Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife have announced the lineup of wildlife experts for the 24th Annual Burrowing Owl Festival, Wildlife and Environmental Expo, taking place Feb. 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.\u00a0at\u00a0Rotary Park in Cape Coral. <\/p>\n
Each year, the festival brings together some of the region\u2019s most knowledgeable wildlife professionals to share vital insights on Southwest Florida\u2019s diverse wildlife. This year, the festival\u2019s reach extends internationally, with a featured speaker traveling from Alberta, Canada, to share insights about the western subspecies of burrowing owls and the very different conservation challenges they face.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s featured speaker schedule is as follows:<\/p>\n
10:45 a.m. \u2014 Graham Dixon-MacCallum, conservation program manager, Wilder Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He will discuss \u201cLittle Owls on the Prairie: Western burrowing owls, and efforts to give burrowing owls a head start in Alberta, Canada\u201d<\/p>\n
Dixon-MacCallum\u2019s presentation will include background on the western subspecies of burrowing owls, which are found throughout western North America, and the conservation issues those owls face. He will also talk about the work he does at the Wilder Institute, where biologists are working to boost the burrowing owl population in Alberta. Juvenile owls are taken into human care for their first winter and released as adults the following spring.<\/p>\n
12 p.m. \u2014 Emma Engel, biologist, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission\u2019s Wildlife Assistance Program. Her topic is \u201cHow to Coexist with Coyotes.\u201d <\/p>\n
Engle will invite attendees to learn more about the natural history and daily lives of coyotes, and to appreciate that these often misunderstood animals aren\u2019t nearly as fearsome as they\u2019re sometimes portrayed.<\/p>\n
1:30 p.m. \u2014 Beverly Saltonstall, Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife founding member and author of \u201cCape Coral Burrowing Owls Don\u2019t Hoot.\u201d <\/p>\n
Saltonstall will share her extensive knowledge of the behavior and habits of our local burrowing owls, along with some of her favorite stories about Cape Coral\u2019s beloved little residents.<\/p>\n
These expert presentations are just one highlight of the 24th Annual Burrowing Owl Festival \u2013 Wildlife and Environmental Expo. In addition to the speaker series, visitors can enjoy a wide variety of engaging wildlife, educational, and family-friendly activities throughout the day, including:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Live Animals & Wildlife Encounters\u00a0\u2013 Get up close with fascinating animals presented by\u00a0Adam\u2019s Animal Adventures, bringing engaging wildlife education to the festival.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Local Wildlife Bus Tours \u2013 Ride along to see Cape Coral\u2019s burrowing owls and other wildlife living right here in the city.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Southwest Florida Birding Specialty Tour\u00a0\u2013 A guided birding bus tour led by renowned local bird experts David and Tammy McQuade and Eary and Jennifer Warren. Advance ticket purchase required at\u00a0ccfriendsofwildlife.org.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Rotary Park Butterfly House Tours\u00a0\u2013 Explore the park\u2019s beautiful butterfly sanctuary.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Wildlife & Conservation Expo\u00a0\u2013 Meet representatives from\u00a030+ local environmental and conservation organizations.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Children\u2019s\u2019 Activities\u00a0including face painting and hands-on fun<\/p>\n
\u2022 Arts & Crafts Vendors\u00a0featuring unique, handmade items<\/p>\n
\u2022 Silent Auction\u00a0with one-of-a-kind items supporting wildlife conservation<\/p>\n
\u2022 CCFW Merchandise\u00a0including T-shirts, jewelry, hats, and more<\/p>\n
\u2022 Food and beverages\u00a0from local vendors<\/p>\n
A\u00a0$5 donation\u00a0at the entrance is appreciated for guests\u00a0ages 12 and up.<\/p>\n
For more information, visit\u00a0ccfriendsofwildlife.org\u00a0or call\u00a0(239) 980-2593.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife have announced the lineup of wildlife experts for the 24th Annual Burrowing Owl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-157555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}