OIt was a great honor to have the opportunity to visit the Pinola Conservancy in Shreveport, Louisiana Friday, May 29. I really appreciate the time Jacob Kramer, curator of the collection, took out of his extremely busy day to show me around the grounds. He and his hard working staff are doing some amazing work to ensure the continued survival of some very rare waterfowl species in Aviculture. Pinola is a private facility not opened to the public and is owned by Mr. Paul Dickson. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to meet Mr Dickson but I really appreciate, and thank him for creating such a beautiful place.
Jacob was very camera shy because he said his clothes were dirty from banding some of the waterfowl. I say if his clothes were clean then he wasn't doing a good job!
I didn't know what to expect when I drove through the gates at Pinola. It's located in a residential area on the outskirts of Shreveport in a beautiful wooded setting.
My jaw dropped when I saw the first flight!
There's a variety of species in this flight from Honey Creepers....
To fruit doves....
To Grey-headed Kingfishers....
Flamingos, Red Breasted Geese and even Pygmy Geese.
Jacob greeted me and we talked a bit about my trip and then proceeded to give me a tour. When I say this facility is a dream it really is. He showed me to their incubation room where I could hear the humming of many incubators and a few babies pipping or hatching as we spoke.
We then moved on to their largest aviary where it must be at least ten to fifteen thousand square feet of open space fully enclosed for the safety of its occupants. It's tiered with several levels and numerous ponds. The water in the facility comes from wells and the ponds are cleaned often.
The Southeast has been going through historical rain, flooding and tornado activity. I have been in the area for a couple of months and have thankfully ridden out a fair share of horrible weather. Having said this, Pinola hasn't been able to replace sod in many of the areas that would normally be sodded whenever needed. The sod farms are all flooded at the moment but that still doesn't take away from the beauty of this place.
We then moved on to their latest aviary which is a diving duck aviary with a viewing window. It's current residents are still getting accustomed to it and unfortunately would not dive for me to get a picture but you get the idea of what it looks like below.
Going past this aviary one walks into another newer addition for their northern species....I must apologize at this point because I don't know the specific names of all the species but please visit www.pinola.net for more specific information because I don't want to get anything wrong.
On the opposite side of this flight one sees separate flights for younger birds.
They also have open grounds for those species that can be left out safely...
Waterfowl is the main focus of the facility but other species can be found here as well....
The baby room is amazing and to see the many wet brooders full of babies was wonderful.
Everywhere you turn there's another pond or enclosure....
Mr Dickson has created a world class facility with the help of Jacob and his staff. Not everyone has the resources to have such a grand facility but no matter what your means are one can always have make room in your garden for a small aviary. Aviculture is a wonderful hobby that has given me immeasurable pleasure over the years.
Thank you again Jacob for giving me more inspiration and hopefully by the time I make it back home I will set up my place again wich will include waterfowl.
