Niagara Falls / Toronto, Ontario – February 2010
 |
| Me with my favorite species of owl in the world – the barred owl, an unreleasable girl named Teddy. |
When business took us to Rochester, New York, Roman and I decided to make a weekend trip out of it and visit Niagara Falls and then some friends in Toronto before heading back. Sometimes impromptu travels can be the best kind – this was definitely a trip to remember!
 |  |  |
| Rainbow over Niagara Falls, New York. | Tigers find my hair delicious. | Gorgeous Great Horned Owl at the Mountsberg Raptor Centre. |
 |  |  |  |
| Me with a tiny Saw-whet owl named Hutton. | More gratuitous cute owl shots. | And another! Hutton is just precious. They are so little and cute they look unreal. | One of the bald eagle residents of the Centre. |
 |  |  |  |
| Fish Beak! Pagwa, a juvenile female bald eagle. | Amy and Pagwa, who were amazingly in sync with each other. | Profile, Portrait. Amy and Pagwa again. | Amy showing us her incredible owl-mimicing talent. |
 |  |  |  |
| Behind the scenes where birds are cared for. | Bernice isn’t too sure about Otis. | In the end they make friends. | I just love barred owls! |
 |  |  |  |
| One of the resident barn owls. | A beautiful bird of another sort welcomes us to Jungle Cat World (peacock). | I was amazed that the harsh Canadian winter doesn’t phase these exotic creatures! | The stars of JCW – the tigers. |
 |  |  |  |
| Incredible, inspiring cats. | Delicious arms. | Delicious legs. | Delicious jacket of mine. |
 |  |  |  |
| Delicious scarf. | I have to conclude, after spending time with baby tigers – the whole world is delicious. | Mauled by tiger cubs and never happier about it! | What a face!! |
 |  |  | |
| Playful cubs. | One of the other cats – a lynx on the move. | Myself, Roman, Eric (with his tiger beer), and Bernice (with Wolfy). |
We first visited Niagara Falls, which was beautiful in the winter with ice-covered cliffs, broken ice rivers, and a wonderful lack of crowds. We then went up to Toronto and a bit east to Jungle Cat World – a fantastic little sanctuary with a bed and breakfast on site. We had the chance to stay at the zoo overnight and see the animals when they were most active – when the rest of the crowd has gone home. You can find their site here: http://www.junglecatworld.com/
We also had the chance to see the Mountsberg Raptor Centre which was a wonderfully run place full of gorgeous birds. Major thanks to Amy Fennell, a friend (and Mountsberg employee) for the memorable, thoroughly enjoyable trip! You can learn more about Mountberg and the birds at their Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/mountsbergraptorcentre