Photo at left: Artemis, a red-tailed hawk, is one of the injured raptors sheltered at Earthplace. At right: Ladybird, a great horned owl, after losing an eye could not survive in the wild. A permanent resident of the Earthplace menagerie, she travels to schools and other programs with staff to help teach children about the importance of protecting the environment. / Photos by Gary Webster
Earthplace is looking for donations to help feed the nonprofit organization’s injured raptors, which costs $24,000 per year. Sophie Pollmann, left, director of marketing and development for the environmental center, and Haley Lubliner, an animal care technician, are joined by Ladybird, a great horned owl, perched on Lubliner’s arm.

By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Mornings at Earthplace, a “salad” of grains, worms and a mouse or two, is fed to birds with broken wings, or a blind eye, or a foot injury, or other impairments.

Too injured to return to their natural habitats, these birds of prey have been rescued from certain death in the wild and now are permanent residents of Earthplace, the environmental learning center at 10 Woodside Lane.

“They are non-releasable to the wild,” said Haley Lubliner, of Weston, an animal care technician at the center, as she prepared to take Ladybird, a great horned owl, out of her enclosure. “They go to animal rehabilitators first to see if they can be released. If not, they come here. For them, this is their forever home.”

Haley Lubliner, an Earthplace animal care technician, prepares to feed the birds. Eagles and owls are carnivores, eating rats and mice, she said, but crows and ravens are omnivorous and will eat plants and fruit, including the orange she is slicing.

Once the raptors.become permanent residents at Earthplace, the birds take on a new role of helping teach visitors about the environment and the importance of each species housed there. 

“They’re here to educate the public,” explained Sophie Pollmann, director of marketing and development, who said that bald eagles, several species of owls, ravens and vultures are among the avian menagerie.

Unfortunately, the free source of specialized food needed to feed the birds dried up in 2019 when the laboratory supplying it to nonprofit organizations changed hands and the new owners started charging for the food. It now costs Earthplace about $24,000 yearly to feed their birds of prey, Pollmann said. 

Each year, a fundraising campaign is initiated to pay for the birds’ food. Two donors have offered to match every donation to this year’s campaign by July 31.

When the birds are fed at 11 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, spectators are welcome. 

On Monday a group of children stood wide-eyed at the bird enclosures watching as they got a lesson about each of the raptors from  Lubliner as she moved from enclosure to enclosure feeding the birds.

Westport brothers Ben Lee, 6, left, has a prime spot to watch the morning bird-feeding program at Earthplace, while Jack, 2, at right, is fascinated by a vulture.

Some flew around their large cages as Lubliner entered them, and the young visitors watched in awe.

Lubliner, who majored in zoology and environmental education at the University of New Hampshire, entered Ladybird’s enclosure quietly, whispering to the owl as she put a leash-like lead on the bird’s foot. The species is called a horned owl because of two tufts of feathers on each side of the bird’s head, she said. 

Despite the loss of one eye, Ladybird is majestic, turning her head totally around as she looks at visitors. The bird has been at Earthplace since 2006, and the bald eagles have been residents there for more than 30 years, Lubliner said.

Three-year-old Raiya Jhaveri, of Westport, perches in the arms of her mother, Sasha Jhaveri, during a recent visit to the Earthplace birds of prey exhibit.

A second bird, Artemis, a red-tailed hawk, was taken from her cage next, but is skittish at first, flying from side to side, until calm enough to alight on the gloved hand of her caregiver. The bird’s breast is white with flecks of brown, with brownish red feathers on the head and tail, giving the species its name.

Ladybird, Artemis and many of the other birds of prey, are brought to schools and youth programs not only in Westport, but Norwalk and Bridgeport as well, to help educate children, Pollman said.

“It’s important to us that our programs are not exclusive to Westport,” she said. “Our role is to educate.”

Visitors are welcome to watch the morning bird feeding at Earthplace at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday. The activity is free of charge to members; non-members must pay the admission fee. “Winged Wonders,” which highlights a different bird of prey each month, is held on the first Sunday of the month at 1 p.m.

Earthplace admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children, seniors and students, and free for members.

For more information, visit the Earthplace website, Facebook or Instagram pages, or call  203-557-4400.

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Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.

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