Lots going on, so there has been very little time to sit down and write about it!
The Orlando bird show was HORRID...
I usually dont say things against the bird show, but some of the breeders there were absolutely terrible. Sick birds, over crowding... Blah...
The good news is that we saved a couple of Green Singing Finches that we caught the next day that got away from the breeder. They are now recovering and looking quite good!
Birds have been coming in steadilty, some in better shape then others.
Tonia Bowen is now our Volunteer Director, and thank God for her... She is a great help!
We are getting our S.O.A.R. Van this weekend! We found a nice used van that we can use for rescue work, hauling cages, etc. I cant wait to get it!
And last our next Basic Bird class will be a Chief's Bird Cabin Sept. 15th
Laterz!
Neal
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Update for Volunteers!
Hi everyone!
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
This is just a note to let everyone know that we are having another basic birds course for people wanting to adopt a bird from S.O.A.R. and
for all new volunteers on the 28th of July starting at 11am. I want to thank Tari and Christina for coming last workshop, and I hope some more of you this time!
If you plan to come next Saturday, please drop us a note so we know how many to expect!
Otherwise,
Things have been busy busy busy!
The next few weeks are going to be very active for us, as things start to get rolling.
Here is the latest schedule –
Today, Phoenix and I actually set up an info table at the grand opening of the grand opening of the new Petco in Orange City.
This was a very last minute request by their management (I was dropping off our cards and introducing ourselves, and the main manager
said “you are setting up a table here for our grand opening day after tomorrow right?”). This is our foot in the door at Petco, and they
are willing to let us have classes there and at other stores around Orlando, making it much more convenient for folks to take.
Next weekend the 28th, we have the workshop, which will be much fun.
The weekend after that, the weekend of the 4th and 5th of August, we are setting up a tent and a booth at the Mount Dora Animal Wisdom Festival.
As we really do not know what to expect (as this is a new festival) we really would not mind some company to join us! We plan to bring
a couple of birds, and will have a short presentation to do on stage.
Sunday August 12th, we will be setting up a booth at the Orlando Bird Show in a different location than usual. We will be in the educational
building instead of with the rest of the vendors. We hope to encourage all rescues and educational groups to come in there in the future.
The cool thing this show is that we are now the official group that will be trying to catch the birds that get away in the main building right
before the end of the show (mostly small birds) before they can get out when they open the garage doors. All of them we will be looking for homes for.
Sept. 1st we plan to have another Basic Bird class and Volunteer workshop either at our house or at Petco, or maybe even somewhere else…
Sept. 12th Phoenix and I will be joining Corene Fry to teach our classes at the Atlanta Bird Show.
Also, before I shut up here, please take a look at the website, as I have revamped the “How you can help” page.
It now lists all our projects, and areas volunteers can help.
Ok, nuff said, I am tired of typing and my glass of Irish Cream is empty!
So again, please let us know if you are coming, and if you have any comments on the website, or anything, please pipe up!
Yours,
Neal and Phoenix
S.O.A.R.
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
This is just a note to let everyone know that we are having another basic birds course for people wanting to adopt a bird from S.O.A.R. and
for all new volunteers on the 28th of July starting at 11am. I want to thank Tari and Christina for coming last workshop, and I hope some more of you this time!
If you plan to come next Saturday, please drop us a note so we know how many to expect!
Otherwise,
Things have been busy busy busy!
The next few weeks are going to be very active for us, as things start to get rolling.
Here is the latest schedule –
Today, Phoenix and I actually set up an info table at the grand opening of the grand opening of the new Petco in Orange City.
This was a very last minute request by their management (I was dropping off our cards and introducing ourselves, and the main manager
said “you are setting up a table here for our grand opening day after tomorrow right?”). This is our foot in the door at Petco, and they
are willing to let us have classes there and at other stores around Orlando, making it much more convenient for folks to take.
Next weekend the 28th, we have the workshop, which will be much fun.
The weekend after that, the weekend of the 4th and 5th of August, we are setting up a tent and a booth at the Mount Dora Animal Wisdom Festival.
As we really do not know what to expect (as this is a new festival) we really would not mind some company to join us! We plan to bring
a couple of birds, and will have a short presentation to do on stage.
Sunday August 12th, we will be setting up a booth at the Orlando Bird Show in a different location than usual. We will be in the educational
building instead of with the rest of the vendors. We hope to encourage all rescues and educational groups to come in there in the future.
The cool thing this show is that we are now the official group that will be trying to catch the birds that get away in the main building right
before the end of the show (mostly small birds) before they can get out when they open the garage doors. All of them we will be looking for homes for.
Sept. 1st we plan to have another Basic Bird class and Volunteer workshop either at our house or at Petco, or maybe even somewhere else…
Sept. 12th Phoenix and I will be joining Corene Fry to teach our classes at the Atlanta Bird Show.
Also, before I shut up here, please take a look at the website, as I have revamped the “How you can help” page.
It now lists all our projects, and areas volunteers can help.
Ok, nuff said, I am tired of typing and my glass of Irish Cream is empty!
So again, please let us know if you are coming, and if you have any comments on the website, or anything, please pipe up!
Yours,
Neal and Phoenix
S.O.A.R.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Egads! Where are the posts????
Ok, Phoenix, who is in charge of this blog has been slackin!
So here I am doing the posting thing...
The last month has been an education as far as how a rescue works. We had our first Basic Birds course and Volunteer workshop, and 2 people showed! (Thank you Christina and Tari!)
and I was my finger at the other 5 or so who cancelled.. you better show up to the next one on July 28th!
Speaking of dates, here is what is a goin on, on the S.O.A.R. calendar -
July 28th - Basic Bird and Volunteer Workshop
Aug. 4+5th - The Animal Wisdom Festival in Mt. Dora
Aug. 12th - Orlando Bird Show - Will be teaching the Basic Bird Course here for people who want to adopt a bird.
Sept. 15th + 16th - Atlanta Bird Show
Soo... more soon to come!
Neal
So here I am doing the posting thing...
The last month has been an education as far as how a rescue works. We had our first Basic Birds course and Volunteer workshop, and 2 people showed! (Thank you Christina and Tari!)
and I was my finger at the other 5 or so who cancelled.. you better show up to the next one on July 28th!
Speaking of dates, here is what is a goin on, on the S.O.A.R. calendar -
July 28th - Basic Bird and Volunteer Workshop
Aug. 4+5th - The Animal Wisdom Festival in Mt. Dora
Aug. 12th - Orlando Bird Show - Will be teaching the Basic Bird Course here for people who want to adopt a bird.
Sept. 15th + 16th - Atlanta Bird Show
Soo... more soon to come!
Neal
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
For our newly signed up Volunteers
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to send you an email to thank you for signing up to help out with S.O.A.R.! There are a lot of exciting things going on, and we will need your help to get it done!
The Orlando Show went well. We didn’t raise a lot of money, but the Parrot Nutrition presentation drew quite a crowd, and some very good networking was achieved. One really good thing that came out of the show is that we talked to Mr. Tillman (the show director) and S.O.A.R. now has the job to catch all those birds who get out of their cages during the show, and we get to adopt them out, instead of them dying several days after, or getting released to the wild where they will most likely die as well.
In other news from the show, we are going to move our booth from the main area, to the building where the presentations are done. From there, I feel we will be much more safe actually bringing birds that need homes, as they won’t be exposed to the potential bird diseases in the main hall. There is a need to present to the public that adopted birds can be better than a baby bird, and if we have some examples, that might help alleviate the misconception that birds that need homes are difficult to handle.
In volunteering with us, we would like to know what you would like to volunteer for… Right now we are in a transition phase between being an unofficial rescue to something with larger goals and capabilities, so there is much to do.
Before we start hitting heavy on finding birds that need homes (advertising at the local bird stores, vets, etc) we would like to be able to have some foster folks available for overflow, and a waiting list of people who actually would like to have a bird. To do this, we have to work on training our foster network, and making a database on who has the capabilities and room for what. It is one thing to foster for say a lovebird, but a completely different matter for an Umbrella Cockatoo…
So if you are interested in fostering, please send me an email either at phoenix@floridasoar.org or my work at neal.dolphin@sungardhe.com and let me know that this is something you would like to do, what experience you have, what equipment you have (do you have a cage?), and I will get with you and see what kind of foster work would be best for you. We also have some very good resources for training, so if you do not have as much experience as you would like, we are here to help!
If fostering is not your thing, or if you would like to do more than fostering (which is a lot of work as it is), we are planning on setting up a booth at some local festivals around the central Florida area, and we will need help with that. We are right now building a 20x20 foot free flight aviary at our house, and if you would like to help with that, we would gladly appreciate it, not to mention help with cleaning cages, transporting birds, home inspections, help teaching classes, help taking care of the website, help with advertising and marketing ect. Etc.
Please let us know what you would like to do, and I am sure we can find a place for you to do it! J
Also, we are going to go to the Parrots in the Park, which is held on the first weekend of the month at Lake Eola in Orlando at the concessions area.
Enough for now, next note I will introduce you to some of our board members who have great experience with birds and rescue work.
Take Care!
Neal and Phoenix
Just wanted to send you an email to thank you for signing up to help out with S.O.A.R.! There are a lot of exciting things going on, and we will need your help to get it done!
The Orlando Show went well. We didn’t raise a lot of money, but the Parrot Nutrition presentation drew quite a crowd, and some very good networking was achieved. One really good thing that came out of the show is that we talked to Mr. Tillman (the show director) and S.O.A.R. now has the job to catch all those birds who get out of their cages during the show, and we get to adopt them out, instead of them dying several days after, or getting released to the wild where they will most likely die as well.
In other news from the show, we are going to move our booth from the main area, to the building where the presentations are done. From there, I feel we will be much more safe actually bringing birds that need homes, as they won’t be exposed to the potential bird diseases in the main hall. There is a need to present to the public that adopted birds can be better than a baby bird, and if we have some examples, that might help alleviate the misconception that birds that need homes are difficult to handle.
In volunteering with us, we would like to know what you would like to volunteer for… Right now we are in a transition phase between being an unofficial rescue to something with larger goals and capabilities, so there is much to do.
Before we start hitting heavy on finding birds that need homes (advertising at the local bird stores, vets, etc) we would like to be able to have some foster folks available for overflow, and a waiting list of people who actually would like to have a bird. To do this, we have to work on training our foster network, and making a database on who has the capabilities and room for what. It is one thing to foster for say a lovebird, but a completely different matter for an Umbrella Cockatoo…
So if you are interested in fostering, please send me an email either at phoenix@floridasoar.org or my work at neal.dolphin@sungardhe.com and let me know that this is something you would like to do, what experience you have, what equipment you have (do you have a cage?), and I will get with you and see what kind of foster work would be best for you. We also have some very good resources for training, so if you do not have as much experience as you would like, we are here to help!
If fostering is not your thing, or if you would like to do more than fostering (which is a lot of work as it is), we are planning on setting up a booth at some local festivals around the central Florida area, and we will need help with that. We are right now building a 20x20 foot free flight aviary at our house, and if you would like to help with that, we would gladly appreciate it, not to mention help with cleaning cages, transporting birds, home inspections, help teaching classes, help taking care of the website, help with advertising and marketing ect. Etc.
Please let us know what you would like to do, and I am sure we can find a place for you to do it! J
Also, we are going to go to the Parrots in the Park, which is held on the first weekend of the month at Lake Eola in Orlando at the concessions area.
Enough for now, next note I will introduce you to some of our board members who have great experience with birds and rescue work.
Take Care!
Neal and Phoenix
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Time is fleeting...
As the "get ready at the last minute" madness takes its toll... So listen closely -
Hey everyone! This is Neal with the latest updates to the official S.O.A.R. launch at the Orlando Exotic Bird Show June 10th at the Central Florida Fairgrounds!
This is an exciting time for us, taking our rescue efforts from word of mouth to a real full blown non-profit corporation. We have seen the need for a bird rescue in Florida for quite a long time, and we are very happy that this is finally coming to pass.
But at the same time I am very nervous at the prospect of what could happen. Our facility right now is our home, and any rescues come into our home with open arms. However, we only have room for so many rescue birds. We desperately need to have good people who know birds to be able to foster some out to until we can find them forever homes. The nightmare would be that we open our doors and we suddenly have 50 screaming cockatoos that need help!
With that nervousness comes the cost of even getting each bird looked at by a vet. The vet we use is Florida Wild Vet. Hospital, and they have an excellent facility with good capable people. However, they are not cheap, and they are the biggest expense we have to deal with for our rescue. This is why we not only need volunteers, but we need some cold hard cash!
Well, enough of this hot air! See you at the show!
Neal Dolphin
El Presidente - S.O.A.R.
Hey everyone! This is Neal with the latest updates to the official S.O.A.R. launch at the Orlando Exotic Bird Show June 10th at the Central Florida Fairgrounds!
This is an exciting time for us, taking our rescue efforts from word of mouth to a real full blown non-profit corporation. We have seen the need for a bird rescue in Florida for quite a long time, and we are very happy that this is finally coming to pass.
But at the same time I am very nervous at the prospect of what could happen. Our facility right now is our home, and any rescues come into our home with open arms. However, we only have room for so many rescue birds. We desperately need to have good people who know birds to be able to foster some out to until we can find them forever homes. The nightmare would be that we open our doors and we suddenly have 50 screaming cockatoos that need help!
With that nervousness comes the cost of even getting each bird looked at by a vet. The vet we use is Florida Wild Vet. Hospital, and they have an excellent facility with good capable people. However, they are not cheap, and they are the biggest expense we have to deal with for our rescue. This is why we not only need volunteers, but we need some cold hard cash!
Well, enough of this hot air! See you at the show!
Neal Dolphin
El Presidente - S.O.A.R.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
New Page
Hi All!
Welcome to the new web page and thanks for taking a look. Neal and I hope you have a good time here and find some excellent info to help you with your bird friend. As time goes on, we will be adding things and updating as much as possible.
Also, there is a bird show this coming weekend in Orlando, FL. We will be giving a presentation so please stop by if you can.
All the birds are well. They seem to have adjusted very well to the new house. Thank goodness! It is amazing how fast birds cope with things. I am so proud of them!
Anyway, that is enough for now. I will write more tomorrow.
Have a super night.
Phoenix and Neal
Welcome to the new web page and thanks for taking a look. Neal and I hope you have a good time here and find some excellent info to help you with your bird friend. As time goes on, we will be adding things and updating as much as possible.
Also, there is a bird show this coming weekend in Orlando, FL. We will be giving a presentation so please stop by if you can.
All the birds are well. They seem to have adjusted very well to the new house. Thank goodness! It is amazing how fast birds cope with things. I am so proud of them!
Anyway, that is enough for now. I will write more tomorrow.
Have a super night.
Phoenix and Neal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
