HEGPS Honors Wildlife Transporter

[birdvoyer]

On January 11th, two representatives of HEGPS, Ann and Jill, met for lunch with a wonderful gentleman named Norm. Some of you may remember Norm from two seasons ago, back in 2010, when he flew to Hornby in his personal helicopter to transport a downed eaglet to MARS rehab facility that boonibarb had rescued. That eaglet’s name was Little Brig. Not long before that, Norm had flown our beloved Phoenix from MARS to British Columbia Animal Health Laboratory for necropsy. Just this past summer, he transported the seal pup, Oriole, to Salt Springs to IWNCC. There have been many other “missions” but these are the ones that we are most familiar with regarding Hornby Island.

Norm volunteers his helicopter and his time to these wildlife rescues. In many cases, his ability to transport the rescued wildlife to a rehab facility, quickly, increases the possibility of survival tremendously. He is a soft spoken, kind and humble man who truly enjoys the work that he does. We are so grateful to this man for his contribution to wildlife. The members of HEGPS wanted to find a way to recognize Norm for his dedication and generosity of transporting wildlife to rehab centers around the Vancouver and Vancouver Island area as a volunteer. We decided to honor Norm by presenting him with one of MaryJane Harman’s hand painted Spirit Rocks and one of boonibarb’s photos, framed, of an eaglet from the Whaling Station Bay area on Hornby. The gifts for Norm were made possible through personal contributions of HEGPS members.

Below, a photo of Norm receiving his framed photo and letter of recognition from Ann, one of the HEGPS representatives:

   

Photo close up and Spirit Rock of Oriole, one of Norm's transports

   
Thank you Norm!

[dizzymom70]

Thank you HEGPS for this honor bestowed upon Norm. What a kind soul he must be!

[Tigerlady105]

Norm is a wonderful man.  A former airline pilot, he is spending his "retirement" years transporting birds and animals to rehabs where they can get the help they need, all at his own expense!  He's very gentle when he prepares his passengers for a flight.   

[BBE]

Thanks birdvoyer for posting a summary of the presentation to Norm.  Meeting Norm was a wonderful and heart warming experience.  

He is so full of life and has a great love for wildlife and is extremely happy to 'pilot' those in need to the various rescue centres.   He loves to chat about his 'missions'. Norm has great respect and gratitude for all that Booni, wren, other members who help the wildlife before he arrives. And also for care providers who then nurse the eaglets, seals, and other injured wildlife back to health and eventual release back into their natural habitat.  

It was nice to also meet Jill and thank her for having the photo framed. The folks who did the framing did a super job.

A beautiful sunny day, made even sunnier by meeting and on behalf of HEGPS to recognize Norm "for his dedication and generosity of transporting wildlife to rehab centers around the Vancouver and Vancouver Island area as a volunteer." (quote from birdvoyer's post above.)