Live Owl Program At Edmond Town Hall

Mary-Beth Kaeser of Horizon Wings Raptor Rehabilitation and Education in Ashford, along with assistants Jeanne Wadsworth and Brenda Lyons, will be at Edmond Town Hall Theatre, Wednesday, December 29, at 1 pm, for a free program showcasing owls.

The program precedes the 3 pm movie, which is separate from the free program, Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga’Hoole. This animated action adventure, rated PG, follows the dangerous quest of an owlet to find the guardian owls and save his world, as he seeks to earn his wings.

Horizon Wings has been rescuing and rehabilitating raptors for ten years, said Ms Kaeser, who has 26 years of experience dealing with birds of prey. She and her husband, Alan Nordell, bring raptor programs to public audiences around the region in hopes that by educating the public about the large birds, injuries that bring the birds to their attention can be avoided, and that people will become more conscientious in preserving the birds’ environments.

Four owls will travel to Newtown with Ms Kaeser next Wednesday. The Eastern screech owl, the barred owl, and the great horned owl came to Horizon Wings for rehabilitation following accidents. “None of them were able to be rereleased into the wild, though,” said Ms Kaeser. The fourth owl is a 14-year-old barn owl that came to Horizon Wings in October.

“She was born at a center in South Dakota and raised to be a ‘program bird,’” said Ms Kaeser. When that center was closed this fall, the barn owl was given a new home at Horizon Wings.

While it is sad that these large birds of prey cannot be in the wild, the one benefit to being in captivity, said Ms Kaeser, is that it greatly increases the birds’ longevity. A wild owl may only live two to three years in the wild. “They easily have half the life span in the wild as they do in captivity,” she said.

Legend of the Guardians also shows December 26 through December 28, and on December 30, at 1 and 4 pm; and on Friday, December 31, at 1 pm. The Horizon Wings presentation will take place only on Wednesday, December 29.