A Day with the Wild Ones

 North Island Wildlife Recovery Association (NIWRA) is a ten minute drive away from me and one of my favourite places to spend an afternoon in nature when I have no hiking buddy available.  NIWRA is both a rehabilitation and release centre, and a permanent sanctuary for those that cannot be released. 

One of the permanent residents there is Sandor.  He is a bald eagle who obtained a serious wing injury when hit by a vehicle and cannot fly.  He has been glove-trained and is part of NIWRA's Education Program.  

As I'm still struggling with camera and photo-editing problems, I just took along a little old backup camera I bought from a pawn shop a while back - a Canon PowerShot SX210 IS.  It did the job admirably, its light weight and small lens enabling me to catch a sharp image standing two feet from the enclosure and carefully lining up the focal point to avoid the wires of the pens for those critters without an unobstructed view - that is, when the animals cooperated by standing still at just the right spot. Sandor, the eagle mentioned above, did just that.  The Wild Turkeys did not. 

The wild turkeys were very friendly and talkative, and whenever I squatted down to get a photo, they came running up to the fence, gobble gobble, gobble, to say hello.  Hence the wire in the photo. 

I did get one, however - not as crisp a shot, but I love the fine little 'hairs' sticking out of his head and the layers of dark feathers on his chest.  

Next to the wild turkey pen were some Silkies. While they are a domesticated chicken as far as I know, I do recall that NIWRA decided to take them in for a very specific role - I think to provide eggs to help meet the dietary needs of some of the wild residents?  Regardless, I love to visit them and I call them 'bedroom slipper chickens' because of their ridiculously fluffy feathered five-toed feet.  Like the turkeys, they were overly friendly and active, so the only shot I got was this floofy girl shaking her pompadour and hiding her feet. But I like the shot anyway. 

The owls always fascinate me.  My favourite is Elsa, a snowy owl who I swear has the sweetest smile, but she declined to be photographed today.  Farley is a close runner up, a Great Gray Owl who looks directly at me and doesn't mind the camera. Farley was hit by a car and has irreparable wing damage so cannot fly. His enclosure has a nice open, unwired spot that facilitates a clear view.

The enclosures for the permanent residents are generously sized and designed with as much natural habitat as possible.  While I didn't photograph Raye and Knut, the bears, today I did watch them lumber around their huge grounds with its dens and brambles and logs and water sources.  They were having lots of fun playing together but two barriers of small-spaced wires made getting a shot difficult. 

The ravens have more toys and enrichment activities than most five year olds.  Trickster was playing vigorously with a long dangling rope to which a bell was attached, and either Ralph or Lonan was persistently tapping away on what looked like one of those dog puzzles that lets out a reward for opening the right flap.  He lifted a flap with his claw, then stuck his beak in a small square on the other side.  When that proved unsuccessful, he lifted the handle in his beak and hopped-flew around the enclosure carrying it to another corner like a kid with a basket of Easter eggs.  It was hard to capture a clear photo of him, but he provided me with a good 20 minutes of entertainment and, like most ravens, plenty of conversation too. 

I also love that NIWRA includes information boards on each of the permanent residents which tells not only about their species but also why they are a permanent resident.   Too often it is because of human interference, where humans have taken a young one from the wilds as a pet and it can not fend for itself.  The raven above (or possibly his enclosure-mate)  was raised in captivity and never learned to find food on its own. 

Information boards also give visitors advice on what to do when encountering animals in the wild, such as young animals that appear to have been abandoned by their parent or orphaned.

I walked through the short trails at the back, where plant and tree species are clearly identified, and checked out the enclosed garden and pond for signs of the frogs or lizards I've seen there on other occasions. I wandered on to see the ducks at the Quack Shack - they always give me great pleasure, especially the runner ducks with their upright, penguin-like waddle. 

I said hi to many of the other birds, like owls Eyegone and Oneeye (shouldn't be hard for you to guess why they live there),  or Elvis, the Swainson's Hawk who someone took from the wild and tried to raise as a pet until a neighbour reported it to the authorities after seeing him tied to a rail.  He had already imprinted on humans and never learned to hunt. Yuki and Baylis, the Great Horned Owls, blinked at me from a perch at the back of their enclosure.  Wobbles held sentry near the eagle flight building where eagles to be released  practice their flight and hunting skills,  visible to humans only through narrow slits on the second-story landing.  I spend a few minutes watching the three cubs visible only through closed circuit video, who will also be released when big enough to fend for themselves. The recovery, rehabilitation and release part of the centre's mandate is dear to my heart - it's wonderful to visit with the permanent residents, but such a thrill to know help is there for those who will be able to survive on their own. 

I said hello to Boris, Vladimar, Igor and Anastasia, the turkey vultures who were shot in their wings and cannot fly.  They decided to play shy, but it's hard to hide with that colourful head.

And my favourite place to photograph - the turtle pond.  It frequently attracts wild ducks and geese, like the Canada Geese floating on it yesterday.  

The native Western Painted Turtles didn't make an appearance (they may still be wintering way down in the mud) but several Red Sliders (bought by people as pets and then dumped) were enjoying some sun bathing (cloud bathing? It was overcast) on the logs near the water's edge.

My annual membership fee has already paid for itself   - not just financially (this being my third visit this year) but in the enjoyment and entertainment it provides on an otherwise lazy afternoon. 

A combination of rescue/rehabilitation of wild animals, life-time sanctuary for those that cannot be rehabilitated, and education centre - all in a setting of trails, gardens, interesting rock and root features, and ponds - it appeals to all my senses and on a weekday afternoon during covid is a quiet and safe place to be.