August 8, 2001
Raptor rehabilitator shares feathery tales
Rebecca Lessard presents program at District Library
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
When the birds came out, big round eyes met big round eyes.
While the raptors had no choice- they are built that way- the children and adults staring at them, fascinated, were completely entranced.
As 100 pairs of eyes absorbed every move, the saw-whet owl, falcon and great horned owl stole the show. In fact, a room full of young children became eerily quiet as everyone strained to catch the hoot of the great horned owl.
"I really liked watching the real birds," said Kelsey Copeland, 10, from Walled Lake. "I learned a lot about the owl."
Raptor rehabilitator Rebecca Lessard brought three of her birds to the Traverse Area District Library for a presentation as part of the Children's Saturday series. Giving attendees a brief introduction into the world of these great predators, Lessard lit a spark more than once.
"I want to make a house," said Nick Miller, 13, of Freeland, who was visiting relatives in the area and took home plans for making a nesting box. "The great horned owl was cool, I knew they were pretty big but didn't know they were that big."
Lessard devotes herself to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing into the wild injured raptors, which include owls, falcons, hawks, ospreys and eagles. She has adapted her yard in Empire into a number of raptor cages, built to strict government specifications, and holds both state and federal permits to work with these birds.
For the past 12 years, she has worked to save these noble creatures, which come into her care because of injury, usually due to cars, poisoning or human interference, such as kidnapping or habitat destruction. She cares for the birds and releases them when they are healthy enough to fend for themselves.
Lessard cares for between 25 and 40 birds a year, referred to her from a variety of sources including police agencies, other wildlife rehabilitators and people who find her number in the phone book.
"Raptors are extremely powerful and they have a remarkable power to heal," Lessard said. "My goal is to provide supportive care without getting in their way."
Networking with about a dozen raptor rehabilitators around the state, Lessard constantly strives to improve her mission to save as many of them as possible. In April, she received the President's Award from the Michigan Audubon Society, an award that surprised and pleased her.
"I had no idea they knew what I was doing, way up her in the woods," Lessard said.
What began as a small volunteer position with the former Cedar Wildlife Rescue 13 years ago, has mushroomed into a passionate cause for Lessard. As she talks about raptors, whether to an audience of one or a hundred, she becomes increasingly animated and can tell story after story, fact after fact, about the different birds she has cared for over the years.
A growing part of her work is education, and Lessard gives speeches and presentations around the region about raptors. This aspect of her work has doubled in just the last year to 85 presentations as more schools and other groups take her up on her policy of have birds, will travel. The birds that she takes with her are ones that are permanently disabled and could not be released in to the wild, so she keeps them for educational purposes.
This is quite a difference from her first encounter with a raptor 13 years ago, when she was petrified of trying to help an injured bird.
"I had an opportunity to work with a red-tailed hawk and I was scared to death at first," she recalled. "I caught him and held him in my arms and looked into his eyes - I was so captivated by him. I was just smitten by the raptors and I pursued my own permits."