By Nikki Buxton | Managing Director
Thanks to generous donors like you, we are continuing to help the birds of Belize.
Your donations over the last quarter have continued to keep us afloat. Although we haven’t been too active in fundraising – giving you a well-deserved break after the amazing GivingTuesday campaign last year - we did have that marvelous flurry of support for the 50% match ‘Little By Little’ in early April. We received an additional $1100 in total!! That’s a tremendous boost to our operations. Thank you so much.
So what have we been up to since we last spoke? Well, we are coming to the end of the ‘quiet season’. We have had the usual slow start to the year with only 42 patients, but breeding season is upon us (May to September) so are bracing ourselves for the incoming wave of trouble.
Barn owl season earlier this year saw 8 baby owls. This small number is hopefully an indication of the continued education having an impact on people’s negative superstitions about these birds. We had a rare Great Horned Owl baby which was successfully released on Ambergris Caye, and also a rare (for Belize) Wunderman’s heron (a hybrid/morph of the great blue heron) He is recovering well and on his way to release soon. Waterbird season was generally quiet too with only 8 fish-eaters getting into difficulties and coming our way. Oh - and THE cutest pale-billed woodpecker ever!
The parrot license programme continues, and owners seem to be developing a better understanding of parrot care, diet and behaviour of their birds licensed under this ‘’grandfather law’ initiative. Generally speaking, the Belizean public are beginning to realise that these birds are better off in the wild in Belize, flying free for everyone to enjoy. Having said that, yesterday we took in 5 baby yellowheads as part of our at-risk chick hand-rearing programme. They have been removed from the nest under the guidance of rangers and researchers to safeguard them from being trampled in over-crowded nests, and from nests outside of the protection range that are habitually poached. They will be raised and eventually re-released into the protected areas.
The best news at BBR – we released 40 white-front parrots and 14 red lords here at the Sanctuary. Two red lored pairs and three white-front pairs are now occupying our nest boxes. We are very excited at the prospect of being grandparents. Keep your eye on our Facebook page for updates of our novice parent’s efforts.
Thank you all once again for your support and please feel free to drop us a line and ask any questions about how we are spending your money. If you would like, please review our Facebook page, write a comment on our website, or recommend us to a friend who may also like to donate to the organisation.
Very best regards to you and have a wonderful weekend!
Nikki & the BBR Team
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