From our Naturalist, Rosetta:
When the pandemic hit and our stay-at-home orders were issued last year, our lives changed drastically. How could we keep ourselves busy, and what could we do to keep our minds and bodies fit? At Flat Rock Brook, we had to figure these things out for ourselves as well as for the animals under our care, none more so than our resident raptors. Used to attention from our visitors, the birds were suddenly alone. In the first weeks, they saw only one staff member.
We had to cancel our birds of prey programs, but we could not let the birds sit idly for months. They have been trained to be avian ambassadors to help us teach the public about their species and the importance of wildlife conservation. We were happy when visitors could return to our trails and visit the birds in the aviary. We worked with the birds as much as possible, giving impromptu programs with the birds on our gloves to anyone who would listen.
Fortunately, once restrictions on gatherings were loosened, we were able to reschedule some live programs, albeit outdoors, socially distanced, and limited in the numbers of attendees. Some programs were presented over Zoom, although some of the birds were definitely not “into” it: they do not understand the concept of looking into the camera on the computer screen. During the months of October and November, all four of our program birds made a weekly trip to a member park of the Jersey City Parks Coalition. Although attendance was limited to numbers even lower than dictated by COVID restrictions, the birds were able to teach hundreds of children and their parents all about birds of prey in New Jersey. It did our birds a lot of good, too. They remained calm and performed their “job”, even surrounded by so many people with cameras.
Hopefully 2021 will bring more opportunities for our birds to participate in full public programs as well as informal information sessions near the aviary. We’re looking forward to it, and hope you are, too!
