Raptors in residence: The fun way to learn about hawks, falcons, and other birds of prey

By Marie Powell

As the author of a book called Hawk, I was naturally interested when the Canadian Raptor Conservancy came to Regina earlier this month.  This group has a focus on conservation and education, bringing live bird shows across Canada.

Many of the species are endangered, so the shows offer a unique opportunity for the public to see these birds up close. In Regina, we saw a great horned owl, several species of falcons and hawks, and even a bald eagle.

During the shows, the handlers use posts for the birds set in strategic areas around the room. They carry the birds to the posts, then walk away. At a signal, the birds swoop through the crowd -- often right overhead -- to fly back to the handlers for their reward. The show set up in Evraz Place in Regina to get enough room for these dramatic flights that quickly won over the crowds on a cold January weekend.

That also let them set up displays of falconry equipment, wall-sized photos, and display cabinets of bird feather, bones, anatomy, and a full-sized mural of bird wingspans for children to compare against their own outstretched arms.

The combination of macabre and informative displays made for exciting set-ups to catch the attention of the crowd between shows.

Between the shows and the displays, people who attended had many opportunities to learn a few facts about the birds and their handlers. For example, the peregrine is the fastest bird in the animal kingdom. In a dive (or stoop), peregrines tuck in their wings in a teardrop shape to reach speeds of over 300 k/h (200 mph). With breeding programs for more than 15 species, the Ontario facility houses some 200 birds bred in captivity, and releases some of these birds back into the wild.

In Regina, the group teamed up with Little Ray's Reptile Zoo and the Backyard Conservation Fund of Canada, alternating the raptor shows with live snakes and reptile demonstrations. Reptiles of all kinds were also housed in display cases throughout the show area.

Large poster boards and displays also gave the conversation message, and the handlers were ready to talk about their message during and between shows. Many raptor species face habitat loss from such human activities as urban sprawl and pesticides, so these shows offer a unique opportunity for the public to interact and learn a little about ecology and conservation at the same time.

Here are some more websites to check for information about raptors:

Canadian Raptor Conservancy
http://www.canadianraptorconservancy.com

Audubon: Identify Raptors in Flight:
https://www.audubon.org/news/identify-raptors-flight

Watch a video of a peregrine falcon in flight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me3Y64VUqqQ

Amazing Planet: Five fastest birds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMsLVxcKh24

Watch for the Canadian Raptor Conservancy shows as they move across Canada. Have you seen a show yet? Leave a comment and let's discuss it.


Marie Powell is the author of the young adult fantasy Hawk (Five Rivers),  as well as 30 other books for children and youth on a variety of topics. More information about her and her books can be found on her website at www.mepowell.com.

William Wallace Gibson and the first Canadian-built airplane

By Claire Eamer

On February 23, 1909, John McCurdy made the first powered flight in Canada, flying the Silver Dart at Alexander Graham Bell's home in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. The Silver Dart was designed by McCurdy and built in the United States, where Bell and his associates had been working on powered flight. So - while it was the first powered flight in Canada - the Silver Dart wasn't the first Canadian-built powered airplane.

A full-scale replica of the Gibson Twin-plane at the BC Aviation Museum.

That honour belongs to a peculiar-looking, kite-like airplane designed, built, and flown by Victoria flight enthusiast William Wallace Gibson just a year and a half after the Silver Dart's flight. Gibson, a former farmer and businessman from the Regina area, had been quietly experimenting with kites and elastic-powered airplanes for several years. He had also designed an air-cooled engine especially for his experimental plane and had it built in Victoria.

On September 8, 1910, Gibson powered up what he called the Gibson Twin-plane, rolled across a pasture near Victoria (now a school sports field), and lifted off the ground for less than eight metres. He had been nervous about whether the plane would work and afraid of being mocked, so he didn't tell anyone about the experiment. But it flew!

Gibson's engine drove two propellers, one at each end.

So Gibson invited witnesses and planned a second, formal flight. On September 24, 1910, he took off again. This time the plane flew 200 feet (just over 60 metres). The flight was a clear success, but it came to a bad end. A cross-wind pushed the plane towards an oak tree, and Gibson had to make a hasty landing. With no brakes and limited control, he rolled helplessly across the rough ground and straight into the tree. Gibson was thrown clear, but the plane was a wreck.

That didn't stop Gibson. He designed a new plane with multiple narrow wings and called it the Gibson Multi-plane. It was powered by the same engine he had designed for the Twin-plane. Then he went off in search of wide open spaces to test the new plane. He found his space in Calgary, and on August 12, 1911, he was ready.

The Multi-plane was piloted by his assistant, Alex Japp. It took off safely, reached an altitude of 100 feet (over 30 metres), and cruised for over a mile (about 1.7 kilometres) - just one of several successful flights it made that day. Unfortunately, the Gibson Multi-plane came to grief on landing, just as its predecessor had. A last hard landing on rough terrain was too much for it, and the plane broke up.

The pilot perched in the tiny seat below the arrow.

Gibson lived until 1965, long enough to see airplanes and air travel become a major industry, but that flight in Calgary was the end of his experiments with flight. However, it wasn't the end of his planes.

A full-scale replica of the Gibson Twin-plane dangles from the ceiling of the British Columbia Aviation Museum near Victoria. The original engine Gibson used in both planes is in the collection of the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. And there's a model of the Twin-plane in the National Air Museum in Washington, D.C.

Here are a few links with more of Gibson's story:

http://victoriahistory.ca/blog/2010/08/the-gibson-twin-plane/

http://www.canadianflight.org/content/history-flight-bc-0

http://www.bcaviation.com/gibson.htm

All photos by Claire Eamer.