A nature reserve next to a sewage works in east London has two new residents - a pair of baby barn owls.

Plop and Flo are the first arrivals at Thames Water's Crossness site since work to expand the plant began in spring 2010.

The pair have been ringed by experts who will now monitor their progress.

Barn owls are protected by law but their numbers have declined as a result of rodent poisons and the loss of traditional nesting and roosting sites.

Karen Sutton, manager of Thames Water's Crossness Nature Reserve, said: "The last time we had barn owls breed at Crossness was in 2007 so we were over the moon to see the arrival of Plop and Flo, in the same box our owls have bred in the past."

The ongoing £220m upgrade at Crossness sewage works is due to be finished in 2014.

Plop and Flo

[Happy Feet may have been eaten. I feared this as he was probably the lone penguin out in that big ocean. A target for many. I'll just believe he's out there swimming, eating and enjoying his freedom! In reality, I felt sick when I read this.]

Happy Feet, the emperor penguin who became an international celebrity after losing his way and ending up in New Zealand, is missing presumed eaten after being released into the ocean this month, scientists said.

Concerns were raised over Happy Feet's fate when the tracker device attached to his body stopped sending signals on his trip home to Antarctica.

Kevin Lay, of Sirtrack, the specialist firm that fitted the tracker, said no signal had been received since Friday, when the penguin was about halfway home. He said it was possible Happy Feet had been eaten, but he remained hopeful.

"There are some species that will forage on emperor penguins. It's not likely that it has happened to Happy Feet because of the area he was in."

Lay said the tracker was meant to transmit a signal every time it broke the surface of the water, and had been working perfectly. It was intended to remain attached for months and be shed in the new year moult, but may have fallen off.

Sharks, seals and killer whales are among the creatures known to eat penguins.

The three-and-a-half-year-old Happy Feet was found emaciated and exhausted on a beach near Wellington in mid-June, only the second emperor ever recorded in New Zealand.

He was nursed back to health at Wellington zoo, undergoing surgery to remove several kilos of sand he had swallowed having apparently mistaken it for snow. The zoo's visitor numbers doubled as people tried to catch one of his rare public appearances.

Colin Miskelly, a wildlife expert who advised on the penguin's treatment, said the truth about his fate would probably never be known. "It is unlikely that we will ever know what caused the transmissions to cease, but it is time to harden up to the reality that the penguin has returned to the anonymity from which he emerged," he told AFP.

There are plans for a book and documentary of Happy Feet's story, but the ending may remain a mystery.

The tracker firm posted what may well be the last news of Happy Feet: "Finally, as we expect many people are, the team at Sirtrack are disappointed that we are unable to track Happy Feet's progress any further. We have enjoyed being part of this project and hope that Happy Feet is making his way home."


Happy Feet may have been eaten. I feared this as he was probably the lone penguin out in that big ocean. A target for many.

I'll just believe he's out there swimming, eating and enjoying his freedom! In reality, I felt sick when I read this.

I was beginning to wonder how long she could sit there...

Yesterday was awful! Who knows how much we missed!  Gee, I actually tried  "CLEANING"!! 

The latest word is that the they were working on the network in the Times Square building Sunday and did something to break our connection. No word on when it will be corrected.

 

Here is the link to my wonderful photographer/tattoo artist friend.

http://redtailedink.com/_site/

Wow some neat Tattoos Bonnie.

Here's where I went for mine

http://shotsiestattoo.com/fig/index.php  Scotty, AKA Flying Ace did mine. I will eventually get my Kaver Tattoo. Hmmm, maybe I'll go to yours! 

Wow, fun pics for sure. Water Buffalo, yeah, they can splatter me!! I love animals!! Glad you all had a great time. They saw Toby too!! 

After all it was only glued on and would have had to survive extreme conditions.

Should have used nail polish!

Exactly, apparently glue didn't help.

Turns out that Hurricane Irene did send some unusual birds our way two weeks ago.

Although I wasn't brave enough to venture out, several intrepid birders weathered the winds and rain to witness a record-setting five-tern day at Lake Ontelaunee.

Rudy Keller, Ken Lebo and Katrina Knight saw five tern species: an immature sooty, common, black, royal and Caspian.

Ken suspected that an arctic tern was also among the terns, but no one got a view of the bird definitive enough to make the call.

Wind and rain are the most difficult conditions in which to bird.

But the day goes down in the red-letter book for its variety of tern species and the rarities.

The sooty tern is definitely a hurricane bird.

Rudy had seen a sooty tern before at Blue Marsh following a hurricane, and the first Berks record of this species was Aug. 13, 1955, at Lake Ontelaunee following Hurricane Connie, when three of them were seen.

During the late stages of that hurricane, Earl Poole saw a tern that he believed was a royal tern at Lake Ontelaunee, but the terrific wind prevented his getting a good view.

The four royal terns seen at the lake during Irene may be the first since Poole's possible sighting.

As with most hurricane birds, all of the terns were gone by the next day.

As exciting as the terns were, birders received more great news last week: a second county peregrine falcon nesting in southern Berks.

The location is being kept under wraps for now, but it's unique because the falcons nested in a natural cliff location and not a manmade structure.

During the recent recovery years for the peregrine, nesting for the most part has taken place on bridges or ledges of tall buildings.

Our Reading peregrines have nested on center-city buildings.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has been hoping to see peregrines re-occupy historical nest sites along the major rivers in the state, but success has been slow due to nest predation by great horned owls and other predators.

The southern Berks nest produced three female young, and game commission peregrine specialist Art McMorris banded them on May 16.

I'd be interested in finding out if the parents are offspring of our Reading peregrines.

Art noted that the banding team was able to determine that one of the parents was banded, but they weren't able to discern further details that could specifically identify the bird.

The Reading peregrine offspring were all banded, except for the young three years ago that fledged a little early.

Matt Wlasniewski sent along this terrific photo of an immature red-tailed hawk harassing the owl decoy at Hawk Mountain's North Lookout on Aug. 22, the day 16 bald eagles and 15 osprey were among the migrants.

We hope to see such dramatic sights Saturday when the Baird Ornithological Club will hold a hawk watch at the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower along Skyline Drive in Lower Alsace Township.

Birders can access the tower beginning at 9 a.m., but I'm sure several of us will be there a little earlier for some warbler watching.

Mid-September is the best time for the broad-winged hawk migration, when several hundred can be seen passing at a time in large "kettles."

It will be interesting to see if the recent foul weather either speeds up or delays the migration.

An immature red-tailed hawk harassing the owl decoy at Hawk Mountain's North Lookout.

Reading Eagle

The days are getting shorter; up in the hills you will occasionally find a telltale red leaf; the goldenrods and asters are coming into their full glory; and soon beechnuts and acorns will start falling from the trees. The signs are plentiful that autumn is just around the corner.

One sign that I particularly enjoy is the appearance of American kestrels on the telephone wires that hang next to open fields. The American kestrel is the smallest and most colorful falcon in North America.

Worldwide, there are 58 species of falcons. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Here in North America, we have a total of seven falcons, but in the eastern U.S. we are only likely to see four species: the gyrfalcon, the peregrine falcon, the Merlin and the American kestrel. The American kestrel's European cousin is simply known as the kestrel.

The prototypical falcon is a medium-sized predator that relies on speed to hunt other birds in open country. Falcons are designed for speed: The peregrine falcon, the fastest bird on Earth, has been clocked at up to 275 mph. Long, slim tails and long, swept-back wings help falcons to overtake most birds in a flat-out race. As with everything in nature, however, there are exceptions.

The gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) is the largest, measuring 25 inches from head to tail, while the American kestrel (Falco sparverius) measures in at a diminutive 9-12 inches. Gyrfalcons are large enough to hunt and kill geese and can also prey on anything smaller. American kestrels are somewhat limited in their choice of prey animals, being able only to tackle sparrow-sized birds.

This explains a popular folk name "sparrow hawk." Sparrows represent only a small portion of the American kestrel's diet, and American kestrels are falcons, not hawks, but sparrow hawk stuck. Even the American kestrel's scientific name (Falco sparverius) is inappropriate. ''Falco" is fine, but "sparverius" is nothing more than the Latinized form of the French word "espervier," which means sparrow hawk.

Because of their small size, American kestrels will utilize mice, voles and even grasshoppers for food. By taking advantage of such food items, American kestrels were able to stay in traditional falcon habitat (open country) while avoiding competition with larger species. This kind of behavioral adaptation did require an accompanying physical adaptation, however.

Hunting grasshoppers and mice requires a technique quite different from the standard falcon approach. American kestrels have very good eyesight, which allows them to identify prey animals from great heights, but in order to get a clear view of mice and grasshoppers from up in the air an American kestrel must stay still.

So, American kestrels developed broad, fan-shaped tails that they spread out and use as air brakes to assist them in hovering. Kestrels hover with rapid wingbeats (much like hummingbirds), but once they spot a prey animal they can fold up their tails and dive to earth with great speed. As a result of their lifestyles, American kestrels have much longer and broader tails than most other falcons.

Another advantage of their small size is the fact that they can nest in natural cavities in trees. They also use old woodpecker holes and will readily utilize nest boxes that are put up in trees at the edges of fields.

A drawback of their small size is vulnerability to attacks from larger birds. To protect themselves, American kestrels developed false eye spots on the backs of their heads. This may deter larger birds, such as blue jays and crows, from attacking, because the larger birds can never be sure where the kestrel is looking.

There is no real nest-building that needs to be done, so the female just lays her 3-7 eggs on the floor of the cavity. While one adult incubates the eggs, the other will be out defending the territory and looking for food. As soon as the babies hatch and are about 1 week old, both adults will be out trying to keep them all fed.

American kestrels are more noticeable at this point of the year than at any other as they gear up for their fall migration and can be seen sitting on telephone lines that border large fields. Be particularly sure to look for them near dairy farms, where they seek out small birds and mice.

Our Far South
The transmitter has appeared to stop transmitting. This could be due to a number of reasons, but it may not be due to interference from the solar flares as previously speculated. There are a number of reasons this may have happened - transmitter falling off, transmitter damage, technical failure etc. Our view is the most likely scenario is the transmitter has fallen off. After all it was only glued on and would have had to survive extreme conditions.

Our Far South
It will be at least a couple of days before we know for sure that the transmitter is no longer working. Hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised. But if we don't get further readings then we'll have to hope for the best and be thankful that we've had such a wonderful cause to raise peoples' awareness of the Far South.

It is unlikely that we will ever know what caused the transmissions to cease, but it is time to harden up to the reality that the penguin has returned to the anonymity from which he emerged on 20 June. The Sirtrack team will keep trying to recover a signal, and we will post an update if they succeed. And maybe, just maybe, he will surprise us all by turning up at a monitored emperor penguin colony, where the transponder inserted under the skin on his thigh will remind us all that once upon a time, a long time ago, he was more than just another penguin.

(This is not good), we'll probably never know what happened to Happy Feet. 

Wow, can't wait for the name and your Tattoos!! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eACOM1EQIQU# Brockport NY Today

Saw that this am....he's still great!! Always loved Simon & Garfunkle

Since 2:02pm

11:28