Photo courtesy of Ohio Nature Education
By Liz Neroni, Naturalist
I started working for the park district in 2012, and since then there has been a lot of change. Change in my personal life, and change at work, each instance bringing an adjustment period with new projects and priorities. Change can sometimes be intimidating and even difficult, however, it can also be an adventure, ONE worth taking! Well, another change is about to happen within the parks: challenge accepted!
Ohio Nature Education (ONE) is a private, non-profit organization, located near Johnstown, Ohio, that provides a home for permanently injured wildlife. Learn more about ONE here. The organization conducts educational programming with a variety of animal ambassadors to tell their story and teach people about Ohio’s flora and fauna. ONE approached Preservation Parks with a proposal, and we said yes!
With that “yes”, there will be a lot of commotion this summer at Deer Haven Park. I’m not referring to activity caused by the new World of Water exhibit within the Visitor Center (open from Memorial Day to Labor Day Weekend), or by the Summer Letterbox Adventure and other fun programs. I’m also not talking about what warm weather brings, people becoming more active, the pollinators buzzing, birds singing, or the frogs croaking. If not those things, what do I mean?
We will be building an aviary to house several injured birds of prey from ONE. This partnership will allow their birds to be seen by more people and the district will gain a new feature that will provide experiences that we might not otherwise be able to provide visitors. Deer Haven Park is designated as a bird sanctuary by the park district, in memory of Amy Clark-Bader and her love for birds. So what better place to provide a HAVEN for hawks and owls that cannot be released.
After the aviary is completed, our new feathered guests will be arriving in late 2019. Visitors will be able to learn about these amazing animals every time they come to the park. Our current natural play area will have to be removed, but no worries! We will construct a new one that will be a lot of fun and encourage exploration.
Keep an eye out for more updates on these and even more amazing things happening in your parks this year!
