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After dropping the berries at home Brian dropped Maddie and I off at the Mabee Farm in Rotterdam Junction for a 4H program on making owl boxes. This turned out to be quite funny in the morning. While the person running the program was a nice man organization was not one of his strengths. So there was not enough directions for everyone or tools or pencils and we had to keep collecting the pieces until we had them all in a pile. We all tried to approach it with a sense of humor and sharing of tools but there was no way we were going to finish in the allotted time. Once at home we found the owl box directions and will work on it here. Maddie wants to paint the outside so its probably better to work on it at home in the long run.
I thought these 3 pictures showed best how we felt....
So...what exactly are we doing now?
You're not sure either, huh?
Maybe someone over here can help....
However the designer made the hole this small so the owl can fit in but racoons and other critters who would like to get their lips around some owl eggs or owl babies cannot fit in. Maddie and I looked at it doubtfully and later on Maddie asked a vital question of the owl expert...what about squirrels. The answer was a grin and a laugh so apparently squirrels can make their home here. The scotia squirrels probably will and wonder where the phone is so they can order pizza!!
Maddie's favorite part of the process so far was hole drilling. According to 4H rules she cannot use power tools yet but she was happy to watch and learn. I'm thinking this fascination does not bode well for my sanity in the near future but perhaps she will talk Daddy or one of the Poppas into helping her with drills. and saws. and anything else of that nature!!
waiting her turn!
observe and learn
After we got all the holes drilled...or we thought we had them drilled we tried to attach the hinges. The top is hinged so you can peek in and the side is hinged so you can clean it out when the owls are done(or the squirrels). Our first attempt did not go well, the screws simply wouldn't go in easily or at all. Then we learned that almost everyone else had bigger holes drilled by another 4H grandmother who was there so we trooped over to her and got help.
About this time Wes Laraway from the NY Wildlife Rescue arrived with his owls. He helped Maddie with the screws after the holes were bigger. They had a talk about 4H versus Girl Scouts (he chuckled at her opinon but was diplomatic and didn't comment) and animals. Apparently he was getting a lot of calls about fawns today before he arrived.
Then as we packed up Maddie's friend Grace arrived. Grace's dad works for the Schenectady historical society and the Mabee Farm. Grace came to hear Wes talk about the owls, that portion of the program was open to the public.
This is Wes' falcon box with that holds all his equipment for the birds.
This barn owl was rescued. The parents kept putting her outside the nest.
They were so pretty. The pictures really don't do them justice. They were brown, yellow and cream colored.
Another owl coming out of the box!
This is another rescued owl. He was probably stepped on in the nest and lost his right eye.
Beautiful birds!
Every now and then they would think about maybe taking flight.
I'm not too sure why she had her wing out like that.
Wes, his assitant Mike and the kids.
Maddie asked what to do if you saw an injured bird in the road. Wes explanined the equipment he carries in his truck in case he sees an injured bird. I was inwardly groaning and I looked over at Brian who had arrived at that point and saw the same look on his face. We were both thinking exactly how we were going to explain to Maddie that we were not buying special gloves, twine and a burlap bag to keep in the car and that we were not going to be rescuing falcons or owls or eagles. Fortunately it hasn't come up yet!! We had a ton of fun and were tired girls when Bri brought us home. Tomorrow its on to jam making!!!!
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