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Photography Credit: Gordon Johnson, Myrna Pearman, Beverly Biggs, Brooke Pearman


Opening Day

Ellis Bird Farm opened for the season on May 24th. The highlight of the day was the Grand Opening of our new Tea House Kitchen. Visitors were treated to entertainment by Cats and Fiddles and were able to enjoy several other activities around the site. 

 

 

Robert Bateman Get to Know Virtual Hike Launch

Mrs. McKinley's Grade 5 class from Spruceview School visited the farm on May 26th to help launch this exciting initiative. The EBF Virtual Hike (check the link on our Home Page), which is sponsored by Dow Chemical Canada Limited, enables web visitors to take a virtual tour of the farm and become acquainted with many of the species that call Ellis Bird Farm home.

The Grade 5 students were well prepared for their visit. As a class project, they paired up to learn everything they could about some of the common animal and plant species at Ellis Bird Farm. On the day of the lauch, they took adult volunteers around the site to teach them about "their" species. The adults were most impressed with the students' knowledge and enthusiasm. Our special thanks to Dr. Gord Court, Chairman of the Get to Know Board of Directors, for being on hand to speak to the children about his love of nature and support of the Get to Know program. 


School Programs

Over 1,100 children visited the farm between Opening Day and the end of the school year. Led by Erica Soley, Ronald Vanden Pol, Dianne Murphy and Claudia Cameron, these very popular programs provide a unique and important opportunity for local students to learn about nature. 

    

Bluebird Festival and Neighbour's Market

For the first time in 10 years, the Bluebird Festival was rained out! Despite torrential downpours, we still had lots of visitors and everyone had a super time. Thanks to the Lakeside Social Workers for a delicious breakfast, to Jazz Explosion for providing wonderful music, and to all the volunteers who braved the elements to enjoy the day. Thanks also to our local producers who were on hand to sell their local products and produce. 

 

Evening Event

Mother Nature did not cooperate with us for the Evening Event, but over 100 people gathered under a large tent (thanks for Dow Chemical Canada for underwriting the cost of its rental) and had a wonderful time. The highlight of the evening was the auctioning of a set of 35 bird boxes which had been painted by local artists. Our auctioneer, Morris Flewwelling, was able to generate a total of $5,000.00 for the boxes!! Thanks to Cliff and Mary Soper for providing all the food for the evening, and for all the volunteers who helped make the evening such a success! 

Evening Event Artists

A total of 32 local artists supported Ellis Bird Farm this year by painting bluebird nestboxes which were auctioned off at the Evening Event. With themes ranging from old cars to ladybugs, each box was a unique and exquisite work of art. Our sincere thanks to all the artists who so generously shared their talents with us! 


Bug Jamboree

Our annual Bug Jamboree was once again a success. Our thanks for the following entomologists for spending the afternoon at EBF, sharing their knowledge and love of bugs with our visitors: Dr. Charley Bird, Dr. Ralph Cartar, Dr. Jim Madder, Dr. Mary Ried, Nora Bryan, Joe LeBlanc and Dr. Ken Fry. We were also pleased to have LadyBug Organic and Kimberly Schick-Puddicombe (author of the Little Black Book for Busy Families) on hand for the afternoon.