Farewell!

It is that time of year, the days are getting colder and the food is running out for us Bluebirds. It is time I migrate my way down to Mexico! Sorry I have to leave you here in the cold winter but I need to stay warm and eat lots. I really hope you enjoyed your time with me these past months, I know I sure had fun. But remember just because I am leaving does not mean Ball’s Falls is closing! It is open all year long so check it out this fall and winter. The historical buildings have reduced hours in November offering tours Monday to Friday from 10-4 on the hour. The tours will start back up in May, if you come wanting a tour it is best to call ahead to ensure availability. The Centre for Conservation is open 9-4 daily where wonderful exhibits and a children craft area awaits. The trails are maintained throughout the year so hiking is always possible, on the snowier days snowshoeing and cross country skiing are great activities. There is always plenty to see and do at Ball’s Falls regardless of the time of year! Thanks for listening to me tweet and I hope to see you at Ball’s Falls in the future. I have pecked a letter to an owl who stays here in the wintertime and asked if they would like to continue blogging for Ball’s Falls. This will let you know first hand about all the very cool things to do this fall and winter. And Otus the Screech Owl has said YES!! Stay tuned for post by Otus and enjoy your winter, hope to see you next summer!

The Festival is Happening!

Looking for something to do this weekend? I have the perfect thing for you! The Ball’s Falls Thanksgiving Festival! Come out and enjoy handcrafted merchandise and gourmet foods at the festival which runs Friday to Monday 10-5 daily. There is plenty to do and see here and is just $6 a person with children under 14 free if accompanied by an adult or purchase a pass for weekend long access for $14. Make sure to enjoy the live entertainment and heritage demonstrations. Also make sure to head up to the Centre for Conservation and see the Northern Owl exhibit and take part in a great children’s craft, owl puppets!  Check out the other cool activities they are offering and what prizes you could win, including a cool gift bag from Owl Magazine and some wonderful giveaways from Warner Brothers Canada who are promoting their new movie “Legend of the Guardians”! So stop by this weekend, I will be here enjoying the festivities! For more information please call 905-562-5235 ext. 26.

A Success!!

The Northern Owls Opening Day was a great success! I was sure happy to fly by and see all the children enjoying themselves. The Owl Foundation’s zoologist Annick Gionet was wonderful; she brought a very interesting presentation on owls and her foundation http://www.theowlfoundation.ca/. Mark Ricker was another great addition displaying his artistic work involving owls http://www.markricker.com/. There was a ton of giveaways, including Warner Brothers Canada “Legend of the Guardians” movie http://legendoftheguardians.warnerbros.com/ giveaways and Owl magazines http://www.owlkids.com/ for all. The owl cupcakes from Sweetcakes Cupcakery were devoured by all in attendance http://www.sweetcakescupcakes.ca/. Also there were 11 raffle draws held! These included great Owl Magazine gift bags, Warner Brothers Canada supersized posters, and Pen Centre Empire Theaters family movie packs. The guided hike was very interesting; I followed along and found out where the owls like to hide, always helpful when they try to eat me! Back inside the children’s craft area was always packed and I saw many great pictures, masks and owl trees made there. All in all it was an amazing opening day event! There will be more exciting things happening with the exhibit and more draws to be won over Thanksgiving weekend so be sure to come by.

Festival Time is coming!!

It’s that time again! Thanksgiving Festival Time! October 8-11 is the 36^th annual Ball’s Falls Thanksgiving Festival. Each day the festival will run next weekend from 10am to 5pm and the admission is $6 a person, children under 14 are free when accompanied by an adult and seniors are $4 on Friday October 8. Or if you think you may come for a few days a weekend long pass is $14. 

There is plenty for all to do and see. High quality, handcrafted merchandise booths will be set up for you to enjoy. Also an assortment of food and beverages, including a gourmet food tent will be ready to tempt your tastebuds. There will be live entertainment as well as children’s activities daily. Don’t forget the heritage buildings are open during the festival and demonstrations will be set up.  There is a live raptor display that includes owls.   And that reminds me of something cool after you see the live birds you can check out the Northern Owls exhibit up at my favourite building which will be open the whole weekend, the Centre for Conservation! Let me tell you they have a great weekend planned up there. There will be wine tastings in the main room and the museum exhibits will be open for visitors. The “Northern Owls” exhibit will be in full swing at this time with many special events happening over the weekend, Wildlife artist Mark Ricker will be demonstrating his owl paintings on feathers and displaying his amazing work, there are owl children’s crafts and activities, Warner Brothers Canada Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’hoole giveaways and a prize drawing of an Owl magazine gift bag! So be sure to stop by Ball’s Falls on festival weekend and have a memorable day! Maybe I will see you there! For more information please call 905-562-5235 ext. 26.

Birds get sick too!

Hello everyone, I am back! I was under the weather there for about a week but am feeling much better now. While I was sick I heard a lot of information around the forest about some great people that help sick birds. One amazing group is The Owl Foundation which takes in sick and injured owls and helps them get better. Once the owl has recuperated they release it back into the wild. The Owl Foundation was the first facility of its kind in North America to both breed and foster wild owls to release status. For those owls that cannot be released because of great injuries The Owl Foundation cares for them permanently.  Some of these owls help in the rehabilitation process as foster parents teaching young owlets to survive and provide a family for them.  The Owl Foundation has also partnered with Ball’s Falls for the current Northern Owls exhibit . and they have Included in this exhibit is a National Film Board Documentary about the founders Katherine and Larry McKeever entitled “The Lady and the Owl”. This is a really are a great organization that really cares about Owls, for more information please visit http://www.theowlfoundation.ca/.  There is also a very cool woodworking project below to create a screech owl roost box! This would be a great activity to do with a family member.

http://www.theowlfoundation.ca/screechroostbox.htm