The female was over in the corner on the ground...the guide said that she didn't like all the children they had just had come through and was showing her dislike by standing in the corner....she did turn once for me to get this snap shot!

and there was an Eagle by the Chinese pheasant and then this female which had a story (they all have stories) but her's was the saddest....

She had visited the facility once after being injured and she healed and was returned to the wild.  Then a few years later she was found sick and returned to the facility and they found out she had Lyme's disease which left her blind.  She couldn't be released this way.  She has a nice cage out from the rest of the facility.  The guide told us that she has been having a visitor this year....a juvenile Eagle has been coming and visiting her.  He comes everyday and they visit...the Peregrine Falcons get really upset when he comes to visit...but she has a suitor....so sweet.

This Virginia Rail was very interested in us too. 

She showed us how far her neck would stretch...in the wild they do this and imitate the tall grasses and will sway like the grasses in the wind to hide.... 

Then I got this picture which I thought funny....her eyes on each side of her beak...

We also saw turtles too....people get them as pets and get tired of them...

This one was not feed the right things and his shell got lumpy...it is suppose to be smooth....People don't realize that they cute little turtle will grow up to be a big turtle.  They had a couple of different kinds and Box turtles too. 

And this lovely carved turtle.....they had several carved pieces around the area.

Finally the reason we stopped....the Snowy Owl....to be so close to one was amazing....they are so beautiful....They had two, a male and female.  Both had been injured and couldn't be returned to the wild.

This is the male.  He was sitting on a tree stump and looked at us as we were watching him.

His claws were amazing.  He had feathers right up to his claws.

 The female was in a corner on the ground......

 She was shy or so I thought but since our visit.....we found out that she has passed away.  The people at the facility said that she just didn't completely heal from her injuries.  So sad but I am so glad to have gotten to see her and get these pictures... The male is reportedly improving and doing good and they hope he continues to do better.  

And they have opened a very nice gift shop.  They had some really neat items and great prices too!    I did learn that they are totally depended on contributions.  I learned that Amazon has a program...called Amazon Smile....you make your purchases through this site....   Smile.amazon.com    

and you can select what charity you want and a small portion of your purchase will go to that charity.  I chose "Back to the Wild".  I think it is a great way to shop and contribute at the same time....every penny counts.

If you are up at Lake Erie anytime this summer...I recommend stopping at Back to the Wild for a visit.  If you have children...they will love it.....

I hope to tell you about our other adventures at Lake Erie in the next few weeks...so please stay tuned!!!!  LOL    Happy Summer!