In response to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, The Rotary Foundation has created an official channel for Rotary members around the world to contribute funds to support the relief efforts underway by Rotary districts and has designated its Disaster Response Fund as the main avenue for contributions.
With 16 Lincoln Rotarians + guest speaker, Peter Thoem, in attendance, President Brenda Kell-Kotwa called the meeting to order at 8:00am.
Paul Roth offered the INVOCATION and invited everyone to TOAST our Rotary Club, Canada where we're lucky to live & Rotary International for its work in the world. The playing of O CANADA followed thanks to Sue Foster. In her POINT OF PRIDE, Barb Mitges paid tribute to the CNOY 2022 Lincoln Rotary Team for braving the cold & walking 5 km. on Saturday, February 19, and raising more than $7,500 for the YWCA Niagara Region Transitional Housing Program in West Niagara.
Guest Speaker: Peter Thoem, Naturalist
Phil Goodwin was delighted to introduce Peter as a fellow-Rotarian and dedicated ambassador for The Owl Foundation. Peter has been a member of Burlington Central Rotary since 1986. Retired after a business career and a spell as a local politician, he has taken up being a full-time naturalist. On his blog site, Peter speaks of his passion for nature...
"Nature has fascinated me for as long as I can remember; since I was 4, I like to say. As child and teen in the U.K, binoculars were out of the question so I just peered at things and looked for birds’ nests. I moved to Canada in my early 20s and now armed with binoculars and a new suite of living things, I have studied them ever since. I am challenged by birds for the most part, I view them as a nice balance of intellectual challenge and aesthetic appreciation. I don’t keep a life list or any other kind of list, but I keep field notes whenever I’m out; I just wish I could draw well too. This is me."
Check out Peter Thoem’s My Bird of the Day blog here.
Peter began his talk by explaining that his first interaction with The Owl Foundation was on a New Year's Day several years ago. Animal Control had called to ask him to pick up an injured Snowy Owl on the service road adjacent to the Burlington Skyway. The owl was in very rough shape with a seriously broken & burned wing. It was apparent that while flying inland from Lake Ontario, the creature had collided with the smokestacks on the nearby water treatment plant. Unfortunately, this injured owl lived for only 3 days.
His next rescue more successful. It was on a golf course in Cambridge that he found a 12-day old female Great Horned Owl, which had fallen from her nest. She lived to become a mature foster parent known as "Big Red". The Owl Foundation maintains several Great Horned Owl pairs as foster parents for orphaned young. They routinely receive 10 - 20 nestlings and fledglings each spring that they must quickly place with adult birds to achieve proper imprinting. A Great Horned Owl raised properly (by other Great Horned Owls) can communicate and breed normally when released into the wild.
Winter 2014 became known as the "Winter of the Snowy Owl" because of a sudden irruption in the number that stopped in the area on their migration south from the Arctic where they live and breed during the summer months. A polar vortex caused Lake Erie and Lake Ontario to freeze over and the owls spent that winter living on the ice and feeding on the multitude of ducks and small mammals available to them. Researchers took full advantage of this situation by initiating a far-reaching project known as "Operation Snowstorm", that uses a satellite tracking system to follow the migration patterns of snowy owls. For more details on this fascinating project, visit www.projectsnowstorm.org
Peter's presentation included beautiful photos of different owl breeds and he described their characteristics and habitats. For example the Great Horned Screech Owl, a small bird at 1/2 metre tall, all feathers, and known for its huge eyes, is common in Ontario. Barn Owls with their 'classic owl face' are rare in these parts because they prefer warmer climes. Northern Saw-whet Owls are as small as a robin but as vicious as a Jack Russell Terrier. They do live in our area but are nocturnal and seldom seen.
In 2021, The Owl Foundation (TOF) took in 233 raptors with 141 of those being owls. Founded almost 50 years ago by Kay & Larry McKeever, TOF has experience with Canadian owl species. Many of these are represented among the permanent residents, including migratory species and those that breed in the far north. When owls of northern species are released, they are shipped by air to volunteers in suitable northern locations for release. All other species are released within a reasonable distance of where they were recovered. While there are a few full-time and part-time staff, volunteers are also involved in the operation. Most of the Foundation's funding comes from individuals, with some from corporations and granting foundations.
In 2010, Lincoln Rotary recognized Kay McKeever with a Paul Harris Fellowship Award. And as a result of his inspirational experience working at The Owl Foundation, Robert Kotwa, son of Brenda & Terry, pursued his post-secondary studies in zoology and animal science.
RCL's Public Image Committee has launched a new marketing campaign to let the public know a little bit about our members. Check Facebook & Instagram and like and share the Getting to Know You posts. Please click here to access the Getting to Know You Form and mail your photo(s) to rotarycluboflincolnsocialmedia@gmail.com when filling in and submitting the form.
THE ROTARY FOUNDATION GALA
February 23, 2022
Valarie Wafer, RI Vice President and Director Zones 28 & 32, posted a special THANK YOU...
"to all who attended and gave so generously to our Gala for the Rotary Foundation on Rotary's 117th birthday! "More than 650 were in attendance, some virtually and some at house parties. At this time, we estimate approximately $250,000 USD was raised! With the Gates Foundation match for Polio funding that is over $300,000 USD."
The PRE-GALA, hosted by District 7090, featured a video to showcase Service Projects in support of Rotary’s 7 Areas of Focus. Watch the SHOWCASE VIDEO to see a cameo of Lincoln Rotary's Little Lending Library Builders - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd4CwA8Eie0
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