By Tina Brajic
The Haldimand Press
CAYUGA—After flying the coop during the pandemic, the Ruthven Park For the Birds Festival has returned! Staff warmly greeted guests as they entered the grounds on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
The festival, which started in 2010 to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day, had the staff excited to welcome everyone back in person. The birds happily chirped away throughout the day at the beautiful grounds. Michael Berry, the Ecological Stewardship Coordinator at Ruthven, invited all guests to participate in “beginner birdwatching, hikes, guest speakers, drop-in educational activities, vendor alley, and bird banding demonstrations.”
One of the migratory birds that guests were privileged to see up close, as it was being banded, was a Cape May warbler. Staff weighed, measured, and banded this amazing little 8-gram charmer. It flies as far south as Central America and the West Indies during the winter and returns north to Canada to breed during the spring.
The Birds of Prey show, presented by Wild Ontario through the University of Guelph, was also a big hit with the young and young-at-heart alike. Guests were excited to meet such raptors as a red-tailed hawk and a great horned owl. Sally, from Wild Ontario, wowed the crowd by explaining and demonstrating how raptors are a special type of bird of prey as they hunt with their talons instead of their beaks.
Along with participating in the activities at Ruthven that day, community members can also continue supporting and sharing their love of birds and nature by becoming a certified citizen scientist. Berry says the process is simple: “Citizens have to make a personal commitment to upload their sightings in nature to databases and apps that help track various plants and animals. These apps include iNaturalist, eBird, or eButterlfy to name a few.”
This event was definitely for the birds, but the people loved it too!
For more information on upcoming events at Ruthven Park visit ruthvenpark.ca.
