The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Feathers Of Hope At The Stephentown Historical Society

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Author Barbara Chepaitis will give a talk, “Feathers of Hope: Berkshire Bird Paradise and the Human Connection With Birds,” at the Stephentown Historical Society meeting on Monday, June 3, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the Stephentown Heritage Center on Garfield Road, Stephentown. It is free and open to the public. The building is handicapped accessible. For directions or information, phone 518-733-0010.
The Berkshire Bird Paradise Sanctuary in Grafton is a bird sanctuary for disabled and injured birds which strives to give them a safe haven to live, thrive and rehabilitate as best they can. Peter Dubacher started the Berkshire Bird Paradise, a certified not for profit company, back in 1972 as a “labor of love.” It has grown into one of the largest bird sanctuaries in the country with over 1,000 birds and almost 100 different species.
About 40% of the birds are permanently disabled and will be there for the rest of their lives. The disabled birds live in habitats custom designed to be as natural as possible and to challenge them to work and climb and be productive. The goal is to “allow the birds to live out their natural lives with dignity.”
The sanctuary has evolved into an outdoor educational institution, where visitors and students on field trips or on college internship programs can learn about birds. The sanctuary is also a small botanical garden with hundreds of plants and exotic flowers. It is open every day, weather depending, from Memorial Day weekend until the end of October.
Chepaitis is the author of eight published books and is on the faculty at the Western College of Colorado low-residency creative writing program. Feathers of Hope was her first non-fiction book. She has followed it with Rescue of Eagle Mitch, also involving the Berkshire Bird Paradise. Mitch, a wounded Steppe Eagle, was rescued in Afghanistan by a Navy SEAL and an Army Ranger. Barbara facilitated the journey of the now-flightless bird to its home at the Grafton sanctuary.