News /Media Archives-2016-2017

Please Note:
We do hope to conduct Knee High Nature programs in July and August. However, until we know if/when the EBF site will be open, we are not able to take bookings. Please check back on May 15, June 1 and June 15. We will post updates on those days. Thank you for your patience.

Please note that all our May events have been cancelled. We have also removed the June events, but will re-post them if we are given permission to open in June. Otherwise, we are leaving up some of our July and August events, in anticipation that we can be open at least for those months. We will be posting updates as we are able. Thank you for your patience!

July and August - Knee High Nature
Wednesday, July 8 - Owls
Thursday, July 9 - Butterflies
Tuesday July 14 - Snakes
Wednesday July 22 - Frogs and Toads
Wednesday July 29 - Ants
Thursday July 30 - Bats
Wednesday August 5 - Flowers and Bees
Wednesday August 12 - Spiders

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM and 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
These sessions are geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.
$6.00 per child
Online registration required.

Saturday, July 18
Evening at Ellis Bird Farm, Artisans on Site and Family Nature Night (Theme: Dragonflies, Damselflies and Ponds )
Ellis Bird Farm will remain open to the public until 8:00 PM
Families may pre-register at $10 per family for a session from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM where they will be led through activities of playing games, making a craft and learning about aquatic invertebrates in the Ellis Bird Farm ponds.
Artisans on site

Tuesday, July 21
Nature Day Camp
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Participants: children 8-12 years old
$25 per child
Registration Required: pay online or in person at least a week prior to camp day, and waiver signed and dropped off with child, name tags. Bring lunch and snacks. Dress for outdoors.

Saturday, July 25
Birds in Flight Photography Workshop with Leo de Groot
9:00 AM – Noon, with afternoon open for practice
$55.00 (online registration required)
Coffee and muffins provided
Minimum - 6 Maximum - 15
Age: adult (12 years and up if keen)

Sunday July 26
Writer's Retreat with Battle River Writing Centre with Dr. Jane Ross. Theme: Landscapes
9:00 AM - Meditative Experience
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Workshop
12:30 PM - bagged lunch or pre-order from the Ellis Cafe
Maximum 15 participants
$30 (online registration required)
Come apart from the usual to be with birds and trees in a retreat that moves through a series of reflective meditations on place, landscape and symbols. Think new thoughts and write them.

Saturday, August 1
Evening at Ellis Bird Farm, Artisans on Site, and Bat Night at the Bird Farm
The site will remain open until 8:00 PM
Families may preregister at $10 per family for the session held from 6:30 PM – 7:15 PM for children's crafts and games.
At 7:30 PM, Alberta Community Bat Program Coordinator, Cory Olson, will give an informative presentation on Alberta bats and how you can support their populations. By donation.
Dusk ~9:15 PM Bat Walk led by Cory Olson.

Sunday/Monday August 2 and 3
Mornings With the Martins, co-hosted with the Purple Martin Conservancy and Dr. Delano Lewis, and Loose Parts Play for Children with Kirstin Bouwsema
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Admission by donation
Coffee and muffins provided
Enjoy observing Purple Martins while learning about aerial insectivores and hearing about insect and bird migration research. This is an adult-based, quiet bird-watching activity.

Celebration of Loose-parts Play for children. Bring your children to enjoy. supervised free play with natural items in the new Nature Play Area. Adults may stay with their children or enjoy the “Mornings with the Martins.”

Saturday, August 8, 2020
Bug Jamboree:   Dragonfly and Damselfly Theme
1:00 – 4:00 PM - exhibits, children's crafts, Nature Kids, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, Red Deer River Watershed Alliance Build a Bee Abode - $6.00
3:00 PM - Butterfly Count
John Acorn, the Nature Nut and Patron of Nature Alberta, will open the Bug Jamboree at 1:00 PM with musical entertainment. Various Bugsters will be on hand to educate and impress.

Macro Photography Workshop with Adrian Thysse
$55.00 (10:00 AM - 2:00 PM). Online registration required.

Monday, September 7
Ellis Bird Farm Closing Day
2:00 PM - Raffle Draw
Gift Shop sales

ONLINE SCHOOL BOOKINGS
PLEASE NOTE: Our school programs are now filled. If you would like to be put on a waiting list, please email us info@ellisbirdfarm.ca

2020 School Program info/form HERE

Ellie and Albert will have another baby added to their family tomorrow! The Medicine River Wildlife Centre has an abandoned owlet that will be fostered to the EBF nest tomorrow morning at 10 AM. The Medicine River Wildlife Centre as well as an owl expert and bander, Rick Morse, will be on hand to orchestrate the big event. Rick will band the foster owlet, then climb the tree, place the foster owlet in the nest, then band the other three owlets.
Success!
All went well. Ellie and Albert were concerned, but they didn't attack. The entire process took only about 20 minutes. Ellie was back on the nest shortly after the procedure. The bander left 3 extra squirrels in the nest as a token of our appreciation. A big thanks to bander Rick Morse and Judy Boyd of Medicine River Wildlife Centre for handling all the logistics. We hope to have some video clips and images up soon. In the meantime, here is a pic of the 4 new siblings (taken by the bander at the nest)

Next Wed EXCITING OPPORTUNITY! Ellis Bird Farm and Medicine River Wildlife Centre have teamed up to offer an exclusive opportunity to enjoy and photograph the EBF owl family (Ellie, Albert, Rose, Fred, Minnie and Walter). For a tax-deductible donation of $100, a maximum of 12 people (adults only) will be given access to the EBF site on Wednesday May 20 from 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (The 1:00 - 3:00 PM time slot is filled) The owlets will be in full view as they are starting to explore the branches around their nest – a perfect opportunity for photographers and owl lovers alike! Door prizes will be drawn!

We are offering another viewing next Wednesday from 4:00 - 6:00 PM. The 1:00 - 3:00 PM time slot is filled.
Please note that there will be one bathroom available, everyone needs to dress for the weather, and all AHS protocols will be followed. A Covid questionnaire will be filled out by each visitor before site access is permitted.

Payment can be made by Pay Pal (below) or by e-transfer (email info@ellisbirdfarm.ca for e-transfer details).

EBF held the AGM on Tuesday, March 12. Frozen sewer lines in the new Visitor Centre meant that we had to do a last minute venue change to the Cafe for lunch (which wasn't quite ready for operation). Our new Cafe Operator, Kimberly Barthel, accommodated these last-minute changes with humour and grace. We introduced Kimberly to the board and guests before the group dined on a delicious buffet lunch. We are excited to have Kimberly as the new Cafe Operator for the season.

Capture Your Curiosity
Ellis Bird Farm is compiling a biophysical inventory of all the species on site, and this is your opportunity to help and win prizes! The photo contest will run from June 22 to August 23, and the winners will be announced on September 3, 2019, the closing day of Ellis Bird Farm. Enter here

BAT NIGHT AT ELLIS BIRD FARM THIS EVENING!
Our summer student, Shaye Hill, had the exciting opportunity on August 14th to release a young Big Brown Bat into one of the bat houses at EBF. The young bat was born at Medicine River Wildlife Centre (MRWC) to a female (Betty) that had been brought in earlier in the summer with an injury. They were totally surprised when she gave birth to this baby!

We checked the bat box earlier in the day and determined that there were still six Big Brown Bats in it, so the fostered bat was released and we are hoping that it will get the necessary flying and hunting lessons from the other bats.

Judy Boyd, shown here with Shaye after the release, has volunteered to return with Betty to EBF for our Bat Night so folks can see a wild Big Brown Bat up close.

Judy and Betty are two more reasons to come to our Bat Night at Bird Farm this Saturday night! Learn about Alberta bats with bat expert, Cory Olson, and do a bat walk with a bat detector to "hear" bats!
6:30 PM – 7:15 PM - children's crafts and games
7:30 PM - Alberta Community Bat Program Coordinator, Cory Olson, will give an informative presentation on Alberta bats and how you can support their populations.
Dusk ~9:15 PM Bat Walk led by Cory Olson.
We are charging only $10 a family (prepaid or when registering) Pay online here)

Biologist/Site Services Manager: Myrna Pearman
Head Gardener: Cynthia Pohl (Living Lands Landscape and Design)
Maintenance and Farm Foreman: Ron Biel
Summer Students 2015: Shalynn Westervelt, Cheyenne Knight, Jason Biel, Laura Friesen, Meagan Gabert
Casual 2015: Claudia Lipski, Cara Moore

PURPLE MARTINS WEBCAM UPDATE- We are pleased to report that the young Purple Martins from our first webcam placement have fledged. We have just moved the webcam to a compartment where the young are just hatching! If all goes well, we can expect to have a wonderful opportunity to watch a Purple Martin household for the next month. EBF reality TV! here

JOIN US FOR THE BUG JAMBOREE ON AUGUST 10TH
The Bug Jamboree will go ahead rain or shine. Join us at EBF on Saturday from 1:00 - 3:00 PM!

If you'd like to volunteer at one of our craft stations, please contact Mateya at 403-885-4477 or drop us an email at info@ellisbirdfarm.ca

JULY 20TH EVENING AT ELLIS BIRD FARM! Tonight we will be open till 8:00 PM! Enjoy the beauty of EBF in the evening: savour a delicious dinner on the Cafe patio, listen to the Purple Martins and enjoy the beautiful gardens. We will also be hosting several local fibre artists who will demonstrate spinning and needle felting.

Tonight's menu will be
Cream cheese stuffed pork loin
Roasted baby potatoes
Glazed carrots and peas

EBF'S FIRST FAMILY NATURE SCHOOL Ellis Bird Farm held its first Family Nature School on Saturday July 6. Families rotated between stations led by Tim Schowalter, Claudia LIpski and Shaye Hill. Everyone had a great time learning about owls. We invite families to attend our upcoming Family Nature Schools here

FIRST KNEE HIGH NATURE PROGRAM OF 2019 A GREAT SUCCESS Our first Knee High Nature program of the season was a great success! The topic was owls--a type of bird dear to our hearts at EBF, since we have our own resident pair of Great Horned Owls. The program was very well-attended and Claudia entertained and educated children and parents alike with her songs, facts and crafts. There are five more Wednesday sessions for the 2019 Knee High Nature series: please register and pay ahead of time online here.

EBF HOSTS BIRDS-IN-FLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP EBF board member, Leo de Groot, with assistance from Hank Broomfield of McBain Camera, led a very informative and well-attended photography workshop at the site on Saturday, July 6th. Participants left the workshop with lots of tips about how to best capture birds and other wildlife in motion.

2019 ELLIS BIRD FARM STAFF The Ellis Bird Farm staff gathered together for pizza and wine at the end of June to celebrate the end of the springtime season and bid farewell to Hannah. We even managed to catch a break in the rain storms to assemble for a photograph.

2019 CANADA DAY CELEBRATIONS AT ELLIS BIRD FARM Ellis Bird Farm celebrated Canada Day by acknowledging our Indigenous heritage. While the weather was stormy and changeable, over 100 people came out to listen to Elder Maggie and Joseph Fromhold share their stories and wisdom. We were honoured to be able to host this important conversation and hope to be able make it an annual Canada Day Ellis Bird Farm tradition. As well, the Lakeside Social Workers once again shared their cupcake-making expertise and families were able to participate in bird feeder building.

HANNAH WAGNER, THE 2019 GROUNDS ASSISTANT With the end of June upon us, we had to bid farewell to our springtime grounds assistant, Hannah Wagner. Hannah has been a huge help to our head gardener with her proficient skills on the tractor, mower and weed whipper. We will miss her smiling face!

Saturday May 4 – Arbour Day: Get a Charlie Tree!
10:00 AM to noon - Bring your spade and container, make a donation and choose your Charlie Tree to take home

Monday May 20 – Ellis Bird Farm Opening Day
1:00 PM - Charlie, Winnie and the Bluebirds book launch
2:00 PM - Tower Opening
4:00 PM - Fred Schutz Library Opening
          Old chairs for sale (or by donation)
Come meet Ellie, Albert, and the owlets, Tyson, Bree, and Buster!


Sunday June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 – Bluebird Trail Tours
                    2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (weather permitting)
                    By donation (phone or in-person registration and own transportation required)

Sunday June 2 – Beginning Birder Workshop with Judy Boyd
                    9:00 AM – Noon
                    $10.00 (online registration required)
                    Ages 10 years to adult
                    Bring your binoculars and bird books, or borrow a pair from our Visitor Centre. Dress to go outside.

                    NatureLynx Workshop with Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute
                    1:00 PM – 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM NatureLynx Workshop No charge (phone or in-person registration required)
                    Become familiar with using the NatureLynx app by capturing and recording nature at Ellis Bird Farm, then use the app wherever you wander in Alberta.

Saturday June 8 – Hummingbird Planter Workshop
with Parkland Garden Centre
          10:30 AM – 2 PM
                    Cost: $35 (online registration required)
Learn about the plants that attract hummingbirds, then plant your own container of hummingbird-attracting plants to take home. Bring along a picnic lunch or book your meal at the Ellis Cafe

Sunday June 16 – Father’s Day
                    Celebrate the fellows in your life! Cafe specials!
                    1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Learn about frogs and snakes with the Alberta Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy
          Toad/Salamander House!!! $4
                    Build a bird feeder - $6.00 each
1:00 PM - Opening of Nature Play House and Nature Discovery Packs
                    2:00 PM - hike to West Woods (no charge, on-site or phone registration required)

Saturday June 22 - Solstice Evening at Ellis Bird Farm
                    Ellis Bird Farm will remain open until 8 PM!


Monday, July 1 – Canada Day - Honouring Canada's First Peoples
                    1:00 PM, 3:00 PM - Elder Maggie shares her wisdom
                    2:00 PM, 3:30 PM – Joseph Fromhold shares Indigenous Legends from Central Alberta
          1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Children’s Crafts

Saturday July 6 – Birds in Flight Photography Workshop with Leo de Groot
                    9:00 AM – Noon
                    $35.00 (online registration required)
                    Coffee and muffins provided

Saturday July 6 - Family Nature School: Owls with Tim Schowalter
                    6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
                    $10 per family drop-in, pay upon arrival
                    Three groups will cycle through three stations while learning about owls, playing some games and making a craft.
            Tim Schowalter will help you dissect owl pellets!

Wednesday July 10 – Knee High Nature: Owls
                    10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
                    $6 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday July 13 – Bluebird Festival and Blue Feather Award 20th Anniversary
          11:30 AM and 3:30 PM - Garden Tour (register in the Visitor Centre)
Noon: Water Garden Re-opening
Noon and 2:30 PM - Bluebird trail tours (registration required, own    transportation required)
          1:00 PM – 3:00 PM - Jazz Explosion
          1:00 PM – 4:00 PM - children's crafts, Nature Kids NatureBlitz, nestbox building, bird banding with Strix Ecological
                    2:00 PM - Blue Feather Award

Wednesday July 17 - Knee High Nature – Snakes
                    10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
                    $6.00 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft

Thursday July 18 – Nature Day Camp
                    10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
                    $25 (online registration required)
                    Youngsters aged 6 -10 years will spend the day learning about nature and will take home a bird feeder they've built. Bring along lunch, snacks and dress to play outdoors.

Saturday July 20 – Evening at Ellis Bird Farm
                    Ellis Bird Farm will remain open until 8:00 PM!

Wednesday July 24 - Knee High Nature: Frogs and Toads
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
            $6.00 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday July 27 - Family Nature School: Ponds
                    6:30 – 8:00 PM
                    $10 per family (pay upon arrival)
                    Three groups will cycle through three stations while learning about the pond creatures, playing some games and making a craft.

Sunday July 28 – Writer's Retreat with Battle River Writing Centre with Dr. Jane Ross. Theme: Landscapes
                   9:00 AM - Meditative Experience
10 AM - 3:00 PM Workshop
12:30 PM - bring bagged lunch or pre-order from the Ellis Cafe
$30 (online registration required)
Come apart from the usual to be with birds and trees in a retreat that moves through a series of reflective meditations on place, landscape and symbols. Think new thoughts and write them.


Wednesday July 31 - Knee High Nature: Ants
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
         $6 (online registration required)
          The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday August 3 – Evening at Ellis Bird Farm
                    Ellis Bird Farm will remain open until 8:00 PM!

Sunday/Monday August 4 and 5 – Mornings With the Martins. Co-hosted with the Purple Martin Conservancy
                    9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
                    Admission by donation
                    Coffee and muffins provided
                    Enjoy the Purple Martins' song in the morning as they forage and feed their young.

Wednesday August 7 - Knee High Nature: Flowers and Bees
                    10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
                    $6.00 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Thursday August 8 – Art and Nature Day Camp with Molly Siebenga
                    10 :00 AM – 2:00 PM
                    $25.00 (online registration required)
                    Ages 10 -15 years.
                      Youth will be inspired to be creative, surrounded by nature at Ellis Bird Farm.

Saturday August 10 – Bug Jamboree
                    1:00 -3:00 PM - exhibits, children's crafts, Nature Kids, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, Red Deer River Watershed Alliance.
Build a Bee Abode - $6.00
                    3:00 PM - Butterfly Count
                    John Acorn, the Nature Nut and Patron of Nature Alberta, will open the Bug Jamboree at 1:00 PM with musical entertainment.
         Various Bugsters will be on hand to educate and inspire.

Wednesday August 14 - Knee High Nature: Spiders
                    10 – 11:30 AM or 1:00 – 2:30 PM
                    $6 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday August 17 – Bat Night at the Bird Farm with Cory Olson
          $10 per family (pay upon arrival)
                    6:30 PM – 7:15 PM - children's crafts and games
                    7:30 PM - Alberta Community Bat Program Coordinator, Cory Olson, will give an informative presentation on Alberta bats and how you can support their populations.
                    Dusk ~9:15 PM Bat Walk led by Cory Olson

Monday September 2 – Ellis Bird Farm Closing Day
                    1:00 – 3:00 PM Golden Music Makers will entertain
                    2:00 PM - Raffle Draw
                    Gift shop sales

Wednesday July 10 – Knee High Nature: Owls

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

$6.00 no GST (online registration required)

The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

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CELEBRATING FATHER'S DAY -On June 16th, Ellis Bird Farm enjoyed a fantastic day of activities celebrating Father's Day. Special thanks to Linette Miller from the Lacombe branch of TD Bank, for being on hand while we recognized the contribution from the TD Friends of the Environment Fund. This donation, along with funding from Quinn Contracting, enabled us to create our Nature Discovery Packs. These Packs are now available in the Visitor Centre to lend out to families while they are onsite. The TDFEF donation also made possible our new addition: the Nature Playhouse built by Wayne Froese of Top Peg Timber Frames. This whimsical new structure is built from recycled wood material that Wayne has fashioned into a playhouse with doors, windows and hidey-holes for kids to discover nature. Our own EBF staff facilitated visitors in building toad and salamander houses and the Alberta Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy were of great assistance teaching visitors about our amphibian, reptile and insect species down at the waterfront. What a wonderful busy day it was!

On Sunday, June 16th, Ellis Bird Farm is celebrating Father's Day in style. We have added a Nature Playhouse to our site and will be officially opening it at 1:00 PM. We will also be revealing our new Nature Discovery Packs, which will be lent out for families to explore the natural world at EBF at close proximity. In addition, from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM we are teaming up with the Alberta Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy to highlight Alberta's frogs and toads, and at 2:00 PM we are offering a guided hike to the West Woods. Come build a toad or salamander house for $4.00 or a bird feeder for $6.00. Come hungry because our Café is offering specials for the day. Celebrate the fathers in your life at Ellis Bird Farm!

SUCCESSFUL HUMMINGBIRD WORKSHOP-Our thanks to Susanne Maidment (right), a hummingbird enthusiast and bander, and Judy Reeds of Parkland Nurseries and Garden Centre, for delivering an excellent hummingbird workshop on June 8th. Susanne gave a presentation about hummingbirds and Judy brought planters and hummingbird-attracting annuals so each participant left with their own hummingbird planter. And a new appreciation for these amazing birds!

NATURELYNX APP FROM ALBERTA BIODIVERSITY MONITORING INSTITUTE-Ellis Bird Farm hosted Jordan Bell from the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) on June 2. Jordan led a workshop to explain a new app developed by ABMI called NatureLynx. This app, created for and by Alberta's nature enthusiasts, can be used to identify local species, learn about biodiversity hotspots and connect with other curious people. Ellis Bird Farm will be using the app to help identify plants and animals at EBF. See https://naturelynx.ca/ for more details.

2019 BEGINNER BIRDER WORKSHOP-On Sunday, June 2, Judy Boyd (in blue) led another very well-received Beginning Birder Workshop at Ellis Bird Farm. The group counted about 30 bird species over the course of the morning. Thank you Judy for sharing your time and knowledge with us!

Saturday May 4 – Arbour Day: Get a Charlie Tree!
10:00 AM to noon - Bring your spade and container, make a donation and choose your Charlie Tree to take home

Monday May 20 – Ellis Bird Farm Opening Day
1:00 PM - Charlie, Winnie and the Bluebirds book launch
2:00 PM - Tower Opening
4:00 PM - Fred Schutz Library Opening
          Old chairs for sale (or by donation)
Come meet Ellie, Albert, and the owlets, Tyson, Bree, and Buster!


Sunday June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 – Bluebird Trail Tours
                    2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (weather permitting)
                    By donation (phone or in-person registration and own transportation required)

Sunday June 2 – Beginning Birder Workshop with Judy Boyd
                    9:00 AM – Noon
                    $10.00 (online registration required)
                    Ages 10 years to adult
                    Bring your binoculars and bird books, or borrow a pair from our Visitor Centre. Dress to go outside.

                    NatureLynx Workshop with Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute
                    1:00 PM – 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM NatureLynx Workshop No charge (phone or in-person registration required)
                    Become familiar with using the NatureLynx app by capturing and recording nature at Ellis Bird Farm, then use the app wherever you wander in Alberta.

Saturday June 8 – Hummingbird Planter Workshop
with Parkland Garden Centre
          10:30 AM – 2 PM
                    Cost: $35 (online registration required)
Learn about the plants that attract hummingbirds, then plant your own container of hummingbird-attracting plants to take home. Bring along a picnic lunch or book your meal at the Ellis Cafe

Sunday June 16 – Father’s Day
                    Celebrate the fellows in your life! Cafe specials!
                    1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Learn about frogs and snakes with the Alberta Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy
          Toad/Salamander House!!! $4
                    Build a bird feeder - $6.00 each
1:00 PM - Opening of Nature Play House and Nature Discovery Packs
                    2:00 PM - hike to West Woods (no charge, on-site or phone registration required)

Saturday June 22 - Solstice Evening at Ellis Bird Farm
                    Ellis Bird Farm will remain open until 8 PM!

Saturday, June 29 – Nature Meditation with Tara Simpson
                    9:30 AM – Noon
                    Cost: $35 (online registration required, includes picnic lunch, bring a seat cushion)

Monday, July 1 – Canada Day - Honouring Canada's First Peoples
                    1:00 PM, 3:00 PM - Elder Maggie shares her wisdom
                    2:00 PM, 3:30 PM – Joseph Fromhold shares Indigenous Legends from Central Alberta
          1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Children’s Crafts

Saturday July 6 – Birds in Flight Photography Workshop with Leo de Groot
                    9:00 AM – Noon
                    $35.00 (online registration required)
                    Coffee and muffins provided

Saturday July 6 - Family Nature School: Owls with Tim Schowalter
                    6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
                    $10 per family drop-in, pay upon arrival
                    Three groups will cycle through three stations while learning about owls, playing some games and making a craft.
            Tim Schowalter will help you dissect owl pellets!

Wednesday July 10 – Knee High Nature: Owls
                    10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
                    $6 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday July 13 – Bluebird Festival and Blue Feather Award 20th Anniversary
          11:30 AM and 3:30 PM - Garden Tour (register in the Visitor Centre)
Noon: Water Garden Re-opening
Noon and 2:30 PM - Bluebird trail tours (registration required, own    transportation required)
          1:00 PM – 3:00 PM - Jazz Explosion
          1:00 PM – 4:00 PM - children's crafts, Nature Kids NatureBlitz, nestbox building, bird banding with Strix Ecological
                    2:00 PM - Blue Feather Award

Wednesday July 17 - Knee High Nature – Snakes
                    10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
                    $6.00 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft

Thursday July 18 – Nature Day Camp
                    10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
                    $25 (online registration required)
                    Youngsters aged 6 -10 years will spend the day learning about nature and will take home a bird feeder they've built. Bring along lunch, snacks and dress to play outdoors.

Saturday July 20 – Evening at Ellis Bird Farm
                    Ellis Bird Farm will remain open until 8:00 PM!

Wednesday July 24 - Knee High Nature: Frogs and Toads
          10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
            $6.00 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday July 27 - Family Nature School: Ponds
                    6:30 – 8:00 PM
                    $10 per family (pay upon arrival)
                    Three groups will cycle through three stations while learning about the pond creatures, playing some games and making a craft.

Sunday July 28 – Writer's Retreat with Battle River Writing Centre with Dr. Jane Ross. Theme: Landscapes
                   9:00 AM - Meditative Experience
10 AM - 3:00 PM Workshop
12:30 PM - bring bagged lunch or pre-order from the Ellis Cafe
$30 (online registration required)
Come apart from the usual to be with birds and trees in a retreat that moves through a series of reflective meditations on place, landscape and symbols. Think new thoughts and write them.


Wednesday July 31 - Knee High Nature: Ants
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
         $6 (online registration required)
          The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday August 3 – Evening at Ellis Bird Farm
                    Ellis Bird Farm will remain open until 8:00 PM!

Sunday/Monday August 4 and 5 – Mornings With the Martins. Co-hosted with the Purple Martin Conservancy
                    9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
                    Admission by donation
                    Coffee and muffins provided
                    Enjoy the Purple Martins' song in the morning as they forage and feed their young.

Wednesday August 7 - Knee High Nature: Flowers and Bees
                    10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
                    $6.00 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Thursday August 8 – Art and Nature Day Camp with Molly Siebenga
                    10 :00 AM – 2:00 PM
                    $25.00 (online registration required)
                    Ages 10 -15 years.
                      Youth will be inspired to be creative, surrounded by nature at Ellis Bird Farm.

Saturday August 10 – Bug Jamboree
                    1:00 -3:00 PM - exhibits, children's crafts, Nature Kids, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, Red Deer River Watershed Alliance.
Build a Bee Abode - $6.00
                    3:00 PM - Butterfly Count
                    John Acorn, the Nature Nut and Patron of Nature Alberta, will open the Bug Jamboree at 1:00 PM with musical entertainment.
         Various Bugsters will be on hand to educate and inspire.

Wednesday August 14 - Knee High Nature: Spiders
                    10 – 11:30 AM or 1:00 – 2:30 PM
                    $6 (online registration required)
                    The session is geared to ages 3 – 7 years. Children up to age 10 are also welcome. Caregivers and children share in the adventure of nature learning through songs, games and a craft.

Saturday August 17 – Bat Night at the Bird Farm with Cory Olson
          $10 per family (pay upon arrival)
                    6:30 PM – 7:15 PM - children's crafts and games
                    7:30 PM - Alberta Community Bat Program Coordinator, Cory Olson, will give an informative presentation on Alberta bats and how you can support their populations.
                    Dusk ~9:15 PM Bat Walk led by Cory Olson

Monday September 2 – Ellis Bird Farm Closing Day
                    1:00 – 3:00 PM Golden Music Makers will entertain
                    2:00 PM - Raffle Draw
                    Gift shop sales

BAT BOX MONITORING -2019Cory Olson of the Alberta Community Bat Monitoring Program put the finishing touches on a camera monitoring system in one of our large bat houses on Sunday, June 2. The EBF Grain Elevator bat box has the distinction of being the largest bat box colony of any monitored by the bat program!

CENTRAL ALBERTA BIRDING TRAILS GUIDE LAUNCHED- 2019Judy Boyd (right) and Doug Pederson(centre) came to Ellis Bird Farm on Saturday June 1 to officially launch the release of the new Central Alberta Birding Trails Guide. This brochure highlights the good birding spots across Central Alberta and was produced by the Red Deer River Naturalists. Ellis Bird Farm, which distributes hundreds of brochures to visitors each season, assisted with printing costs. We are very proud of this guide and extend a big thank you to Judy (project leader) and Doug (graphic designer) for their hard work on this project.

ELLIS BIRD FARM POND UPGRADE-2019 Grant Loftus, owner of Water by Design, shows the finished pond to board member, Judy Schwartz. We will be hosting an official opening of this beautiful new feature at the Bluebird Festival on July 13th.

DONATION OF BATEMAN PRINTS-We are very grateful to Joyce Walsh (who once owned the iconic Walsh Galleries in Red Deer) for donating three Robert Bateman prints to EBF. She is shown here with board members Maureen Carey (left)and Judy Schwartz (right). We will be using these prints for future fund raising efforts. Thank you so much Joyce for this generous donation!

DONATED BEAUTIFUL HOME-MADE SOAP-We are very grateful to Dick Huddleston of Red Deer, who donates bars of his beautiful home-made soap for us to sell in our Gift Shop. Thank you, Dick, for your support!

UPDATES TO THE EBF WATER GARDEN-Adrian from Water by Design and Myrna Pearman pose beside the newly-completed water garden. This upgraded feature will be enjoyed by visitors and frogs alike--there is already a Boreal Chorus Frog singing loudly from the water's edge. Come check out the upgraded pond!

EBF HOSTED FOUR GRADE 9 STUDENTS TAKING PART IN THE ALBERTA SCIENCE NETWORK'S OPERATION MINERVA CONFERENCE-On Wednesday, May 22, Ellis Bird Farm hosted four Grade 9 students taking part in The Alberta Science Network's Operation Minerva Conference. This conference introduces girls to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Melissa Spruit, Glenda Shi, Brianna Kehler and Jessica Barclay spent the morning hearing of Ellis Bird Farm's history, goals and commitment to research on cavity nesting birds, particularly Purple Martins and Mountain Bluebirds. The job shadow experience culminated with a tour of the Mountain Bluebird Trail to view eggs, nestlings and the banding of an adult Mountain Bluebird.

SETTING UP (RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION) SYSTEM ON A MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD BOX AT EBF-This past week, Alisha Ritchie and Lucas Wessner set up an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system on a Mountain Bluebird box on site, enabling us to monitor the comings and goings of the birds for our research projects. Thanks to the Red Deer and District Community Foundation, we have funding support to carry on this research project for another year.

GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM HOME DEPOT-Our gardener, Linda Sommers, poses with several flats of donated annuals from Home Depot. We are grateful for this generous support. We also applaud Home Depot for not using neonicotinoids on their garden plants.

2019 ADDITION TO EBF: JESSICA EMILY SCHAMEHORN VIEWING TOWER-On Opening Day, we officially revealed our newly-installed viewing tower, which offers a beautiful 360 degree view of the EBF site. The tower's designer and builder, Barry Simpson of Wel-Can Welding, along with his wife Cheryl and family, dedicated and opened the tower. The tower was built to honour the memory of the family's late granddaughter, Jessica Emily Schamehorn and offers a unique opportunity for visitors to stand up amongst the swooping Purple Martins.

OPENING DAY UNDER SUNNY SKIES-Opening Day 2019 is a wrap! We had a wonderful day celebrating Fred Schutz, launching Myrna's new book Charlie, Winnie and the Bluebirds, opening our new viewing tower and peeking at the owlets up in their nest. Thanks to everyone who came out to join us!

OUR 2019 RESEARCH COORDINATOR-LUCAS WESSNER Lucas Wessner is one of our summer students and our 2019 Research Coordinator. His passion for all things avian began at an early age and he's been coming to Ellis Bird Farm since he before he could see over the fence! We are so proud when children who visited EBF when they were young return as employees, as adults, and as parents bringing their own children to enjoy our site and learn about nature.

2019 SPRING BAT COUNT On April 20, we recorded our first Little Brown Myotis (or Little Brown Bats) in the Grain Elevator roost. On May 11, the number of Little Brown Myotis in the Grain Elevator had increased to 178. In our barn roost, we counted ten Big Brown Bats exiting. This count was done as part of a project for the Alberta Community Bat Program.

MAY GRASS FIRE On May 14, 2019, a fire started in a small patch of grass north of the Ellis Bird Farm site. Staff worked to limit the blaze until fire crews arrived, whereupon the fire was quickly contained. The fire caused some minor damage to a few trees but did not reach any buildings. Thanks to the fire department from the Prentiss site as well as fire crews from Lacombe County and the City of Lacombe for their quick response and assistance.

PREPARING FOR OPENING may 2019 Our year-round staff have been working alongside our new summer students to prepare the Ellis Bird Farm gardens and buildings for visitors. Our summer students have also been learning the ropes of presenting our school programs, just in time for the first buses of school children to arrive next week!

WATER GARDEN RECONSTRUCTION Recently, a lot of work has been occurring on the reconstruction of our demonstration water garden. Grant and Adrian from Water By Design have been hard at work completing the effort. The water garden will officially be re-opened during our Bluebird on July 13th, at 12:00 PM.

CHARLIE ELLIS' TREE PLANTING LEGACY In celebration of Arbour Day, we invited people to come and dig up their very own "Charlie Tree" and take home a white spruce seedling to plant. Several hardy tree-lovers braved the snow and chose their tree. We are excited to see Charlie Ellis' tree planting legacy spread across Central Alberta. Thank you to those individuals who gave a donation and picked out their trees!

ARBOUR DAY TEAM 2019 It was a wet and snowy Arbour Day but we had an amazing team of volunteers, staff and board members come out on Saturday to plant new trees and shrubs on site. Thanks to TD Friends of the Environment, Lacombe County and Wolf's Botanicals for enabling this project to occur. And a BIG thanks to the board, staff and volunteers who gave up their Saturday to tuck the plants into their new homes!

THE NEW FRED SCHUTZ LIBRARY IS TAKING SHAPE The new Fred Schutz library is taking shape and filling up. Recently, Allan Barker, nephew of Fred Schutz, delivered boxes of Fred's books. The Fred Schutz Library will officially open on Monday, May 20th, with a special ceremony occurring at 4:00 PM. Stop by the Ellis Centre and take a look at our updated collection.

NEW GROUSE DISPLAY AT EBF Myrna Pearman and Claudia Lipski have been working hard creating a display celebrating 2019 as "The Year of the Grouse." For more information, visit https://www.battleriverarts.ca

CELEBRATING ARBOUR DAY AT EBF THIS YEAR - GET A CHARLIE TREE!-We are celebrating Arbour Day at Ellis Bird Farm this year! This means for one day, we will be open before Victoria Day weekend. On Saturday, May 4th, we will be doing a two-part celebration of Arbour Day with Charlie's Trees being the star attraction.
First, we are looking for strong and able volunteers, aged 16 years or older, who would like to lend a hand moving trees onsite as we redistribute seedling spruce trees from Charlie Ellis' original shelter belt to new locations. Volunteers need to be on hand at 9:30AM and will receive lunch following a morning of tree moving. Please register ahead to be part of this effort by emailing info@ellisbirdfarm.ca.
Second, we are offering Charlie's Trees to the general public between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM. Bring your own spade and pot, make a donation and take a spruce tree seedling to plant at home, spreading Charlie Ellis' tree-planting legacy across Central Alberta.

INTERESTING BIRD SIGHTINGS-April 27th - Two interesting bird sightings were noted at EBF last week, a Black-crowned Night-Heron and a Golden-crowned Kinglet. Both are first-ever records for the site.

TRICKY MA SQUIRREL -April 24, 2019 - Ma Squirrel has learned how to lick out the shelled sunflower seeds from our bird feeder!

BEAUTIFUL ELLIE ON NEST-Ellie is sitting up higher in the nest now that she has three little ones. The webcamera that offers such great views can be seen in the upper right corner.
Photo by Myrna Pearman

REPLACING OLD FENCE BOARDS AROUND THE SITE-April 2019 - We have been busy replacing old rotten fence boards around the site. New fences are just a few of the upgrades and changes that visitors will notice when we open this season

RENOVATING THE MAIN WATER GARDEN-APR 19, 2019 - EBF gardener, Linda Sommers, and EBF Board member, Howard Oudman, meet with Grant and Adrian from Water By Design, the company that will be renovating the main water garden in the next few weeks.

NEW YEAR OF THE GROUSE DISPLAY-April 2019 - Wayne Froese and Sam Krause helped move a display cover from the Ellis Centre to the Visitor Centre. We are going to be setting up a display to celebrate The Year of the Grouse. For more information about this initiative, check out https://www.battleriverarts.ca/

BEGINNING SPECIAL NATURE PLAY AREA FOR CHILDREN-April 2019 - Wayne Froese of Top Peg Timber Framing topped one of the large poplar trees that was girdled a few years ago by beavers. The downed section of tree will be the first element in what will become a special nature play area for children.

FRED SCHUTZ, FOUNDING EBF BOARD MEMBER PASSES AWAY - Fred Schutz, founding EBF board member and well-known local writer, naturalist and historian, passed away on March 27 at the age of 98. A celebration of his life will be held at the Rimbey United Church (4931 – 51st Ave) on April 13th at 11 AM.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Ellis Bird Farm, Box 5090, Lacombe, AB, T4L 1W7. All donations made in Fred's memory will be put towards the new Fred Schutz Library, which will house some of his extensive book collection.
Frederick George Schutz - Fred Schutz died peacefully with family at his side on March 27, 2019 at the age of 98.
Fred was born in Trochu Alberta on Oct 14, 1920, he lived for 70 years on a homestead in the Blindman River Valley, then moved to Rimbey where he resided until his death.

Fred was an Award winning writer, as well as a naturalist and historian. He travelled the world and loved exploring and adventure. He spent many hours sharing his knowledge of nature, animals, birds and the land.
His interests included, photography, birdwatching, astronomy, and collecting antiques and artifacts. He was a founding member of the Ellis Bird Farm, and Pas-ka-poo Park and Museum. He was the recipient of many awards for his contributions to Alberta and local history.
Fred will be missed by his sister Dorothy Barker, his nephew Allan (Joyce) and his nieces Maureen (Les), Carol (Abe) and Donna, 8 grand nieces and nephews, his very good friend Maxine O’Riordon, and his many friends and neighbors. He was predeceased by his parents Gertrude and Charles, his brother Allan and his nieces Lorraine and Loa.
A celebration of his life will be held at the Rimbey United Church (4931 – 51st Ave), April 13th at 11 am with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Ellis Bird Farm, Box 5090, Lacombe, AB, T4L 1W7.

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SPRING WORK AT EBF 2019
Spring work has begun at EBF! Shelley Macauley and Shari Rabin have removed sections of old fence around the site so new sections can be installed.

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WESTERN CANADA BIRD BANDING WORKSHOP
Ellis Bird Farm was very pleased to present and participate in the Western Canada Bird Banding Workshop, held in Edmonton on March 29-31. Ellis Bird Farm team members Alisha Ritchie, Leo de Groot and Myrna Pearman delivered a well-received presentation entitled "Using Tracking Technologies to Inform and Inspire." Maureen Carey, Claudia Lipski and Lucas Wessner also attended the conference.

Over the past few years, Ellis Bird Farm has developed and deployed various technologies to monitor and track cavity-nesting birds: CCTVs; cavity cameras; light level geolocators; GPS units; and the use of RFID technology. This presentation will briefly summarize and demonstrate the highlights of how these technologies have been enabled the collection of important scientific information, but also how they have been used to share the information to educate, engage and inspire the public.

WE WELCOME KIMBERLY AND DUSTIN BARTHELL AS OUR NEW ELLIS CAFE OPERATORS!
We welcome Kimberly and Dustin Barthell as our new Ellis Cafe operators!
Ellis Bird Farm has signed a contract for the 2019 season with new operators for the Ellis Cafe: Kimberly and Dustin Barthel of Little Bit of Thyme. Kimberly and Dustin are excited about the prospect of feeding visitors at Ellis Bird Farm.
With her Ukrainian and Polish background, Kimberly loves to cook and bake and feed people. Her goal this summer is to provide healthy homemade goods to people on the move. She wants to support other local food-related businesses, and incorporate as many fresh, local, seasonal ingredients into her menu as she can. Kimberly has lots of exciting ideas up her sleeve for the 2019 season at EBF. She promises a staple menu as well as weekly features and other unique ways to enjoy a meal onsite, whether you come as a family, a couple or a group of friends.
Kimberly and Dustin are from Blackfalds, have three young children and love their local community. They are eager to delve deeper into the community with this new undertaking at Ellis Bird Farm. We look forward to seeing what delicious treats they cook up in the Ellis Cafe kitchen!

EBF RECEIVES A GENEROUS DONATION FROM MEGLOBAL
The Charlie, Winnie and the Bluebirds book is almost finished. EBF received a very generous donation from MEGlobal to cover the printing cost. Shown here with the book cover is the MEGlobal representative on the EBF Board, Abey Idicula, with Myrna Pearman.

OUR NEW CAFE OPERATOR, KIMBERLY BARTHEL, ACCOMMODATED THESE LAST-MINUTE CHANGES WITH HUMOUR AND GRACE
EBF held the AGM on Tuesday, March 12. Frozen sewer lines in the new Visitor Centre meant that we had to do a last minute venue change to the Cafe for lunch (which wasn't quite ready for operation). Our new Cafe Operator, Kimberly Barthel, accommodated these last-minute changes with humour and grace. We introduced Kimberly to the board and guests before the group dined on a delicious buffet lunch. We are excited to have Kimberly as the new Cafe Operator for the season.

Good service provided by DB Bobcat of Lacombe
Ellis Bird Farm is grateful for the good service provided by DB Bobcat of Lacombe. DB, which oversees snow removal at the Prentiss site, comes over to EBF promptly after every snowfall to make sure that our driveways and walkways are cleared. Show here are (from left) Denise Lyons, Riley Derksen and Laszol Bodnar. Thanks DB, for making sure that we had access to all our buildings for the AGM!

Cafe Operator, Kimberly Barthel, accommodates last-minute changes with humour and grace.
EBF held the AGM on Tuesday, March 12. Frozen sewer lines in the new Visitor Centre meant that we had to do a last minute venue change to the Cafe for lunch (which wasn't quite ready for operation). Our new Cafe Operator, Kimberly Barthel, accommodated these last-minute changes with humour and grace. We introduced Kimberly to the board and guests before the group dined on a delicious buffet lunch. We are excited to have Kimberly as the new Cafe Operator for the season.

Maureen Carey creates a collection of very realistic-looking bird eggs 2019
Board member, Maureen Carey, shows Howard Oudman a collection of very realistic-looking bird eggs that she has created using a 3-D printer. The eggs will be used in our EBF education programs. Our thanks to Maureen for this valuable additions to our education program!

Claudia Lipski delivered well-received program to local 4-H students - 2019 -Claudia Lipski delivered a recent well-received program to a group of local 4-H students about birds and bird migration.

Fred Schutz Library- march 2019-Progress is being made on the Fred Schutz Library. This library, which is located in the old Gift Shop in the Ellis Centre, will house EBF's existing collection of books as well as books from the collection of founding EBF board member, Fred Schutz. Ron Biel has been contracted to construct the shelving; Maureen Carey has volunteered to do all the renovations and oversee the project.

2019-Cafe Update -EBF Cafe committee member, Judy Schwartz, helped Claudia Lipski with the assembly, cleaning and organization of the EBF Cafe dishes. Over the years, people have generously donated dishes for use in the Cafe, some of which have accumulated in boxes in the Cafe basement. All these various dishes are now clean, organized and ready for use by the new Cafe operators!

We are grateful for all past donations and will continue to accept dishes, especially tea cups and fine china.

NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2018

Ellis Bird Farm Welcomes New Café Operators!
We are pleased to welcome Dustin and Kimberly Barthel of Little Bit of Thyme, Blackfalds, as the new Ellis Café Operators! We will be posting more details soon.

Claudia Lipski, Ellis Bird Farm's Education Coordinator, has received a prestigious award from Nature Alberta for her contribution to the Buffalo Lake Nature Club. The award - The Frank and Alice Harper Memorial Award - recognizes an individual’s unassuming commitment and service to a local Alberta nature club, and their efforts to support the betterment, efficiency, administration, operation and fulfillment of the club’s mandate. The award is named for Frank and Alice Harper, two long-time naturalists with the Lethbridge Naturalists Society who exemplified those admirable qualities of people who give whole-heartedly of themselves in carrying out the duties associated with keeping Alberta’s nature clubs active and vibrant. She was presented with the award by Nature Alberta Past President, Dr. Lou Carbyn.

BUSY TEACHING OUR NEW STAFF
Education Coordinator, Claudia Lipski (left) is busy teaching our new staff about the EBF operation (from right Murdoch McKinnon, Payden Johnson, Mateya Bluett). EBF Education Committee Chair, Maureen Carey (second from left) is joining in on some of the sessions.

Left: Alisha Ritchie explains EBF's geolocator research to three Minerva students (from left: Angela, Alex and Abbey)

The EBF team enjoyed ice cream sandwiches after spending a busy day getting the Gift Shop set up. (left: Shalynn Tenbrinke, Sarah Ritchie, Alisha Ritchie, Claudia Lipski)

Ron Biel puts finishing touches on the tiles in the Cafe cold room.

Ron Biel and Alisha Ritchie get the Purple Martin houses up for the Purple Martins. The first bird was seen on the site on April 23

A worker with Hawk Sheet Metal puts the finishing touches on a new stainless steel countertop in the Cafe.

Victor Zuidhof, who currently rents the EBF land, prepares for another busy season

THANKS TO WAYNE FROESE OF TOP PEG
Wayne Froese of Top Peg Timber Framing poses with gardeners Sydney Wilson (left) and Cynthia Pohl beside the benches he is creating from the spruces trees along the laneway that blew down last year.

THANK YOU LEE VALLEY TOOLS IN EDMONTON Ellis Bird Farm received a very generous donation of bird and bumblebee boxes from Lee Valley Tools in Edmonton earlier this year. The donation project was undertaken by Kelly Miciak out of the Edmonton Lee Valley store. She and her friend Davy cut and packaged the bird and bumblebee boxes, which were then picked up and built by service groups and organizations across the city. Other Edmonton Lee Valley staff also assisted with kit creation and with building some of the boxes. EBF benefits greatly from all this hard work on behalf of the birds and the bees. Service groups that built kits included Sherwood Park Cubs, Parkallen Scout Troop, the Northern Alberta Wood Carvers Association, St. Albert Cubs, Baturyn Cubs, Glenrose Rehabilitation and the Edmonton Lee Valley employees. What an amazing project--we are so grateful for everyone's involvement and hard work.

THANK YOU JOSEPH FROMHOLD We would like to thank Joseph Fromhold, an authority on Indigenous history, for working with Wayne Froese and EBF to ensure that we design a culturally appropriate covering on our Circle Deck.

Nixon Housch, Justin Housch, Lennox Housch, Jasmine Selent, Owen Selent, Lily Kristian, Ella Kristian, Marc Kristian, Daven Erb-Berube, Debra Erb, Rick Brown, Duff Boyd, Hailey Hallman, Kiza Hallman, Terry Johannson, Dayce Morrison, Eiley Morrison, Maizie Hallman, Marilyn Johannson

EARTH WEEK EVENT As part of Earth Week this year, the employees and their families from Praxair Canada's Prentiss facility gathered for a fabulous participation event at the Ellis Bird Farm. Under the skilled tutelage of Sarah Ritchie, all the kids (and some adults too!) constructed bird feeders to take home along with Myrna Pearman's new book "Backyard Bird Feeding in Alberta"! Hot chocolate and pizza rounded out the event and everybody headed home to paint and install their bird feeders with big smiles and great memories.

CHICKADEE NESTS IN PIECE OF BIRCH LOG
EBF's technical wizard found a section of a downed birch tree on his travels a few weeks ago and decided to bring it home and attached it to his downspout. Lo and behold a pair of chickadees decided that this small section of birch would be perfect for a nest cavity! Ma Chickadee laid her first egg at 8 PM on May 2.
May 4-five eggs in nest.

Watch live as these chickadees raise their family!
Watch here on ustream

MARCH UPDATE 2018
Ellis Bird Farm hosted Shawn Moore of Trimmed Line Tree Services and Wayne Froese of Top Peg Timber Frame Construction at the site recently to asses the health of the trees around the EBF site and to discuss some new projects at the farm.
We are looking to partner with Wayne and Shawn to support their new initiative (Sawing for Schools) and to switch to using lumber - for our birdboxes and bird feeder kits - that has been sourced locally, mostly from the trees that were downed in Red Deer during last spring's wind storm.

UPDATE ON OWLS-Sadly, Ellie and Albert have not settled down on a nest. Last year, they were on their nest by January 29. There are a few factors that may be causing this delay: last fall saw very cold temperatures before the snow fell. These conditions likely caused a huge mouse/vole die off. The snow pack also presents challenges: the rodents are very hard to access because the snow is thick with several crust layers. A very cold and snowy spring is also causing them to postpone nesting.

EBF - Photo by Myrna Pearman

Ellie the Owl watching over the site - Jan 29, 2018

A winters day at EBF - January 14, 2018 - photography by Kirstin Bouwsema

FAMILY NATURE NIGHT WITH CLAUDIA LIPSKI- JAN 27TH, 2018 No matter what the temperature, deer and moose play outside, and so do Nature Kids! At 10:30 AM on January 27, with the temperature a chilly -18 C, hardy families came out to the Kerry Wood Nature Centre in Red Deer to meet Zoe from Nature Kids/Nature Alberta, go on a nature walk with Tanya from the Kerry Wood Nature Centre and to learn and sing about deer and moose with Claudia from Ellis Bird Farm. Yes, there are songs about deer and moose! We were able to see tracks and scat in the fresh snow and we studied what and where the animals had eaten. Children could examine scat, fur, browse and rub sticks while learning about deer and moose bodies and behaviour. The various sizes of antlers provided photo opportunities. Attending a Nature Kids event is an opportunity to learn and appreciate the nature we have close to home and everyone, young and old, is invited to these events. - photos by Jessica Kowalchuk

JAN 2018 -We are happy to have Matt Burton of Your Private Chef return to run the Ellis Café for the 2018 season.

NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2016/2017

A COLD WINTERS DAY AT EBF - DEC 31 - PANORAMA BY SARAH RITCHIE

Brian Keating quoted Myrna's Beauty Everywhere book in his last CBC interview

about the survival strategies of winter birds.

Listen to the interview here.

David Miller

JY Vaneir

Dean Chessor

DOCUMENTING ELLIS BIRD FARM HISTORY Thanks to a very generous grant from Dow Canada, Ellis Bird Farm has been undertaking an oral history project. This project entails collecting oral interviews with neighours and friends of Charlie and Winnie Ellis, as well as founding Ellis Bird Farm board members and team leaders from the Prentiss site. We have conducted close to 20 interviews already, thanks to the expertise of Duane Rolheiser of Todayville as well as Phil French and Leo de Groot.

Thanks to Dean Chessor (shown here), Grant Oatway and Ron Wright and for taking the time to share their memories of Charlie and Winnie. We also thank JY Vaneir (top right) and David Miller (bottom right), Site Leaders from Dow and MEGlobal respectively, for taking time out of their busy schedules to be interviewed. We are very grateful for this grant and are pleased to have much of the Ellis Bird Farm/Prentiss Site history now documented!

MULE DEER HERD WINTER AT EBF - DEC 31 A small herd of mule deer have been overwintering at the EBF site. Although they are helping themselves to some of the plants, we are glad that they have taken up residence.

Dark-eyed Junco

ELLIS BIRD FARM CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT We would like to thank Sonya Dreger for volunteering to do the Christmas Bird Count at Ellis Bird Farm on December 17. The most interesting sightings of the day were two Boreal Chickadees and two Dark-eyed Juncos. The two American Robins that had been hanging around the site in December were not seen on Count Day.

Boreal Chickadee

EBF STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOP
The Ellis Bird Farm board of directors spent a day undergoing a strategic planning workshop on October 17. The workshop, led by Shari Hanson with Alberta Culture and Tourism was a good opportunity for the board to refine its vision and mission, and to commence the process of succession planning.

THANK YOU WIM AND MARIJKE JALINK
Thank you Wim and Marijke Jalink of Calgary for honouring EBF history by keeping these T shirts, the first we produced, in the early 1990s.. Win kindly donated his T shirt back to EBF.

MYRNA PEARMAN PRESENTATION IN ALIX
The last week of October was a busy one for Myrna, as she delivered 6 presentations in 5 days. One of her most well-received talks--Fascinating Backyard Birds: A glimpse into the habits and behaviours of our wild neighbours--was delivered at a well-attended public talk in Alix on October 18th. The presentation was hosted by Curt and Donna Peterson and Doug McDermand (Centre), Alix Home Hardware. Other talks were given at an EBF strategic planning meeting and to the Red Deer Garden Club, Parkland Garden Centre, the Wild Bird Store (Calgary) and the Calgary Area Nestbox Monitors group.

EBF BOARD OF DIRECTORS THANKS BONNIE MULLIN
The EBF board of directors thanked Bonnie Mullin at the October meeting for her years of service as the Red Deer River Naturalists rep on the EBF board. Bonnie is moving to British Columbia to be closer to family. thank you Bonnie!

DR. DOROTHY HILL DISCUSSES NEW BLUEBIRD TRAIL APP
Dr. Dorothy Hill, right, and EBF's bluebird trail monitor, Claudia Lipski, discuss a new bluebird trail app at the recent Calgary and Area Bluebird Trail Monitors Group meeting. The app, developed by Dr Hill and her team at Mt Royal University, was field tested last summer around Calgary and on the EBF bluebird trail.

DOW CHEMICAL CANADA & MEGLOBAL TAKE TO THE DITCHES TO KEEP OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CLEAN
Each year, the employees of Dow Chemical Canada and MEGlobal take to the ditches to keep their neighborhood clean and free of garbage. In the image above, was taken on Thursday, October 5, while Jean-Yves Vanier, Dow Site Leader and Rozanna Steenbergen, Dow Site Administrator were doing their part to show appreciation for the community they are fortunate to work in. Highway cleanup is an annual event, where Dow Chemical and MEGlobal employees volunteer their time to maintain the litter collecting on Prentiss Road from highway 597 and Lakeside Sargent to pick up trash such as drink cans and bottles, twine and junk food containers. Safety is most important on site, which is why all employees are required to wear high-visibility vests, gloves and carry portable radios. Roadway signage cautioning motorists is displayed throughout the duration of the clean-up.

ELLIS BIRD FARM'S CLOSING DAY FOR 2017
Ellis Bird Farm enjoyed a wonderful closing day, with a record number of people coming out to help celebrate a very successful season. The day started off with Alisha Ritchie delivering a well-received presentation about her thesis research, conducted on Purple Martins at EBF. The Golden Music Makers entertained again (for the 16th year!) to an enthusiastic audience. Then at 3 PM, Barb Shepherd (assisted by Brian Biggs and Claudia Lipski) did the raffle draw. Barb kindly made a beautiful bluebird quilt, which was the subject of much admiration over the summer. Other raffle items were a bird feeder donated by the Botha Hutterian Brethren and a collector bird plate donated by Lorraine Neal. We were glad that Nettie and Joe Young paid us a visit - Joe rebuilt Charlie's old Farmall tractor many years ago. The tractor is on display at the site and much enjoyed by visitors. At the end of the day, Claudia Lipski and a crowd of youngsters released our garter snake back into the wild and Mariilyn Jones came to retrieve her goats. These goats, which Marilyn loans us each summer, are well loved by our young visitors. We appreciate board members Barb Shepherd, Brian Biggs, Gordon Johnon and Leo de Groot for supporting us on closing day. See you next year!

Article in the Red Deer Advocate column here.
Click images to enlarge.

THANKS TO EBF STAFF
EBF staff spent Friday morning doing a clean out of the Purple Martin nests. A special thank you to Debra McKinnon for volunteering to help us with this messy but necessary task. After entering the data, we have confirmed that the site hosted 100 pairs of martins this year, the same number as last year. The birds started departing for their wintering grounds in Brazil during the second week of August. By August 19, all had left and the site was eerily quiet.

THANKS TO KERRY WOOD NATURE CENTRE
Our thanks to Kerry Wood Nature Centre for sharing some of the bird seed that was donated to them from Peavey Mart! We will use this seed in our feeders over the winter.

WRITERS GIFT OF APPRECIATION TO EBF

Dear Myrna, Claudia, Shaylyn and Everyone,

As Writers, it is our pleasure to present our gift of appreciation to you for the wonderful day we had last Saturday at Ellis Bird Farm.

With heartfelt appreciation,
Jane and Writers of the August 8th Writing Retreat.

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THANKS TO DIANE COTE
Diane Cote of Red Deer generously donated a hand-painted feeder and thermometer holder to Ellis Bird Farm. These art items were built and decorated by Diane's sister, Denise Côté and her business partner Johanne Gagnon from Ste- Luce - sur – Mer, Quebec. More of their work can be found at augraindebois@globetrotter.net

THANKS TO HOME DEPOT
Our thanks to Ann Currie and team at Home Depot who generously donated a pallet of sunflower seeds to Ellis Bird Farm! Our sincere thanks. Also a big thanks to Ron Biel for picking up and delivering the seeds back to the farm.

WRITER'S RETREAT WITH DR. JANE ROSS
We were very pleased to host Dr. Jane Ross of the Battle River Writing Centre for a Writer's Retreat at EBF yesterday. The theme of the retreat was "Inspirations." At the workshop, local writers had the opportunity to hear about the inspiring history of Ellis Bird Farm and listen to a young Rotarian, Ashley White, tell about her year abroad. After an activity focusing on writing in and about Nature, participants were invited to find their own place on the EBF grounds to write. They then reconvened and shared their stories. The day ended with a delicious potluck dinner. We would like to thank Jane and Jack Ross - who have retired back to Camrose after spending their careers working for international companies abroad - for providing such leadership and inspiration to local writers!

PURPLE MARTINS AT THE PURPLE MARTIN CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION HEADQUARTERS IN ERIE, PA
Our 2017 live nestcam season has come to an end. Thank you to all of you for helping to make it a success. It proved to be a tremendous outreach tool with millions of views over the past weeks.

We have put together the following time lapse video to memorialize the season as well as be a teaching tool. Please help us continue the outreach by sharing the video via your social media avenues.

Purple Martin Nest Timelapse
www.youtube.com
Watch as a nest of Purple Martins at the Purple Martin Conservation Association headquarters in Erie, PA progresses from eggs to fledglings.

Saturday July 22

Saturday was a big day at EBF, as we celebrated Canada 150+ and EBF's 35th anniversary. We also had a special smudge ceremony for our new circle deck, which was installed to honour Indigenous history in Central Alberta. The smudge was led by Lyle North-Wind Richards. We also served delicious cupcakes (created by the Lakeside Ladies), had crafts for the children, had a garden tour (led by Cynthia Pohl) and west woods tour (led by Tony Blake), hosted a presentation about the history of Ellis Bird Farm (Myrna Pearman), and heard from special guests who shared stories about the early days of Ellis Bird Farm.

We were also happy to have Beverly Buchwald visit the site. Beverly is the widow of Glen Buchwald, who had a secret meeting with Gary Krigbaum when Union Carbide was first trying to secure land for the Prentiss site. The Buchwalds have been very generous supporters of Ellis Bird Farm.

A big thanks to Morris Flewwelling for MC'ing the afternoon and for sharing some of his never-before-heard stories about Charlie and Winnie Ellis.

PURPLE MARTIN BANDING AT EBF
Ellis Bird Farm hosted a team of bird banders at the site to mass trap Purple Martins on July 10. Under the guidance of EBF's Alisha Ritchie (who just received her MSc studying martin migration at EBF), Dr. Geoff Holroyd and his team from the Beaverhill Bird Observatory and Dr. Glen Hvenegaard with his team from the Camrose Wildlife and Stewardship Society, assisted us in checking all compartments to trap and retrap adult martins. The effort was successful, with over 100 adults processed. We were all done by 2:00 AM!

EBF DONATES NESTING MATERIAL FOR NEW ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM
Ellis Bird Farm was very happy to collect some flea- and blowfly-infested nesting material from our Purple Martin nests for an exhibit being developed for the new Royal Alberta Museum (RAM). Dr. Jocelyn Hudon, Curator of Ornithology for RAM visited EBF last week to pick up the material and tour the site. He was also interested in learning about Alisha Ritchie's research on Purple Martins.

TODAY'S VERY WELL-RECEIVED KNEE HIGH NATURE PROGRAM
Today's very well-received Knee High Nature program was about deer and moose. The program ended with the children making their own creatures out of cork and pipe cleaners!

BLUEBIRD FESTIVAL A GREAT SUCCESS!

Ellis Bird Farm hosted a very successful Bluebird Festival on Saturday June 8. Our thanks to the following: Jazz Explosion for providing musical entertainment, Susanne Maidment for setting up her hummingbird banding station, Nature Alberta for their Nature Kids display, Red Deer River Watershed Alliance for their station at the pier, and Susan Manyluk for her Holme Hus Antique booth. A special thanks to all the volunteers who endured the heat with smiles, and for our amazing EBF staff who scurried all day long.

RED DEER KIWANIS CLUB AND RED DEER TWILIGHT HOMES FOUNDATION VISIT EBF

We were very happy to have three members of the Red Deer Kiwanis Club and Red Deer Twilight Homes Foundation visit EBF last week. They were very pleased with the new paved path and circle deck that they provided funds for. Ron Biel designed and built the deck with assistance from EBF staff. Posing on the deck with Marvin, Alec and Larry is MEGlobal board member, Darcy Gabert

NON-CURRENT-News and Media Archives-2016/2017

CANADA DAY AT ELLIS BIRD FARM
Visitors to Ellis Bird Farm had a wonderful Canada Day Celebration on July 1 Highlights of the day included singing Oh Canada, readings by summer staff from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on our new circle deck, Canada Day crafts for the children, and presenting "Canada Jay" T shirts to Ron and Karen Edwards of Caroline. The Edwards' kindly and generously hosted the celebrity Gray Jays, "Elizabeth and Philip" and allowed EBF to live stream them. Myrna Pearman delivered two short presentations, one on Gray Jays (which we hope will be renamed Canada Jays) and an update on her wildlife wanderings and photography.
Thanks to everyone who came to visit!

OUR 2017 TOURS AND WORKSHOPS - REGISTRATION OPEN
For Group Tours click here
For Knee High Naturalists FULL
For Workshops click here
For Events Calendar click here

CANADA’S 150TH AND ELLIS BIRD FARM’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY A GREAT SUCCESS!

Friday July 21

On Friday, we gathered together the founding members of Ellis Bird Farm as well as the early leadership team from the Prentiss site to collect oral history of both the Prentiss site as well as EBF.. We finished off the day with a wine and cheese, a power point presentation about the history of Ellis Bird Farm, and presentations by Gary Krigbaum and Don Young. Gary Krigbaum, who now lives in Iowa, was the General Services Manager at Union Carbide when they were looking to purchase the Ellis farm. He was able to secure the land by promising Charlie and Winnie that the company would look after their birds. He is shown here looking through some of the early EBF archives with his wife, Pam.

Don Young, who now lives in Ontario, was the CFO of the Prentiss site as well an early EBF board member. We were very pleased to also have Walter Lindley, the first Prentiss Manager, in attendance. Don and Walter are shown here meeting for the first time in many years.

We had planned to conduct individual interviews outside on Friday, but the rain and wind forced us inside. Luckily, Winnie's old chicken coop (now called the Hen House Studio) was the perfect venue for doing the recordings.

From Left: Darcy Gabert, Gordon Johnson, Brian Biggs, Joanne Susut
Seated: Barb Shepherd, Bob Winchell, Tony Blake.
Missing, Bonnie Mullin, Colleen McPhee and Leo de Groot

ELLIS BIRD FARM'S CLOSING DAY FOR 2017
Alisha Ritchie, who recently graduated with an MSc from the University of Manitoba, will be giving a summary of this thesis research on Monday, September 4 at 11:30 AM.

The Busy Martin: Factors Influencing Purple Martin Nest Activity

Alisha will discuss some of the findings of her thesis, focusing her findings from the RFID work carried out at Ellis Bird Farm (EBF). She will compare nest activity at EBF with that at other colonies across North America.

Monday, September 4th marks Ellis Bird Farm's final day open for 2017. We will be celebrating our 35th year open in the usual Closing Day festive manner, with live music from the Golden Music Makers out of Red Deer, a sale in our gift shop and all our exhibits open for display. We'll be open 11AM until 5PM, with the Golden Music Makers playing 1PM until 3PM. Come enjoy one last visit before we close for the winter.

POLLINATORS: WHAT'S THE BUZZ? Ellis Bird Farm is hosting a Pollinators Workshop on August 12 - 11AM-1PM.The cost is $20 (plus GST).
Pollinators are vital to the production of food and to the health and stability of our ecosystems worldwide. Join Ellis Bird Farm's head gardener, Cynthia Pohl, to learn about our local pollinators, and how to design your gardens to be pollinator-friendly. The workshop will include three components: an introduction to pollinators and their role in our ecosystem, a hands-on workshop where you will construct your own indigenous bee habitat structure and a guided tour around Ellis Bird Farm where you can observe pollinators in action.

THANK YOU DOW CANADA!
We would like to thank Dow Canada for providing us with a grant to enable us to collect important oral history footage of both the Prentiss site and Ellis Bird Farm. We started with this project on March 27 by hosting an interview between Morris Flewwelling (first EBF Chairman of the Board) and Walter Lindley (first Prentiss Plant Manager). We will continue collecting footage of early Prentiss employees as well as early EBF board members and staff over the next months.

Screenshot by Myrna Pearman

News about Gray Jay nest

On Sat, Apr 15, 2017 at 8:14 PM, Myrna Pearman wrote:
We are saddened to report that the Gray Jay nest has failed. The birds abandoned the nest this morning and, by the time the hosts went out to check it this afternoon, the eggs were gone. While we are very disappointed with this turn of events, it is important to remember that nesting birds face many perils. Squirrels, magpies, crows and ravens were constant threats to Elizabeth and Philip's nesting attempt. It is also unfortunate that the weather deteriorated just before the young were to hatch and that the heavy snow resulted in our webcam system failure.

Thank you to everyone who got as excited about this nest as we did! Liz and Philip gave us the first-ever live view of a Gray Jay nest, a rare and wonderful opportunity.

Bird of a Nation-David Bird - The whiskey jack is all-Canadian: it’s friendly, it’s resilient, and it thrives in winter.
Read article here

ELLIS BIRD FARM IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE!
Ellis Bird Farm is pleased to announce the release of another scientific paper related to the documentation of Purple Martin migration using GPS transmitters. Find out where one of our Alberta birds overwintered!
Read or download here.

ELLIS BIRD FARM CONTRIBUTES TO SCIENCE!
A new paper has just been published about the fall migration Purple Martins. Ellis Bird Farm was one of two locations in Alberta where geolocators have been used to track the remarkable migration of these long-distance migrants. Read it here

ELLIS BIRD FARM CELEBRATES 35 YEARS!
Ellis Bird Farm celebrates its 35th anniversary this year! A committee of EBF staff, board members, and both former and present Prentiss site staff are working together to plan special events to commemorate both Canada's 150th as well as EBF's milestone anniversary.

OUR THANKS TO CAROLYN RALLISON OF LAST WEST GARDENS
School programs are well underway. Teachers and students enjoy the interesting and hands-on nature programs offered at Ellis Bird Farm.
Our thanks to Carolyn Rallison of Last West Gardens for her generous donation of perennials to Ellis Bird Farm. All the perennials are excellent for bees and butterflies. Carolyn has been a big EBF supporter over the years.
Our Glover's Silk Moths are hatching! We were excited yesterday to discover that the adults of these gigantic moths, which we overwintered at the site, are finally emerging. Our thanks to Dr. David Lawrie for donating the caterpillars to us and showing us how to raise these moths. We will release these native moths on the site.

WE WELCOME FOUR NEW STUDENTS TO THE SUMMER TEAM AT EBF We welcome four new students to the summer team at EBF. Our thanks to Canada Summer Jobs labour support grant, which enabled us to hire these talented and hard-working young people.

From left; Jeremy Fowler, Kayla Godkin, Sarah Ritchie, Tobyn Neame

EBF OPENING DAY WAS A GREAT SUCCESS! May 22,2017
Opening day for our 2017 season was a great success with almost 400 visitors!
Ellie and Albert's owlets were superstars. Two happy sisters, Ashley and Madison, are shown here getting their portrait taken with Sara (owlet) behind in the tree.

OUR THANKS TO JUDY BOYD- JUNE 3, 2017 Our thanks to Judy Boyd for leading a very interesting Beginning Birder workshop at EBF on June 3! We appreciate Judy sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with us! And how heartening to have the workshop filled with young folks!

BLUEBIRD FESTIVAL TOMORROW - SATURDAY! Be sure to come to our annual Bluebird Festival on Saturday! The Festival runs from 1 PM - 4 PM. Once again, we will have Jazz Explosion providing the musical entertainment. We will be presenting two Blue Feather Awards this year, at 1:00 PM.
Other activities during the day will include chickadee box building, children's crafts, a site tour at 2 PM and a bluebird trail tour (weather permitting).
-Presentation of Blue Feather Award (two recipients this year!) (1 PM)
- Live Music: Jazz Explosion (1 - 3 PM)
- Chickadee box building - $6 plus GST
- Bluebird Trail Tours (weather permitting)
- SiteTour (2 PM)
- Crafts/Activities

A BIG THANKS TO RED DEER KIWANIS CLUB MEMBERS!
A big thanks to Red Deer Kiwanis Club members Rolf Thudium, Denny Jeong, Devan Bell and Steve Cormack for helping us install black tin under the Visitor Centre entrance. This tin will prevent the barn swallows from nesting under the high peak above the front entrance door. We welcome the swallows around the rest of the site, but the location above the door is fatally hot for the nestling swallows. Our site Foreman, Ron Biel, did an excellent job of overseeing the work. Thanks again to all involved!

THANKS TO TJ PAVING OF LACOMBE - MAY 9, 2017
Our thanks to TJ Paving of Lacombe, AB for laying a new asphalt pathway yesterday between the Visitor Centre and the Café. Access around the site will now be much easier for those with wheelchairs and walkers. Our thanks to the Twilight Homes Foundation for a generous donation, whichpaid for the cost of this path. And a big thanks for TJ Paving for their excellent work, for getting the job done well ahead of schedule, and for also donating part of the project .

SPECIAL THANKS TO TWILIGHT HOMES FOUNDATION - APRIL 23, 2017
Ellis Bird Farm board and staff are busy preparing for the upcoming season. Thanks to a very generous donation from the Twilight Homes Foundation, we will be able to complete two new infrastructure projects -- a paved wheelchair path linking the Visitor Centre and Cafe as well as a new deck. Meetings have been underway to finalize the details.

THANKS TO A DONATION FROM THE RED DEER KIWANIS CLUB - APRIL 23, 2017
Thanks to a donation from the Red Deer Kiwanis Club, we will be showcasing the history of Ellis Bird Farm on a new timeline display. Here Ron Biel and Shalynn Westervelt put the finishing touches on the display panels.

WIND STORM - MAY 24TH, 2017
The May 24th storm caused some damage at Ellis Bird Farm. Although there was (thankfully) no damage to any buildings, several trees were blown over along the roadway and around the site. The power was out for almost 40 hours. Staff worked hard on May 25th to clean up the mess, but we had to close the site due to the lack of power. We thank everyone for their understanding.

CELEBRATE CANADA DAY TODAY AT ELLIS BIRD FARM! EVERYONE WELCOME!
Ellis Bird Farm is celebrating Canada Day in a big and feathered way for our sesquicentennial year. We are highlighting the effort to officially re-name the Gray Jay the "Canada Jay" and make it Canada's national bird. Towards that effort, we will have a petition available for you to sign. We have Gray Jay photos and video footage from our webcam this spring, as well as a nest on display.
There are crafts and face painting from 1:00PM until 3:00 PM and a rousing rendition of Oh Canada sung at 1:00 PM, along with an acknowledgement of the Indigenous presence in Alberta and the signing of Treaty Six. Myrna Pearman will be giving an update on her Beauty Everywhere project at 2:00. Finally, we will demo one of our beautiful and well-occupied Purple Martin apartment-style nestboxes at 12:00 noon and 4:00 PM.
There is something going on for every member of your family! As always, we are open 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

Timeline:
11:00 AM Opening
12:00 Noon: Purple Martin house demo
1:00-3:00PM: Crafts and face painting
1:00 PM Oh Canada and Treaty 6 Acknowledgement
2:00 Myrna's Beauty Everywhere project presentation
4:00 PM Second Purple Martin house demo
5:00 PM Closing

Ellis Bird Farm is holding a BioBlitz event this coming Father's Day--a neat way to spend some time with Dad!
What is a BioBlitz? It's an intense team effort to find as many animal species in one location as possible. Ellis Bird Farm is hosting our own effort to observe different bird and other animal species on Sunday, June 18 from 1-3PM. We will have scientists on hand to help us identify the species around us, including Susanne Maidment demonstrating hummingbird banding, Tim Schowalter with an owl pellet display and Joey Temple identifying bugs at the Wetland Centre. Come discover the diversity of creatures onsite at Ellis Bird Farm and help us count the species in your own Bioblitz Booklet. There will also be an owl craft to do. Bring Dad and the whole family!

We are pleased to announce that the first Purple Martins arrived at Ellis Bird Farm yesterday. The owlets are peeking their heads over the nest, the snowshoe hare continues to turn brown, a pair of geese are nesting near the entrance gate, a mallard has tucked her nest beside the cafe patio, and the ants are busy with their nuptials!

Spring is here!
A pair of snowshoe hares have spent the winter around the EBF site. They are now turning colour.

CBC Radio Interview with Myrna Pearman - Mar 29, 2017
Birdwatchers all over the world are getting an exceptionally rare view of a gray jay in Caroline, Alberta, thanks to Myrna Pearman. She is a biologist with the Ellis Bird Farm in central Alberta. Her team set up a nestcam on a gray jay earlier this month.
Listen here.

Gray Jay nest. March 18th, 2017

We are pleased to announce that Ellis Bird Farm has successfully installed a webcam on a Gray Jay nest! Gray Jay nests are notoriously hard to find, so it was a great honour to be offered the opportunity to install this cam on a nest in the Caroline, AB area.

We thought it fitting to enable the world to have a rare opportunity to watch the nesting activities of Canada's National Bird, especially during this, Canada's 150+ anniversary year!

Thanks to the Wild Bird Store, Calgary, for a very successful book signing on Saturday! We appreciate their ongoing support of Ellis Bird Farm!

The real culprits!
Our webcams have revealed the mystery of our disappearing bird seed! And here we were blaming the squirrels for figuring out how the weight activated feeders worked. We will obviously have to move the feeders higher up, out of their reach.
Watch our live webcam any time of day here.

Summer students needed 2017 NOT CURRENT

Ellis Bird Farm is looking for summer students. If you are enthusiastic and have an interest in nature and education, we invite you to submit your resume to info@ellisbirdfarm.ca

Site Operations Assistant x 2
Position Duration: May 15 - August 31 (maximum 14 weeks)
Must be a student returning to full time studies in the fall

Develop and deliver interpretive programs (school programs, public tours, nature day camps, birthday parties)
Assist with site operations
Plan and participate in events and programs
Assist with visitor services and gift shop
Assist with domestic animal care
Janitorial and site maintenance
Grounds work

Grounds Position x 1
Position Duration: May 8 – August 31 (maximum 14 weeks)
Preferably a student returning to full time studies in the fall

Lawn mowing
Planting
Weeding
Pruning
Equipment maintenance

Getting owl nest ready for Ellie and Albert
Claudia LIpski has helped our IT wizard, Scott H, get the owl webcam ready. Her most recent job was to nidificate: she robbed a few neighbourhood magpie nests of sticks and rearranged them in the owl basket so that Ellie and Albert will have some nice renovated digs to move into. (Nidificate--to build a nest)

Myrna Pearman giving presentation in Rimbey, January 20th
Myrna will be giving a presentation entitled Beauty Everywhere at the Rimbey Library on Friday, January 20th, at 7:00 PM. The talk will highlight some of the nature experiences and photography that are included in her new book (Beauty Everywhere), a compilation of five years of nature essays published in the Red Deer Advocate. The talk, hosted by the Rimbey Library, is free and refreshments will be served.
She will also be giving a backyard bird feeding talk at 1:00 PM on Saturday, January 21 at Parkland Garden Centre in Red Deer.

Ellis Bird Farm in December, 2016

News and Media Archives-2016

Brian Keating praises Myrna Pearman's new book on CBC Radio-December 5, 2016

Our Homestretch naturalist Brian Keating is back with a book that he thinks we should all be reading, or perhaps be giving as a Christmas gift.
Listen to this episode on CBC radio show here.

Claudia and Myrna have been busy filling book orders - books sales spiked after Brian Keating's CBC interview!

Newspaper write-up on Myrna-December 5, 2016
Red Deer Advocate wrote a nice front page article on Myrna.
Read it here.
Another article here.

Myrna's book launch was a great success!
A big thank you to all who came out yesterday to support my book launch! Over 60 people attended and Kerry Wood Nature Centre sold a record number of books!

I was very pleased that Fred Schutz could attend. Fred has been a life-long friend and mentor who instilled in me my great love of nature. The book is dedicated to him. Fred also has a new book out - at age 96! He is shown here signing one of his previous books for Jim Potter. The Beauty Everywhere cover photograph is of a Saw-whet Owl taken on Jim and Bonnie's beautiful property near Delburne. Many other pictures in the book were also taken at "Potter's Paradise." I am truly grateful to everyone who helped make this book possible!

Myrna's exciting new book will be launched today at Kerry Wood Nature Centre, Dec 4th, 2-4 PM. She will give a presentation at 3PM.
To celebrate the launch of this exciting book, it will be on sale for 20.00 plus GST. Everyone welcome!

A few pictures around the site, showing the fall colours. Autumn at Ellis Bird Farm

Lightroom workshop well attended

EBF Board member, Leo de Groot, kindly donated his time to teach a two-day Lightroom workshop at EBF at the end of October. The workshop was well attended and well received.

Home Hardware hosted a very well attended "Bird Night"

Myrna has been busy in October, giving bird feeding presentations. Here she is with Curt Peterson and Doug McDermand of the Alix Home Hardware. The store hosted a very well attended "Bird Night," last week where they showcased some of their bird feeding products. Myrna was the guest speaker.

19th Anniversary celebrations at the Wild Bird Store in Calgary, October 2nd, 2016

Myrna Pearman was pleased to participate in the 19th Anniversary celebrations at the Wild Bird Store in Calgary, held at the store on October 1. Shown here is Myrna with Wild Bird Store staff on the left and Kelley and Don Barany of Chin Ridge Seeds (Taber) on the right.

Ron and Claudia have been busy getting all the patio furniture put away and the buildings winterized.

Adobe Lightroom Course at Ellis Bird Farm – October 29 & 30, 2016
This course will give extensive training in the use of Adobe Lightroom, which is the most popular photo-editing program in use today. Your presenter will be Leo de Groot, currently President of the Central Alberta Photographic Society.
You will learn how to:

Import your photos into the program’s Library module which can handle 200,000 images or more

Automatically apply custom settings during the import
Customize the way the software displays your images on screen
Analyze your photos for technical quality
Filter your photos to expedite organizing them
Rank your images
Organize them so you can easily find photos using keywords
Add watermarks or signatures
Export them again in various sizes and formats

Edit your images using the Develop module

Modify basic settings like exposure, contrast, shadows, blacks, saturation, and more
Use the histogram to decide what adjustments are appropriate
Use presets to quickly apply adjustments
Make fine adjustments to individual colors in images
Sharpen your image
Control noise
Automatically have lens corrections applied
Correct distortions in images
Use special tools to crop, remove spots, apply graduated filters, and adjustment brushes

Lightroom also has Map, Book, Slideshow, Print and Web modules which we will touch on if there is time.

The schedule for the course will be:
Saturday, October 29
9:00-11:00 Library Module Part 1
11:00-12:00 Question and Answer session
1:00-3:00 Library Module Part 2
3:00-4:00 Question and Answer session
Sunday, October 30
9:00-11:00 Develop Module Part 1
11:00-12:00 Question and Answer session
1:00-3:00 Develop Module Part 2
3:00-4:00 Question and Answer session

Cost $100 (half price for Central Alberta Photographic Society Members)

The happy winners- 2016

The quilt went home to a very excited raffle draw winner today!

Michele Bevan of Breton was the lucky winner of Barb Shepherd's beautiful bluebird quilt.

Winner: Joyce Ing of Carstairs

The happy winner of Joyce Youle's beautiful wolf cross stitch was Joyce Ing of Carstairs. Her friend, Linda Neumiller, was on hand when Joyce's name was called. She kindly delivered the prize to Joyce.

A big thank you to Joyce Youle of Regina for her donation of this beautiful piece!

Between our two raffles this summer, we generated a total of $1,678.00.

End of season approaches 2016

The Purple Martins left early this year - most had left Ellis Bird Farm by the 13th of August (we usually count on at least a few being around until the 20th). It is time to clean out the old nesting material, disinfect the nest cavities with a shot of bleach water, and nest seed for next year with chopped straw. This messy job is being tackled by (from left to right) Ron Biel, Shalynn Westervelt and Meagan Gabert.

Ellis Bird Farm honours Gary Krigbaum of Iowa - 2016

Ellis Bird Farm was honoured by the recent visit of Gary and Pam Krigbaum of Iowa. It is Mr Krigbaum who we can thank for Ellis Bird Farm!

After it was determined that the Ellis farm was the ideal location for a petrochemical site, Union Carbide Canada tried unsuccessfully to deal with Charlie and Winnie. Finally, the Union Carbide CEO sent Mr Krigbaum, Manager of General Services, out from Toronoto to talk to them. It was Mr Krigbaum's promise to Charlie and Winnie that the company would "look after their bluebirds" that sealed the deal. Mr Krigbaum then met in secret with a well respected local realtor, Glen Buchwald, to obtain the options to the land. The goal was to secure the property without affecting local land prices.
Mr Krigbaum has never been back to the site after sealing the deal with Charlie and Winnie, so it was a very memorable day to have him visit and reconnect with some of the other people who were instrumental in establishing Ellis BIrd Farm and getting it off to a strong start.

Glen Buchwald remained a strong supporter of Ellis Bird Farm until his passing. His wife, Beverly, continues to support us. We were very pleased that Gary and Beverly had a chance to meet again and enjoy a short visit.

A very busy Closing Day- 2016

Ellis Bird Farm hosted a very busy Closing Day. Myrna Pearman's bird feeding talk was well attended and we were entertained once again by the Golden Music Makers. The raffle draws were held at 3 PM, with Marney Marshall (96 years young) drawing the names. We will have a list of winners posted shortly. She is pictured here with her son and granddaughter, who she (luckily!) drew for door prizes! We were also pleased to have Joel from KJCountry/Z99 at the site for the afternoon!

Closing day 2016

Ellis Bird Farm will close for the season on Monday, September 5! We will be open as usual from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

From 12:30 PM until 1:00 PM, Myrna Pearman will do a presentation about backyard bird feeding. Her newest book, Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide will be on sale (they make excellent Christmas gifts!). In celebration of fall and the arrival of Blue Jays at feeding stations, we will have a special sale on shelled and unshelled peanuts.

Myrna will talk about how you can share your backyard (but not your bird feeders!) with squirrels!

From 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM, musical entertainment will be provided by Red Deer's Golden Music Makers.

We will also have a sale in our gift shop, and the draw for our raffle items will occur at 3:15. NOTE: due to the popularity of the quilt donated by Barb Shepherd, our first raffle sold out early. We have a second raffle, with a second quilt, on now. Any raffle tickets purchased on Closing Day will also be eligible for door prize draws!

The Zed98.9/KG Country Radio Summer Cruiser truck will be live on location. They will have some giveaways for visitors. It’s a fun addition to our closing day event. Stop by and say hi!

Come celebrate the glorious summer of 2016 one last time with us!

University of Manitoba Graduate Student, Alisha Ritchie, has been conducting ground-breaking research on Purple Martins at Ellis Bird Farm. She recently presented a paper at the North American Ornithological Conference entitled Intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing parental provisioning rates of a migratory songbird, Purple Martin (Progne subis). Alisha will be give a repeat presentation of this paper at Ellis Bird Farm on Thursday September 1 at 4:00 PM. All are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Purple Martin Presentation by Alisha Ritchie- Thursday, Sept 1st, 4PM

Be sure to check out our calendar of events!
Ellis Bird Farm Event Calendar for 2016

Bug Jamboree was fun for all! Listen to John Acorn's BUG JAMBOREE song!

Knee High Nature program on Wednesday August 10
Claudia LIpski led another well-received Knee High Nature program on Wednesday. These very popular programs introduce children to the wonders of nature! There is one program left, next Wednesday, Aug 17th. Pre-registration is required here

Ellie and Albert successfully nested again this year!

All about them here

"Wishing our Ellis Owl Family long life and high flying until we meet again. Thanks for all the precious memories and outright joy you brought us Haley, April and Gus, especially our lil Gus"
- Chat gal WendyWoot-1

Art and Nature Day Camp a success! A keen group of budding naturalists and artists enjoyed an Art and Nature Day Camp at Ellis Bird Farm on Tuesday, August 6, 2016

Pollinators – What’s the Buzz?!
Pollinators are vital to the production of food and to the health and stability of ecosystems worldwide. Join head gardener, Cynthia Pohl, to learn about our local pollinators and how you can design your gardens to be pollinator friendly.
-Presentation - Introduction to Pollinators: What pollinators are. Why they are important. What you can do to help ensure pollinator health.
-Hands on workshop - Construction of solitary indigenous bee habitat structures and participate in the building of the Ellis Bird Farm pollinator hotel.
-Lunch break.
-Pollinator walk and talk - walk through the Ellis Bird Farm gardens to see both indigenous and non-indigenous pollinators at work and look at garden design to demonstrate principles that are beneficial to pollinators.
-Planting for Pollinators - focus on using indigenous plants, why they are important and how to use them successfully.
Planting for Pollinators - Aug 16th, 9:30-4:30 PM

Central Alberta Photographic Society visits EBF
The Central Alberta Photographic Society from Red Deer visited the Ellis Bird Farm on Wednesday evening, July 20 as 18 club members took in the greenery and its feathered denizens. Myrna was very kind to open the Farm especially for them in the evening. The event started off with “golden hour” sunshine, so beloved by photographers, which continued to beam down on the group for the full 10 minutes during which a rain storm hit that saw the members all scamper for cover in the site's buildings! But after the storm passed a beautiful full rainbow filled the sky to the east and the fresh air and water droplets on the flowers all contributed to some great photography. The 100 families of nesting purple martins chirped away constantly as they fed their soon to fledge young, and many other bird species put in appearances for the shooters. A special but short-lived treat was the appearance of a long-tailed weasel. Perennial stars of the visit to the site were again the goats who proved very friendly to the photographers as usual. The evening was truly beautiful after the rain and some members of the club lingered on until well after 9:00, photographing 4 young barn swallows being fed by their parents right above the main entrance. Very much appreciated was the provision of coffee, lemonade and cookies by EF to keep up the club members’ strength while they pressed those shutter buttons over and over.
This was a repeat visit as the club also had an outing to EBF the year before, and judging from the interest at this current outing, they may well ask to come again next year.
-Leo de Groot

Bio Blitz a great success! EBF had a very successful BIo Blitz on Saturday July 23. Our thanks to Susanne Maidment, Larry Roy, Tim Showalter, Judy Boyd (and Otis from Medicine River Wildlife Centre) and Janessa Matthew (Red Deer River Watershed Alliance) for sharing their knowledge and expertise with our visitors!

BIO BLITZ today 1-3 PM Saturday, July 23

This free, fun and interactive event will focus on learning about our wild neighbors. Biologists will be on site to share their expertise on “Owls and Others”.

-Meet "Otis the Owl" from the Medicine River Wildlife Centre
-Local bird expert Judy Boyd to talk about Otis and owls.
-Susan Maidment will be demonstrating hummingbird banding techniques.
-Owl pellets by Tim Schowalter
-Animal scats and signs by Larry Roy
-Site tours to learn about the plants and animals of Ellis Bird Farm will be offered at 1 PM and 2 PM.

Welcome everyone! No reservations needed.

Ma Squirrel is nesting in a nestbox beside the grain elevator. 5 babies!

Watch her and her brood here.

2016 Canada Day and Bluebird Festival at EBF!
Over 300 people enjoyed Canada Day and the Bluebird Festival at Ellis Bird Farm on July 1.

EBF has a new yard light!
Thanks to EBF Board Member, Colleen McPhee, and her husband and sons, EBF has a new yard light. We are grateful to the McPhee team for this new and important addition to the site!
June 2016

Ellis Bird Farm opened for the season with cake!
Ellis Bird Farm opened for the season with cake! Donors and supporters of Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide joined the EBF team to help celebrate the amazing success of the book, which has sold 5,000 copies in 5 months.

A special thank you to Peavey Industries, The Wildbird General Store (Edmonton), the Wild Bird Store (Calgary), Chin Ridge Seeds and private donors (Walter and Betty Lindley, Evelyn Jensen and GM Will Consulting) for their support. All profits from the sale of the book - now in reprint - support the education programs of EBF

Ellis Bird Farm made science history on Tuesday May 31
Ellis Bird Farm made science history on Tuesday May 31 when University of Manitoba Grad Student, Alisha Ritchie, and her EBF team (Cheyenne Knight, Claudia Lipski and Myrna Pearman) retrapped a very special yearling Purple Martin. This bird had been retrofitted with a light level geolocator last season, as a nestling, and is the first songbird EVER(!) to be tracked on its first migration. The bird had evaded several attempts to trap it, so it has been named Houdini.

Photo by Myrna Pearman

Saw-whet owl nest box
We are very honoured to be able to share some amazing footage inside a saw-whet owl box. A nestcam was placed in this box (located near Edmonton) before the owls commenced their nesting season, so we are able to view and enjoy this remarkable footage without disturbing the owls at all! Enjoy!!

Enjoy the videos here
Still image (left) by Myrna Pearman. Video footage shared with permission by a bird bander from the Edmonton area.

Ellis Bird Farm is very grateful to Brad Pears of Netsetter Wireless (a local wireless internet provider) for donating bandwidth so that we can stream our web cameras. We are grateful for this very generous support!
An Alberta company: www.netsetter.ca

Photo by Myrna Pearman

Chickadee nests in piece of birch log
EBF's technical wizard found a section of a downed birch tree on his travels a few weeks ago and decided to bring it home and attached it to his downspout. Lo and behold a pair of chickadees decided that this small section of birch would be perfect for a nest cavity!

Watch live as these chickadees raise their family!
Watch here on ustream

Our new Ellis Cafe Chef, Matt Burton, chatted with EBF board members and staff after serving a seven-course "trial run" lunch last week. The votes are in - the food is delicious! Matt and his wife, Jenith, are looking forward to running the Cafe this season! Check out the website for the new menu!

Ellis Bird Farm's Cynthia Pohl and Myrna Pearman were recently interviewed by Rebel Sky Media, a Winnipeg-based video production company. The company is traveling across Western Canada interviewing people and organizations that are involved in protecting pollinators.

Welcome! Today is opening day.
Ellis Bird Farm will open today at 11:00 AM. We will be celebrating the recent release of Ellis Bird Farm's newest publication, Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide. As well, Ellis Bird Farm is very excited to welcome our new Café operator, Matt Burton of Your Private Chef Ltd., who brings with him new inspiration and lots of culinary experience.
We will also be offering other interesting Opening Day festivities, including a family-oriented migration game, chickadee boxes to be built on site, baby goats to pet and musical entertainment between 2:00 – 4:00 PM. It should be a marvelous start to another season--hope to see you!

Pathway Improvements at EBF - May 1 ,2016

A team consisting of EBF board members and staff, under the direction of Head Gardener, Cynthia Pohl, worked hard last Saturday to transform a tangled mess of pruned tree trunks and branches into another interesting and artistic "node."

We are pleased to announce that Ellie and Albert, the EBF Great Horned Owls, are the proud parents of three owlets!
Viewers can now watch the Ellie 24-7!

We’re delighted to announce the new design of our website. It has a very user-friendly structure, resulting in a better visitor experience for all ages.

We also now have an online bookstore for you to shop, and new photo galleries for you to browse.

On a sad note...
The EBF beavers have disappeared. They disappeared shortly before freeze up last fall, so we are not sure what happened to them.

With the beavers gone, we cleared part of one lodge off the wheelchair path so that the path will again be accessible, while still allowing visitors the opportunity to see these creatures' amazing handiwork.

Thanks to everyone who helped on this project.

If you’re curious about how beavers build their lodges, check out this video on YouTube.

Check out our Video Gallery for recordings of the beavers captured on Ustream.

APR 2016: One box of 48 books - that's all we have left of the 5,000 Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide books that were printed. In just five short months, this book is virtually sold out. We have a reprint ordered! -Myrna Pearman

Spruce Meadows Horticultural Garden Show was excellent

Ellis Bird Farm enjoyed a very successful weekend at the Spring Garden Show in Calgary. Kathryn Kopciuk and EBF board member, Gordon Johnson, both volunteered to help Myrna Pearman and Claudia Lipski tell show attendees about EBF. Over 1,000 rack cards were handed out!

Claudia Lipski, Myrna and Kathryn Kopciuk.

Left: Myrna and nature photographer Russ Amy whose images grace the book.

Above: Myrna and Carolyn Sandstrom, EBF webmaster and photo coordinator for Myrna's book BACKYARD BIRD FEEDING: An Alberta Guide.

New Operator for the Ellis Café- MAR 2016
The Ellis Café (formerly the Ellis Bird Farm Teahouse) has a new operator! We are pleased to introduce our new operator Matt Burton from Your Private Chef Ltd. Matt comes to the Ellis Café with a variety of culinary experiences, beginning with his training as a pastry and culinary chef in Montreal, Quebec. Matt has worked in many different restaurant settings over the years, most recently working his magic with bread at Cobs Bread Bakery.

Matt has a passion for fresh food and local ingredients, and he is excited to work with local producers to bring his vision for tasty and beautiful food to Ellis Bird Farm. We look forward to seeing (and tasting!) what he schemes up for the Ellis Café this season. Ellis Bird Farm opens for the 2016 season on May 23.

Matt Burton met with EBF board members Bonnie Mullin and Gordon Johnson on February 2nd to sign the new Ellis Café Contract.

New aerial photograph of EBF- March 21 2016
Jim Wigmore took some aerial photographs of EBF recently and we thought we'd share (thanks Jim!). What a beautiful tree-protected space Charlie and Winnie created!

Bob Holtkamp, who lives in Yorkton, SK, has kindly transported the first delivery of the beautiful Morley Maier boxes that we will be auctioning off this coming season. Thanks Bob!
Our thanks also to Morley for preserving prairie heritage by transforming pieces of abandoned prairie homes in the Yorkton area into vintage bird boxes. We will have about 20 of these boxes on display when we open this season. The bidding wars will be fierce on these remarkable works of art!

Ellis bird farm is being promoted at the Calgary Horticultural Society's Spring Garden Show!
Come and chat with Myrna Pearman at the Garden Show this weekend at Spruce Meadows.
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, both Saturday and Sunday.

Garden Show 2016 website here

The Mountain Bluebirds are back! The first reported ones in the province were by Millarville on March 7 and near Botha on March 9. photo by Russ Amy

Ellie and Albert, the resident pair of Great Horned Owls, are back at Ellis Bird Farm! One of them was first seen at the nest on January 27th! Albert has been spotted hanging out on the perch! Stay tuned for further announcements.

Myrna presented with award! - March 5th, 2016
Myrna Pearman was presented with the Popular Publication Award (for Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide) by the Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society at their awards banquet in Drumheller on Saturday, March 5th. Shown with Myrna is EBF Board member, Brian Biggs, and Claudia Lipski.

A well-received bird talk by Myrna - Mar 6, 2016
Myrna delivered a bird feeding talk at Spruce It Up Garden Centre in Calgary on Sunday afternoon. She is shown here with Brad Watson, Store Manager.

A well-received presentation-Feb 25, 2016
Myrna Pearman delivered a well-received presentation at the Greater Edmonton Area Teacher's Convention on February 25th. The title of her talk was "An Inspiration of Bluebirds." She was delighted to have among the audience two former summer students at EBF, Ronald and Erica Van den Pol. Ronald and Erica both teach in Ft. McMurray. Like most former students, they remain enthusiastic supporters of Ellis Bird Farm!

Chickadee Visits the Owl Nest
Our owl webcams captured a friendly visitor! Keep your eye on the bottom right side of the screen to catch the black-capped paying a visit to the owls.
Chickadee Visits Nest

Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference FEB 2016

Ellis Bird Farm was well represented at the recent Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference in Saskatoon. Alisha gave a presentation at the conference and Claudia Lipski and Myrna Pearman had a poster. Claudia is shown here chatting with one of the conference attendees about EBF!

New Operator for the Ellis Café FEB2016

The Ellis Café (formerly the Ellis Bird Farm Teahouse) has a new operator! We are excited to
announce that our new operator is Matt Burton from Your Private Chef Ltd. Matt comes to the Ellis Café with a variety of culinary experiences, beginning with his training as a pastry and culinary chef in Montreal, Quebec. Matt has worked in many different restaurant settings over the years, most recently working his magic with bread at Cobs Bread Bakery.

Matt has a passion for fresh food and local ingredients, and he is excited to work with local producers to bring his vision for tasty and beautiful food to Ellis Bird Farm. We look forward to seeing (and tasting!) what he schemes up for the Ellis Café this season. Ellis Bird Farm opens for the 2016 season on M

Matt Burton met with EBF board members Bonnie Mullin and Gordon Johnson on February 2nd to sign the new Ellis Café Contract.

Shelving for archival material. JAN 2016

Ron Biel and Claudia Lipski installing the last of the shelves in the office at the EBF Visitor Centre. These shelves will be the new home for EBF archived materials and records.

And then there were two...The first egg of owls Ellie and Albert hatched on April 18th and the second egg hatched April 20th. We don’t have exact times since Ellie keeps her eggs and now her owlets very close underneath. Ellie will stay on the nest with them for a week or so then she will join Albert in bringing food into the nest as well as protecting them. After 6-7 weeks these tiny fuzz balls of downy cuteness will be grown enough to begin ‘branching,’ a phase where they climb out of the nest onto branches of the tree and begin to spread their wings, strengthening those muscles in preparation for their first flight.

News and Media Archives-2015

Brian Keating reviews Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide

CBC RADIO EDMONTON with Brian Keating - December 7th, 2015

CBC RADIO The Homestretch December 30, 2015

If you're wondering how to attract our feathered friends to your backyard year round, there's plenty of advice in a new book. Myrna Pearman is a biologist and the site manager at the Ellis Bird Farm in Lacombe. She spoke with Doug Dirks about her guide.

Grant for EBF to assist with the 2016 North American Bluebird Society conference

Dec 1st: Several grants were presented today at a special RDDCF "Giving Tuesday" event held at the Collicut Centre. Here, Myrna Pearman receives a grant to assist with the 2016 North American Bluebird Society conference.

Myrna's radio interview with Meryl Coombs on "Let's Talk Gardening" - CHQR 770 "News Talk" Calgary

Total Duration: 8.02 minutes - November 29th, 2015

EBF Wish List

Wheelbarrow
Household brooms
Yarn and plastic lacing cord
Umbrellas to loan out to visitors on rainy days
Wooden or nature-based plastic beads for our school and day camp programs
Old fashioned one-speed bike (to keep the farmstead theme of EBF). This would be used for staff to open and close the gate and other errands around the site
Leaf blowers
Bistro sets (small table, two chairs)
Shoelaces (new or lightly used)
World globes
Craft supplies, tempera and acrylic paints for crafts
Golf cart

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Ellis Bird Farm
Box 5090
Lacombe, AB
T4L 1W7
403-885-4477
Email: info@ellisbirdfarm.ca

Site Manager
Myrna Pearman

Hours of Operation
Monday, May 18 - Monday Sept 7
Tuesday through Sunday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Holiday Mondays 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Please note that Ellis Bird Farm is closed on most Mondays

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Support EBF
Donations are welcome and gratefully accepted at Ellis Bird Farm, to ensure that we keep running.

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Location

Contact

FAQ

Saturday July 6 – Birds in Flight Photography Workshop with Leo de Groot

9:00 AM – Noon

$35.00 plus GST

Coffee and muffins provided

PLEASE ADD TO CART on the right side of the page to complete registration

Saturday, June 29 – Nature Meditation with Tara Simpson

9:30 AM – Noon - Cost: $35 plus GST

PLEASE ADD TO CART ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE TO COMPLETE REGISTRATION

Sunday June 2 – Beginning Birder Workshop with Judy Boyd

9:00 AM – Noon $10.00 plus GST

Ages 10 years to adult

Bring your binoculars and bird books, or borrow a pair from our Visitor Centre. Dress to go outside.

PLEASE FILL OUT THIS FORM TO ACCOMPANY PAYMENT at right

NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2018

Ellie the Owl watching over the site - Jan 29, 2018

A winters day at EBF - January 14, 2018 - photography by Kirstin Bouwsema

NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2016/2017

Brian Keating quoted Myrna's Beauty Everywhere book in his last CBC interview

about the survival strategies of winter birds.

Listen to the interview here.

NON-CURRENT-News and Media Archives-2016/2017

Ellis Bird Farm in December, 2016

News and Media Archives-2016

Bug Jamboree was fun for all! Listen to John Acorn's BUG JAMBOREE song!

News and Media Archives-2015

Brian Keating reviews Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide

CBC RADIO The Homestretch December 30, 2015

Grant for EBF to assist with the 2016 North American Bluebird Society conference

Myrna's radio interview with Meryl Coombs on "Let's Talk Gardening" - CHQR 770 "News Talk" Calgary

EBF Wish List

Saturday July 6 – Birds in Flight Photography Workshop with Leo de Groot9:00 AM – Noon$35.00 plus GSTCoffee and muffins provided​*PLEASE ADD TO CART on the right side of the page to complete registration*

Saturday, June 29 – Nature Meditation with Tara Simpson9:30 AM – Noon - Cost: $35 plus GST​*PLEASE ADD TO CART ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE TO COMPLETE REGISTRATION*

Sunday June 2 – Beginning Birder Workshop with Judy Boyd 9:00 AM – Noon $10.00 plus GSTAges 10 years to adultBring your binoculars and bird books, or borrow a pair from our Visitor Centre. Dress to go outside.​PLEASE FILL OUT THIS FORM TO ACCOMPANY PAYMENT at right

​NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2018

Ellie the Owl watching over the site - Jan 29, 2018

A winters day at EBF - January 14, 2018 - photography by ​Kirstin Bouwsema

​NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2016/2017

​​Brian Keating quoted Myrna's Beauty Everywhere book in his last CBC interview​about the survival strategies of winter birds.​Listen to the interview here.

NON-CURRENT-News and Media Archives-2016/2017

Ellis Bird Farm in December, 2016

News and Media Archives-2016

​Bug Jamboree was fun for all! Listen to John Acorn's BUG JAMBOREE song!

News and Media Archives-2015

Brian Keating reviews Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide

CBC RADIO The Homestretch December 30, 2015

Grant for EBF to assist with the 2016 North American Bluebird Society conference

Myrna's radio interview with Meryl Coombs on "Let's Talk Gardening" - CHQR 770 "News Talk" Calgary

EBF Wish List

Saturday July 6 – Birds in Flight Photography Workshop with Leo de Groot

9:00 AM – Noon

$35.00 plus GST

Coffee and muffins provided

PLEASE ADD TO CART on the right side of the page to complete registration

Saturday, June 29 – Nature Meditation with Tara Simpson

9:30 AM – Noon - Cost: $35 plus GST

PLEASE ADD TO CART ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE TO COMPLETE REGISTRATION

Sunday June 2 – Beginning Birder Workshop with Judy Boyd

9:00 AM – Noon $10.00 plus GST

Ages 10 years to adult

Bring your binoculars and bird books, or borrow a pair from our Visitor Centre. Dress to go outside.

PLEASE FILL OUT THIS FORM TO ACCOMPANY PAYMENT at right

NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2018

A winters day at EBF - January 14, 2018 - photography by Kirstin Bouwsema

NON-CURRENT-NEWS AND MEDIA ARCHIVES-2016/2017

Brian Keating quoted Myrna's Beauty Everywhere book in his last CBC interview

about the survival strategies of winter birds.

Listen to the interview here.

Bug Jamboree was fun for all! Listen to John Acorn's BUG JAMBOREE song!