It’s tough to spend money during a pandemic, especially if you’re a non-profit. But if you’re a non-profit that is dedicated to the safety and support of conservation and rehabilitation of wild animals, there are certain construction projects that just can’t wait.
Hawk Creek Wildlife Center, located in West Falls, NY, is just completing construction of its new flight enclosure, thanks to very generous donations of wood by City Fence, and fencing from Precision Fence.
I reached out Tanya C. Lowe, curator & education director at Hawk Creek Wildlife Center, to find out some additional details about the enclosure:
How is everything looking, progress-wise?
I believe the guys just finished the roof today!
What’s the mood at the Center?
We are very excited that we were able to move forward with this project – it is critical to our rehabilitation of orphaned and injured wild raptors to get them properly conditioned before they are released for their second chance at a wild life.
What’s next?
We plan to add an 18′-20′ insulated trailer to be converted into a hospital and build enclosures off the back of the flight pen (as funding allows) which will give us the ability to rotate raptors in the large flight pen in a no stress manner. This entire complex will be the “hub” so to speak of our rehabilitation efforts.
Tell us more about the enclosure.
You’ll notice in the photo that the side facing the interior of the Center is solid so that our patients will not be disturbed by human activity. The other side consists of slats so that the recovering birds can look out at the woods and field on the other side.
And the interior?
Once we are finished staining and putting pea gravel in the pen, we will erect a variety of perches that we can switch out depending on if our patient is a bald eagle or screech owl (see eagles, falcons and vultures, hawks, small owls, and large owls).
And this was all made possible thanks to a kind donation?
We would not have been able to move forward on this project without the generosity of City Fence who donated all of the wooden fencing that was utilized for the slats and solid wall. We also are extremely grateful to Precision Fence for helping us with the chainlink for this project. Both of these companies have been incredibly generous over the years and we are grateful for their continued support during these difficult times.
Hawk Creek Wildlife Center | 1963 Mill Road | West Falls, NY 14170
To learn more about the ongoing efforts at Hawk Creek, click here.
Click here to meet some of the animals. Click here to learn about conservation efforts. Click here to get involved.
Lead image: Courtesy Hawk Creek