Image by Ellen Kadish

Ravensbeard Wildlife Center on Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley

Episode 134: Ravensbeard Wildlife Center

Ravensbeard Wildlife Center is located in Saugerties, New York. The center is a non-profit (501(c)3) organization that provides wildlife rehabilitation for injured, ill and orphaned animals in order to return them to the wild. For over two decades, Ravensbeard has been supporting the wildlife from the surrounding communities of Woodstock, Saugerties and Kingston. In caring for animals, they promote community awareness, education, appreciation, compassion and acceptance of the circle of life. They also offer volunteer opportunities to work with many different species in order to experience their true nature.

Ellen J. Kalish is the Founder and Executive Director of Ravensbeard Wildlife Center, a wildlife rehabilitation and educational center that focuses on rescue and release for wild birds and other wildlife. In 2017, Ellen was given the William R. Ginsberg Stewardship Award from the Woodstock Land Conservancy, for her service of rehabilitating and releasing wild birds back into nature, and for her educational programs with wild, non-releasable birds of prey. She’s also served as a board member for the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (NYSWRC). Through NYSWRC licensed wildlife rehabbers work to inform, educate, support in field work and promote conservation.

At Ravensbeard, Ellen currently cares for some unreleasable birds that she utilizes to educate the community about the environment, the interconnectedness of all life, and the reliance on each other for long-term survival. The birds used for educational programs cannot be released due to injuries that would be fatal if left in the wild. So, they have become ambassadors in wildlife education.

In this episode of Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley , learn more about the wildlife rehabilitation center as well as Rocky the Owl, a Saw-whet owl, one of the smallest owls in the northeast, who was rescued from the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. Back at Ravensbeard Wildlife Center, Rocky was given fluids and all the mice she would eat, was checked by a vet, and ultimately was released back to nature.

Hosts: Jean Thomas and Teresa Golden

Guest: Ellen Kalish

Photo by: Ellen Kalish

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski, Robin Smith

Resources

Transcript

Welcome to Nature Calls, conversations from the Hudson Valley.

Our team's goal is to present science-based information about gardening and all things nature in New York's Hudson Valley.

Host Jean and Tim, along with team members Teresa, Linda and Annie, our master gardener volunteers for New York's Columbia and Greene counties.

So if you're interested in gardening or nature or nuggets of information about what's happening outside your door, settle in.

Enjoy the conversation.

Whatever the season, we have something to say.

Hello and welcome to Nature Calls, conversations from the Hudson Valley.

I'm Jean Thomas.

And I'm Teresa Golden.

We're joined today by Ellen Kalish, Director of the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center.

Ellen has served on the Board of the New York State Wildlife rehabilitation Council, and has received the William R.

Ginsberg Stewardship Award from the Woodstock Land Conservancy.

When I was doing my research, I found out that Ellen sometimes collaborates with another of our favorite guests, Justin Wexler of Wild Hudson Valley.

Ellen, why don't you give us the quick and dirty description of how your life path led you to Ravensbeard?

Let's start with the origin of the name.

Okay.

The name came to me in a dream.

I had gone to see a play in New York City, and there was an eye of Horace there, and I just felt this connection.

And at that point, I came home, and I said, I know what I want to do.

I want to work with birds.

So I guess I had experience all throughout my life because my dad was an exotic animal collector, not in a bad way.

Just every three years, we had something new.

And so I was the one out of three that really enjoyed the animals.

And well, I'll tell you what we had.

We had a skunk, decented skunk.

When I was born, there's a monkey in my bedroom.

And I tell people they used to dress us alike and...

Don't.

No, they didn't.

But when I was seven, we got another monkey, a wooly monkey.

And that was when you could just walk into a pet store in New York City and take whatever you wanted.

So, another year, I would walk the monkey down the road on a leash, and people just could not believe it.

One day, I was called back from grammar school because the monkey had gotten out.

And the person that made us lunch had no idea how to get him back in.

So I had to go home from school and catch the monkey.

I had that thrown at me for quite a while.

So, in growing up, my dad worked for Audubon.

We started recycling when I was in high school.

And just taking care of the animals.

Eventually, we had a 10-acre farm with a couple horses, goats, chickens, dogs, cats.

Normal stuff.

Finches, toucans, you know.

Okay, and the name?

The name just was a dream.

And I just thought, oh, that's a great name for a wildlife center.

It is.

So I did a little research and I found Ravenswood.

They're wine companies and other Ravens names, but nothing, nothing Ravensbeard.

That's great.

So the center calls itself a wildlife center.

Does that mean you accept other creatures besides birds?

We have recently, because there are a number of reptile owners that can't keep what they bought when it was little.

So as of now, we have two red-eared slider turtles, we have a bearded dragon, and we're going to be getting in a tortoise about a foot and a half long.

And so we have resources.

Some of the rehabbers I work with also go to different centers.

So one of them in particular takes the turtles down to Florida.

There's a sanctuary down there where they have every breed of turtle and tortoise, and they breed the ones that are endangered.

And at that point, they release them back into the wild.

So, you know, the animals we take in, we make sure we have a good home for them.

And if we don't, they're going to Florida.

They used to call it sending them to the farm when we are...

Yeah.

I was a kid.

Yeah, or taking them for a ride.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, now when you said you send them to Florida, I'm saying, jeez, they get vacations, and they get to come back and stuff, but permanently to Florida.

That makes more sense.

They adapt to the warmer climate, okay?

Oh, yeah.

That's where they're from, in general.

Because they're reptiles, they're cold-blooded, so it doesn't matter.

The change isn't a big deal for them.

No.

All right.

Let's review the timeline a little bit.

Now, the way I understand it, you were a one-woman non-profit with a few volunteers for a long time.

Then you were struck by lightning.

Tell us the story of Rockefeller the Owl.

Wow.

This is just an amazing story where something bad happened, and it turned out to be good.

The first phone call I got, someone said, do you take in owls?

I said, yes.

She said, well, my husband has this owl.

He's at work.

I can't get the owl till he comes home at six.

Could you take it then?

I said, absolutely.

I'm thinking in my mind, well, why don't I find out where he works, and I'll go pick it up there and save the whole day.

And she said, oh, no, that would be impossible.

He works at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, setting it up.

And I almost dropped the phone.

I thought, what?

What is an owl doing in the tree?

And then she told me it was a baby owl.

So I took that as a good learning experience to teach people that when I get calls in the middle of the winter, there are no baby owls born then.

They're all born in the spring.

So I know it's either an Eastern Screech or a Northern Saw-Wet Owl.

And at that point, they showed me a picture, and it was a Saw-Wet Owl.

So we met.

I took it home, just fed her.

Gave her water, did everything that she could possibly need.

Took her to two vets and two owl specialists.

One is a Ph.D.

at Vassar College, owl professor.

So we just wanted to make sure we were doing everything right to get this bird back out there, because after we realized there were no broken bones, that it was a good release candidate.

So from the first day Rocky came in to eight days later, were the most terrifying days of my life.

The whole world, it had gone around the world in the Associated Press.

And at that point, I was getting calls from Oneonta.

I was getting calls from 30 Rock.

They wanted to give me a donation.

And it was really amazing.

The outcry and the pouring of love and support that I got was phenomenal.

So after eight days, we had scoped out a beautiful mountain filled with fir trees, which is where owls like to be.

They can hide.

And so we went up to the Release Mountain and we released her and she took off.

So it was one of the best releases of my life in that she must have sat on my hand for almost five minutes, gazing in my eyes.

And I really didn't know what to do after a couple of minutes.

I'm like, go, go.

But it was just, it was, you know, our souls touched and I felt gratitude.

And then she flittered off into the woods and they disappear within seconds.

So it was a great story.

Well, I'm surprised that it was so fast, eight days.

So she was just, what, dehydrated?

Yeah, emaciated and dehydrated.

Okay.

And then, because we've, we have all watched the YouTube video, which is wonderful.

That will be on the show notes, by the way.

There'll be a link to the video.

And that is such a moment.

That's wonderful.

It really is.

So let's take this from the beginning.

Now you rehabilitate and educate full time.

But tell us about some of the programs you provide.

And are you open to visitors or?

We're not open to visitors because we rehab live birds.

So what we've done, and it's been a progression.

I started out as a wildlife rehabilitator.

And then there were some birds that could not be released.

And I decided, well, what does it take to adopt them?

And they said, well, I needed to get an educational permit.

And I'd already been a preschool teacher and, you know, kind of knew the ropes and had to submit a plan of what my talks would be.

And then I got my, my education permit.

So that enables you to be able to keep an owl or a hawk or anything that can't be released in captivity, as long as you do 12 programs a year.

And is that all the licensing you need?

Do you need additional?

Well, you need licenses from the state and from the US Fish and Wildlife.

So there are four licenses.

Well, that's easy.

Yeah.

Sure.

Well, if you taught elementary school, yeah, it is.

What about, what are some of the programs you do provide?

We're hired by schools, libraries, seniors, garden clubs, state fairs.

And we do a program with four to five birds.

And we talk about their natural history, where they live, what they eat, what makes them particular to their species.

And the most fun part is that I feel like a ventriloquist with an owl on my hand, because they're not looking at me.

They're looking at the owls.

So I guess it would be a verbal, informative talk all about birds.

On a show and tell.

Yeah.

The birds that we have in captivity that cannot be released.

Now I saw a write up recently somewhere where you did a talk with my friend Justin from Wild Hudson Valley.

And that was a really interesting angle.

You showed the birds and he talked about their indigenous relationships.

Yes.

So how was that?

I learned so much.

He knew all the names of the owls, their Latin names even.

And so he kind of told a little story about each species that I held up in front of the crowd.

And it was fascinating just to hear certain things about owls were, you know, with some tribes, bad luck.

And then with other tribes, they were just revered.

So it was just really interesting for me to hear the other side.

And working with him was so easy and so wonderful that we said we would do this again.

I'm assuming that probably each time you do a talk, you learn something.

Absolutely.

We're finding that every time we bring a guest in.

But it's great.

The more you teach, the more you learn.

Right.

So that's great.

Now, everybody's interested in statistics these days.

How many birds do you deal with in an average year?

And how many are released?

And is there a seasonal pattern?

Yes.

To all of it.

Yes.

We take in between 350 and 450 animals a year.

Anything that's fractured or bleeding or severe head trauma, we go to our veterinarians.

We don't try to even start because many times you're going to need antibiotics or you'll need bandage changing, stitches, bone set.

So our release rate is higher than the average, which is 50%.

Ours is over 60.

And it's not because we know what we're doing.

It's basically because we trust our vets and work very closely with our veterinarians.

So that's got to be a budget buster.

Yeah.

Okay.

So that's commit.

And we never charge the public or people that bring us birds anything for surgeries or medication.

So when they're successfully rehabilitated, how long does that usually take?

Depending on the injury, it can take 24 hours for head trauma on a songbird, up to six months.

When you're dealing with an eagle with a broken wing, you need a 100-foot flight cage.

And we just built our first 100-foot flight.

So now I don't have to hand off eagles to other rehabbers who have that facility.

You get to keep your eagles.

I get to keep my eagles and release them myself.

Oh, that's great.

Now, you rely on volunteers.

How do you get a volunteer?

Like, could I wander in and be a volunteer?

Yes.

Oh, you don't know what you're saying.

Most of the volunteers come to us through word of mouth, or they're students from the vet tech program, high school students.

We have a few homeschool students that come and help us with their parents.

And so, it's really just a revolving door.

We basically never know what's coming in that day.

You asked about, are there seasons?

And that answer is yes.

Every spring, we are inundated with calls, sometimes 30 to 40 calls a day.

And so, it's very busy, especially if we've had a very windy March or April.

We have crazy weather, thunderstorms, torrential rains.

All the babies fall out of their nests, and people can't put them back in.

So that's when we have to take them in.

So it's more weather-related as opposed to migratory pattern, really?

No.

It's spring.

I mean, when you just think of spring and green shoots, babies, babies, babies.

So everyone's having babies, and some of the babies that are not healthy are feeding the babies of the fox or, you know, whatever else is in the area.

I had a black snake climb up a little summer kitchen house to a ren box that I had up there, and he enjoyed his meal.

He ate the babies.

It was horrible.

So what does it sound like in the spring when you've got babies wall to wall?

Does it sound like the hagway where all the baby chicks are in a little...

Yes, it sounds like, yes, just like that.

Lots of noise.

Lots of noise, especially the starlings.

They're particularly loud.

Good to know.

What's the mix of birds you have?

In other words, are there specific types that are more prevalent or is it all over the place?

Yes, they're the common songbirds, the migrating falcons, hawks and owls.

We do everything from hummingbirds to bald eagles, so everything in between.

We do waterfowl and wading birds and seabirds.

So the waterfowl you would see because they're caught up in fishing line and things?

Yes.

And the raptors because they go hunting across in front of a car?

Yes.

Those primary sources?

Exactly.

Yeah.

Many of the hawks and owls get hit by cars.

So yet again, it's all people's fault.

You know, I have to say, most of the injuries are created by us.

Yeah.

Because the inter reactions are inevitable.

Yeah.

So you saved lots of birds, but they aren't all ready to fly away and live happily ever after.

So what happens to the survivors who are unable to be released?

We try to find an educational facility that takes in unreleasable birds for education if we can't adopt it ourselves.

So I've gotten owls to, there was a great horned owl that went up to Vins, the Vermont Institute of Nature and Study Science.

The Bear Mountain Zoo has a little short-eared owl that we gave them.

You know, many of the local places can take them.

Otherwise, they have to be eosinodes.

I'll tell you, I was wondering, and there's got to be some birds that nobody wants.

Yeah.

I mean, just because.

Yeah.

Well, we've sure learned a lot today.

Thank you so much for spending time with us.

But we have one final question for you.

We traditionally ask or guess what gives them hope for the future.

As someone who has dedicated your life to making a better world, what gives you hope?

The releases last night, we just released three barred owls, and it was a female who came in with a broken wing and two babies that were orphans.

So, we give the babies to the adults when they're self-feeding.

And at that point, the adults teach them everything they need to know.

So, it's just such a thrill to watch this process and how we can learn so much from animals that we ourselves don't seem to be able to do.

So, it's just a beautiful process.

And then, the release, I cry every time.

Because it's just like your children going off to kindergarten or college.

First day of school.

You know you did your best.

And now, it's up to them.

So, it's a huge charge, I guess I should say.

Oh, that's great.

Do you ban them to know if they ever come back to visit?

I've never done that.

I'm thinking maybe at some point I might.

We did not ban Rocky, because we didn't want people harassing any of the saw-wet owls out there.

So, we told people, it's not banded, there's no tracking device, don't harass the owls, please.

And people still called me and said, I had a little owl in my yard, could it be Rocky?

It's like, yeah, okay, how do I know?

That's funny.

What did we forget to ask you about that you think should be important?

That wildlife rehabilitators get no state or federal funding.

So, all the work we do is a privilege, like it is to have a driver's license.

And so, people don't realize that.

When they call and they say, I have a bird in my yard, and you drive 10, 20 miles, drive back, and they don't give you a donation, it's going to chip away at what you can do.

So, donations, donations, donations.

We're 501C3.

You have a website that we will put on the webcast, and you have things available for sale.

If people would rather purchase, then just do a donation.

And as a rehabilitator, aren't you required to have a certain amount of training?

Yes.

So, that's probably not free.

It's not.

And I've been to every conference.

Nyswrc, New York State Wildlife rehabilitation Council, puts on these three-day events every year in a different space in New York.

So, they can get different populations of rehabbers come.

And it's three days of jam-packed, five rooms, going simultaneously, education, speakers from half an hour to an hour and a half.

Some of them are two-hour labs where you can go and hands-on.

So, it's fabulous.

And I learned everything I know from them.

And I'm very grateful.

Well, thank you so much.

We'll definitely be passing this on.

It's been delightful having you.

I really appreciate you coming.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

That concludes another episode of Nature Calls, conversations from the Hudson Valley.

We would like to thank Xandra Powers and Deven Connelly from Cornell Cooperative extension of Columbia and Greene Counties for production support.

And a special thank you to our listeners for joining us on this episode of Nature Calls, conversations from the Hudson Valley.

You can find links to any of the topics mentioned in this episode at our website at ccecolumbiagreen.org.

Comments and suggestions for future topics may be directed to us at Columbia Green MGB at cornell.edu or on the CCE Master Gardner Volunteers of Columbia and Greene Counties Facebook page.

For more information about Cornell Cooperative extension of Columbia and Greene Counties, visit our website at ccecolumbiagreen.org or visit us in Hudson or in Acre.