Christine Golden—Inspirational Moment
Expressed gratitude about minimal damage from wind storms.
Still We Rise –
Instructions on Living in a Broken World
lean into community
seek out love
applaud the good you see
keep paying attention
talk to your neighbors
dance to the music and embrace art
look for love and small joys
take breaks and relish in nourishing your body
donate what you can
linger at the dinner table with friends
check in with your people
let yourself grieve
love one another as deeply as you can
the storm is upon us and we must hold on
don’t give up, we’re here together.
Flag Salute—Wendy Barker
The Gross Bros—
Dr Gross, Wayne Bocalli, and Tony Thacher
Held a contest to guess their combined weight
600-900 lbs guess combined weight
Prizes at the end of the meeting
Gross Bros contest
Not overweight
Fred Fauvre won a sticker for guessing the lowest
Fern won blues brothers sound track
Rod Owen – won closest – hat and a pair of dark glasses
1lb too heavy
Bret Bradigan
Guessed 1 lb too light
Hat and blues brother most wanted poster
Betsy Watson guessed 783
Jar of cheese wihiz and a hat
Announcements
Dierdre –Roving Mike
Donations are being accepted by Rotary 5280 to support fire victims
https://rotary5280.org/page/2025-wildfire-disaster-relief/
Dave Brubaker
RCOEF – Rotary Club Education Foundation
February 2 – investment committee on Teams
5th Friday Social – Kathy Yee – social committee – January 31 –
Tasting Ojai – meet at “The Naturalist” wine bar
Honey Tasting
Olive oil press
$18 for a tasting
5-7 pm
Special Thanks to Kathy Yee for allowing use of her house for last Rotary meeting even though she wasn’t in town
Fining—Kathy Yee
Ask for what people are thankful for?
Confessions – birthday – Liz (Sampson?)
Tony Thacher – 87th birthday
Introductions – O’rouke – clinical care coordinator for her organization
Bill Hatch – wedding anniversary—will donate money for fires
Dwayne Bocalli- gratitude for Rotary – because he has a house
There was a Rotary Meeting at Ojai Valley Inn on a Monday night. They were planning to go to Porterville for an agricultural meeting in the morning.
Fire broke out , and he was able to put fires out and save property due to a Monday night party
Thankful for – and something that we are able to share with others—
Mike Weaver—oldest son and family live in Pasadena, but they are ok and home is ok
Sharing house with family ---
3 cats that can’t share space
Katherine Lee- share – thankful, ranch is ok. She has Hip Camp sites available on her property.
Tessa Turner – grateful – lives in this community. Can share some space at her house. Can share some money or storage.
Jane Spiller- Grateful to be unaffected by fire. That fire on Fairview was out. Was down in LA on Tuesday and witnessed some of the devastation on Tuesday
Chris Williams 00 turned 40 – grateful for Rotary Club
Introductions –
Guests – Alyssa Torquelson from Raptor center
Jacqueline DeSantis from Raptor Center
Jacqueline De Santis – Guest Speaker –
Started apprenticing with Peter Tream and Kimberly Stroud
Took lots of conferences and courses
Hired as first staff member
Managed both wildlife hospital and outreach program
2020 – hired full time vet
Bridging Conservation and Compassion—video
Made video for children
Wildlife rehabilitation center for raptors
Heal sick and insured birds, let them get back into nature
Licesnced by fish and wildlife center
Specialize in raptors—Owls, Hawks and Eagles
Provides wildlife education “ambassadors” —for birds that can’t be released back into nature
Accept all wild anumals—oncluding bears and mountain lions. Once animals are triaged, they get sent to other centers
20 years ago Kimberly Stroud
Individual raptor centers
One of largest rehab centers in California—has earned a national reputation
Patients – 90% due to anthropogenic causes –
Car strikes
Bb / pellet shot—every other week
Window strike
Toxicosis (rodenticide, lead organophospate) – there are no safe poisons!
Entanglement injuries (barbed wire, netting, fencing)
Glue traps ( Ojai first city to ban glue traps, inhumane in even targeted species)
Domestic cat attacks—(domestic cats kill 5 billion birds per year, so consider keeping cats indoors)
Displacement / loss of habitat, humans disturbing land
Birdnapping – accidently stealing babies during nesting season
Large aviaries
Largest flight cage in all of California (funded by California Edison) ,raptor patients from all over California for their rehabilitation,
Barn Owls – Red hawk aviary, cooper aviary
Golden Eagle—came in severely emaciated .
Seer program – give extra special care for Eagles
In network with other members of Seer Program and falconers—
Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons
100 feet to get off ground
Falconers train birds to fly, make them stronger, and then eventually
Peregrine falcons hunt other birds mid-air
Dive bomb prey
250 miles per hour stoop
Can’t do in any kind of enclosure
Babies fed by staff members
Screeching when tiny baby
Half of owl species are tiny
Western screech owls
Don’t adopt baby bird-- Every year get mal imprinted bird
Great Horned Owl
Let people walk up to them and pick them up
But bird is capable to crawling back up tree and put back in nest
Can foster with other nesting birds
Most red tail hawks don’t make it to adulthood
Can do pinning of wings
Imping – repairing feathers – implant donor feathers with epoxy, instead of waiting a year for molting and regrowth
Staying in care is very stressful
Birds replenish their feathers every year
Raven – singed from a solar plant
Raven’s need constant enrichment – volunteers create enrichment every day
Bald Eagle 22-635 2022 Victor the Eagle
Observed by 1000s of people
Balance was off, as was mentation
Liked like metal toxicity—had a toxic level of zinc- no idea how he got in there
Released
Work with dr. Peter Bloom, and wildlife biologist
Education Ambassadors and choice based training –
Always trying to do better
Best practices- to present ambassadors. Move away from open house model
Animal Ambassador – choice based and empowerment based program
So much more work to train ambassadors that way
Trained to willingly go into crates
Cooperative relationship
Used to be tethered to gloves and out all day,
Now see selves as advocates, and build trust, reliant on need to come out
Introducing ways for kids to get involved
Can come to center and see birds
Show them doing natural behaviors
Outreach Environmental Education – aligned with next generation science center
Taxidermy birds and observation stations
Then kids meet ambassadors at the end
Ojai Valley Youth Foundation – education – I think she means Green Valley Project
Things you can do
Never litter
Don’t shoot
Put up window decals
Use exclusion and natural pest control methods
Don’t use barbed wire
Don’t use glue traps
Keep cats indoors or use a collar
Recommendations
My Old Ass – on Amazon Prime—Wendy Barker
California Land of New beginnings—by Bob Davis
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