Dear Friends and Supporters,
Like many others, I vacillate between joy and despair in this calendar year. Joy because the BHRC is progressing with building its new facility, and actively fundraising for its third phase, known as the Hub. We have refused to allow a virus to beat us down, finding ways to give programs remotely; raise funds for the birds; and continue to fulfill our mission: education, rehabilitation, and conservation of birds of prey.
We have experienced the joy of two volunteers getting married, and wanting the raptors to be part of their ceremony.
We have published our first annual report, in celebration of 10 years of doing this work we are passionate about. Click HERE if you'd like to see it.
The despair from this year comes from losing our beloved Ina' the short-eared owl, in a mysterious set of circumstances. She was last seen in her mew on the evening of Sept 7 at 7pm. She was gone the morning of Sept 8 at 7:30am. The only hole she might have escaped through is very small, and there were no feathers caught at that spot in her mew wall. We have tracked every lead, but never found her.
We have experienced both bald and golden eagles get transported to Pierre to rehabilitation, only to learn they had to be euthanized because their injury was too severe.
Together, this amazing crew of supporters and volunteers has rallied around John and me, and each other. We have built things, raised funds, provided care to more than 100 injured birds, transported the injured across the state to our fellow rehabbers in Pierre and Watertown; persisted with door to door knocking in the neighborhood when we lost Ina', and spent hours following up on leads. We have moved earth on the property, made purchases to benefit the birds, butchered bird food, and checked on each other in our nights of despair over losing our beloved Ina.
We are blessed because all of you surround the birds, the education, the rehabilitation of the sick and wounded, and us as people. Thank you.
Read on to find out how to meet the newest avian ambassador, Aldo!
Maggie Engler and John Halverson
Co-Founders
