Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society  

Summer is here with all kinds of adventures and opportunity for new experiences! For a group of teenage girls, this summer is a chance to travel the northwest and become involved in a positive way in the areas that they visit. The group of eight young women, aged 14 to 18, accompanied by two team leaders, have just completed construction of an insectivore-rearing pen at Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS) in Merville.

This is the first visit to Canada for most of the group and they are enthusiastic about their travels and the work that they are doing. Fourteen-year-old Tish from Pennsylvania was interested in the tour because she "likes to work with animals and know I’m going to help them". An exciting part of the trip for her was kayaking on the west coast and sleeping under a tarp on the beach. Kristina, who is sixteen, "loves animals and being outdoors". She says her experience has been "fun, I love it". From California, she says Canada is a lot like she expected after reading the brochures about the tour. She enjoys it and intends to return to Canada again. "I like it here because I like the quiet".

The group is traveling with Global Works Inc., who are funding the project at MARS. The team of ten spent three days at Mountainaire in Merville and then traveled on to help with construction in Strathcona Park before going to the Orphaned Wildlife Rehab Center in the lower mainland. The insectivore enclosure built for MARS was completed on a return visit this last weekend and will be a tremendous benefit in the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned songbirds. MARS is glad to be a part of the experience for these enthusiastic young people.

With all of the construction, student workers and youth activity added to the already extremely busy Baby Bird Season at MARS we are grateful for everyone’s hard work and effort to make a difference for the wild birds in our care. More information about Global Works can be found at: www.globalworksinc.com/html/pacificnw.html. Find out more about MARS at: www.wingtips.org, or email: mars@minfox.com. MARS Pager: 1 (800) 304-9968.