Quilla is a famous porcupine! She made the front cover of The Tico Times! They came to visit and spend an afternoon with us and wrote a wonderful article about the work that we are doing with the Rescue Program and the Bed and Breakfast it was so much fun to see the article and receive the huge surprise that Quilla was on the cover! We have had many calls and e-mails as a result of the article, so we are very pleased.
Indoor Rainforest at the California Academy of Sciences.
A few days after the article came out we were scheduled to be in San Francisco for my father's 80th Birthday party! We had a very nice family reunion and although the weather was cold and raining, made the rounds to all the famous restaurants and had a great time. We even were able to tour the California Academy of Sciences, where my mother is a docent and see their indoor rainforest and large aquariums.
One of the highlights of the SF trip was to schedule an extra day to finally meet Jenny Papka and her friend who run Native Bird Connections nativebirds.org in Walnut Creek. Jenny has been helping me with the owls for several years now and we finally met! It was great to see the birds in their care, the set up, how they are organized, the enclosures and tour the property! She does an incredible job with all the animals, and conducts great educational programs...she even has a few snakes she uses in the programs. Very brave!
We are so appreciative of her help with our owls...there are days I am e-mailing her morning and afternoon reports when a new owl comes into our program. Below are some of the lovely creatures she is caring for. We cannot decide on any favorite, they are all beautiful!
On our way home we stoped by The Dallas World Aquarium and Zoo. They also have been great help and I am frequently calling or e-mailing their veterinarian. They have helped me with baby toucans, diets and even my dogs! Their toucan collection is probably the largest in the world. They are constantly expanding and have an incredible collection of birds, fish and animals! Below are some
highlights of the very quick layover in Dallas.
Baby penguin born at the aquarium, baby monkey and a jaguar enjoying an ice block of frozen fish!
Back home now...I really missed everyone! It's a sunny day, all the birds are outside and the aracaris are bathing. I took a few minutes to walk down to our creek to see if I could find the little pygmy owl I had seen before I left, and sure enough he was there, with a mate!! I found two holes in logs where they might be nesting....so, I will have to keep a close watch on them...of course I am hoping that one of these owls is the little one I released a few months ago.
Aracaris bathing!
