Wildlife Recovery Centre

 Just outside of Parksville we discovered the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre.  A place where they rehab injured animals for release back into the wild or if their injuries are too severe they live out their days at the Centre.  Most of the animals were birds, many the result of encounters with vehicles.  There was also one black bear wandering around one enclosure.  

It was hard getting good pictures as the fencing made focusing and getting a clean shot almost impossible.  Lots of owls and eagles.

This guy was in a large enclosure however the door was open as due to his injuries he wasn't going anywhere.  Looked pretty content and totally ignored us. 

Lunch time.

Turkey vulture.  Saw lots of these soaring above the desert in Az.   A face only a mother could love. 

Beautiful eagle that we could get close to.  He kept grabbing at the wire fencing with his beak trying to break out from his confinement.  

A junior bald eagle.  His wing was pretty banged up so he is here for the duration.  

An interesting visit.  An employee told us that something as innocent as throwing an apple core from your vehicle can result in injuries to the birds.  The apple core attracts rats to the roadway which attracts hawks, owls and eagles and their focus is totally on the rodent and often end up colliding with a vehicle.  Guess I won't be throwing my apple cores out the window any more.  

Kudos to those who work to rehab these animals.