Here I thought I was gonna scoop you ladies! I shoulda known better. With poor weather maybe both Quest and Kendal will be around more now. They have clearly accepted the box so all systems are go.

  Sorry!! I'm so glad they like it.

Kendal wants her to come down!

Still waiting for her!

Both there right now, one in and one on beam.

I think it's Kendal in the nest box and Q on the upper beam. He keeps looking at her.

of Crows! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjMHLWp-ORc#ws

How to count birds: By Kate St John

Inevitably a flock this large makes us wonder:  How many crows are there?  How do you even estimate their number?  Here’s how.

   1. Note the starting time.  (For example:  5:45pm)
   2. Pick a reference point in the scenery.
   3. Use a timer and count the number of crows passing the reference point for 1 minute or 3 minutes, whichever is most useful.  Make several of these timed counts so you can get a decent average of crows per minute.
   4. Now relax and watch the crows passing by.  If their concentration increases or decreases noticeably, redo the timed counts.
   5. When the crows taper or stop coming, note the ending time.  (For example:  6:30pm)
   6. For how many minutes did the crows pass the reference point?
   7. Use some easy algebra:  minutes * crows/minute = crows.

Ta dah!

You can try this while watching Peter’s video.  Count the number of crows exiting the frame, then multiply by 40 minutes.

How many did you count?

p.s.  Dedicated crow watchers (like me) have been noticing the crows for a couple of weeks.  I predict that everyone else will notice them for the first time on November 7.  Why?  Because we’ll change the clocks (“fall backâ€�) on November 6 and suddenly, on Monday November 7, the crows’ rush hour will coincide with ours.

An owl has been found dead apparently after becoming tangled up in a Chinese lantern at a Gloucestershire farm.

It was discovered on land at Breadstone near Berkeley on Wednesday.

Farmer Simon Pain said he was "shocked" by the discovery of the barn owl, which he believed had been hunting for food near the grass margin of a field.

Spokesman for the National Farmers Union (NFU) Ian Johnson said: "Whilst these lanterns look very pretty there are unforeseen consequences."

"We've been warning about about them for some time, certainly in terms of livestock," he added.

"Now we can see what a hazard they are to wildlife as well."
'Key bird'

Mr Johnson said the NFU would back any proposal leading to a ban on the lanterns coming into force.

Mr Pain said: "The barn owl on the farm is one of the key birds we have.

"For the last 10 years we've been trying to create the right environment for the birds to live and survive.

"I'd be more than happy to see a ban [on lanterns]," he added.

There have been numerous calls for a ban on Chinese lanterns, which are seen as a fire risk.

The lanterns' metal parts can also kill cows if the animals eat them, farmers have warned.



 

[But a couple of weeks ago, as I walked my son to school through our middle-of-San-Francisco neighborhood, we came across a large dead bird on the sidewalk. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a small owl or hawk. I took some pictures with my iPhone — at first thinking myself ghoulish, then realizing that the family of the deceased wouldn’t mind — and my son and I talked about how and why it may have ended up there]

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2011/10/burrowing-owl.html?page=all More

But a couple of weeks ago, as I walked my son to school through our middle-of-San-Francisco neighborhood, we came across a large dead bird on the sidewalk. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a small owl or hawk. I took some pictures with my iPhone — at first thinking myself ghoulish, then realizing that the family of the deceased wouldn’t mind — and my son and I talked about how and why it may have ended up there

 

Botulism blamed for 6,000 dead birds on Georgian Bay shore.

It started with a few dead sturgeon and carp in late August. By mid-September, boaters had begun discovering the odd dead gull or duck.

Then, this weekend, residents around Georgian Bay awoke to see their shoreline clogged with more than 6,000 dead birds.

The culprit behind the “die-off,� locals and experts suspect, is type E botulism, a lethal neutoroxin. “And this is just the beginning,� said Bob Bowles, a field naturalist based in Orillia, one hour east of Wasaga Beach, where most of the birds were found
The birds were killed during their annual migration from breeding grounds in northern Canada to winter on Lake Ontario and the Atlantic Coast.

As more species swing down through the area en route to wintering grounds, they too will be claimed by the waters around Wasaga Beach, Mr. Bowles said. “Into November we’ll be seeing a lot more dead birds,� he said. “Only the cold weather can stop the chain.�

The naturally occurring bacterium that causes botulism has long existed in sediment at the bottom Lake Huron, but remained relatively harmless until the 1980s.

It was during that decade when the zebra mussel and the round goby were inadvertently brought to the area in the ballast tanks of Great Lakes freighters.

The two invasive species act as filters for the lake water and accumulate dangerous amounts of the toxin.

When fish eat the mussels or the goby, they are slowed down by the early stages of the poi—son, making them easy pickings for passing flocks of migrating predatory birds.

After a few meals of contaminated seafood, the birds — be they gulls, ducks or even eagles — drown after their muscles seize up from the poison.

“They’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time,� said Tyler Hoar, an Oshawa—based consultant biologist.

As the birds’ contaminated bodies wash ashore, the botulism toxin can then spread to land scavengers such as coyotes and foxes.

Only turkey vultures have been found to successfully digest the toxin. This year, turkey vultures have delayed their own migration to Pennsylvania in order to capitalize on the thousands of dead birds and fish piling up on Wasaga Beach.

“I have seen it before but never this size,� said George Peck, a research associate in ornithology at the Royal Ontario Museum.

On Sunday, Mr. Peck described strolling a section of beach littered with loons, grebes and ducks.

When zebra mussels and round gobies first arrived, they were quickly seized upon by local birds as a plentiful and easy source of food — irrecoverably altering the local food chain.

“We all knew this was not a good thing, but for a while there we had quite a few more ducks and geese,� observed local birder Linda Crome.

Every once in a while, the lakes would experience “little die-offs,� but never to the extent seen over the weekend, Ms. Crome said.

National Post

http://blogs.discovery.com/daily_treat/2011/10/pup-rescued-after-being-spotted-on-top-of-a-train.html#mkcpgn=fbapl1

Pup On A Train: Mystery Pup Rides Rails. A great ending! 

Picture from under the nest box! By Brian. 4 Elephants

(Brian) Waiting for Barnum Bros animal parade. Sitting under nest box. No B to B found. 4:39pm

Rhea Mae is back

Well Quest and Kendal have taken to the box we put out at Harlequin!
Off topic...Tracy called me from our balcony...Get out here quick. I leave the tap running as I was doing dishes and run(ok moved quickly) to the balcony. "You gotta see this hurry!". I arrived to see the Northern Lights dancing in the sky(aura borealis). Hues of red and green filled the sky in an amazing natural light show. Unfortunately no pics from us but here is a link to a nice one taken from Toronto.
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/web/imagepopup.php?imgname=http://media.twnmm.com/storage/5014739/619&title=Northern Lights over the Beautiful City of Toronto&lang=en Really amazing and beautiful to see. It lasted at least 10min before things faded and not sure how long it had been going b4 Tracy stepped outside and noticed.

Wow, glad you saw that BF, must have been an awesome sight!

I always lose these!

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/170880/Turbine-turmoil someone cares about the Falcons!

http://sentinelsource.com/opinion/columnists/staff/bosak/kingfisher-survives-to-rattle-another-day/article_2cbb5edb-a0b2-5b83-a472-42af665ba08a.html pursued by Peregrine!