This video story was reported and produced by Nicholas Cousineau. Anchoring was Caylee Cottrell.
Nature is characterized by being not only full of vegetation but also about being surrounded by a variety of animals and their free spirits, especially birds.
The Birds of Prey is a program that is partnered with Boyd Hill Nature Preserve and the city of St. Petersburg. Their main goal is to present the best amount of services in order to provide a high level rehabilitation system to the birds. Their well-being is considered one of the most important focuses, but they also include quality things such as shelter, food and veterinary for them.
Amy DePalma is a nature preserve ranger that works closely with birds at Boyd Hill Park. She flies beyond her duties to make sure the birds are safe and appreciated.
Birds of prey are at the top of the food chain in the air, but what happens when one takes a fall they can’t recover from? Where do those birds go when they get injured and need human assistance?
“This program has been around since 1986 so, a long time, but it’s evolved into this beautiful program that has 19 permanently injured birds of prey that we have trained to be, educational ambassadors,” DePalma said “One thing that I think sets us apart from a lot of other natural areas, especially like county or state parks, we really emphasize on educational programs. So, we have camps for kids, the schools come through here, we have adult programs…”
DePalma is also the head coordinator for the Birds of Prey program. This program is specialized by providing permanently injured, non-releasable birds a safe and healthy environment to thrive, with the main focus of giving them a new purpose as educators, in order to make a great and significant outcome.
Boyd Hill Nature Preserve presents activities in order to teach visitors not only to learn and educate more about this situation, but also about teaching them to respect and help restore local wildlife as well.
“They’re trained to stand on our glove and then we take them out and we teach people about them specifically and also their species. Most of the birds that we have here are here because of either direct human contact or interacting with our man-made structures, so a lot of them are here because of people so they have a really great conservation message to teach the local people how to help protect birds of prey,” DePalma said.
The bond DePalma has formed a heartwarming and pure connection with these animals shows that this program’s intentions are not only about taking care about each one of them; but about making sure they live a happy life as well.
“They do seem to enjoy their lives here, I would say as, you know, a best guess of enjoyment. They are healthy and they do participate in-in training activities,” DePalma said “I think overall that they are happy where they are here.”
Many of Boyd Hill’s programs are currently closed due to social distancing concerns, but the preserve’s nature trails are open and teeming with local wildlife. Visit St. Petersburg’s parks and REC website for more info on their ongoing closures.
