Ellis Bird Farm

Earlier this summer I visited the Ellis Bird Farm...on the occasion of a shower put on for E and I (thanks again, M!)
And I was so impressed that I visited again, just E and I...whereupon M fed us tea and scones (she waitresses there occasionally).
And was still so impressed that I went back a final time with my husband...the last day they were open for the season.

May I recommend visiting?

If you like birds....

They apparently have the largest gathering of mountain bluebirds in North America.
Purple martens and many other kinds of birds also abound. 

If you're aren't a birder (which I am not)...

there are still reasons to go. 

Like the delicious baking at the teahouse. In keeping with the natural fauna of the area, the teahouse serves an array of desserts featuring saskatoons, rhubarb, raspberries and strawberries. The buns used for sandwiches are baked fresh every morning and the tea is loose and served in personal tea pots with real china cups and saucers.

And the scenery. The Bird Farm is an oasis amidst fields of crops. Not that there's anything wrong with fields of wheat and canola and whatnot. But when you step onto the paths of the Bird Farm, you feel like you're entering another world. The Farm is a mixture of native trees and shrubs and general "bush" and carefully maintained gardens of shrubs, perennials and annuals. I found butterfly gardens, a xeriscaping garden, a "native-species" garden, and a water garden. And, of course, there are birdhouses tucked away everywhere.

The Ellis Bird Farm is free to visit, including the interpretive center, where you can see stuffed examples of various bird species, and watch live video feed from inside a swallow house or from the finch feeder. And the resident biologist and manager, Myrna Pearman, is more than happy to answer questions and get even the most skeptical visitor excited. It is closed for the season now, but will re-open on May Long Weekend of 2011 with another full season of tours, birdhouse-building events, birds and flowers and lots and lots of tea.

Finally, on an interesting note, the Ellis Bird Farm is integrally tied up with the MEGlobal/Dow Chemical plant across the road. An interesting juxtaposition of industry and conservation, to be sure...