Michael Pierce | Honeoye Falls, NY

Twenty years ago Kerri and I married in Texas.  Even then I knew of her love for birds and on our trip back to Seattle WA we made a special stop at the World Center for Birds of Prey.  This was followed by a trip to Alaska later that summer to see, among many other things, many bald eagles (golf ball heads in trees being one easy way to spot them).  Her love and passion for birds and wildlife grew. 

 

She has volunteered over the years at many places:

      as a bird nursery volunteer at PAWS in Lynnwood WA,

      as a raptor education volunteer at Willowbrook Wildlife Center in IL,

      and now with Braddock Bay Raptor Research in NY.

 

In her own words: I’m Kerri, a writer and translator who has been working as a volunteer in raptor education for the past couple of decades. I grew up in the Texas Panhandle, where seeing a bald eagle or a peregrine falcon in the winter is, believe it or not, not that unusual—all thanks to the efforts of the Peregrine Fund and other dedicated conservationists. The Peregrine Fund is eternally dear to my heart. I visited the World Center for Birds of Prey on my honeymoon and saw a merlin there for the very first time—and now I am privileged enough to work with one! (Talk about a feisty little falcon.)

 

So now twenty years later, I have the opportunity to do something special for Kerri, to celebrate her and her love of birds.  I am running the NYC marathon to raise support and awareness for the Peregrine Fund, the same organization that we stopped at on our road trip all those years ago.