Looks like RM is at home.

(movie) Beauty (?) on FCT!

 

Your almost there too Ei!!! 

[COGRATS MAK!!]

COGRATS MAK!! UR catchin up to me!!

 

http://hawkmountain.wordpress.com/ Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

Hawk Migration begins soon!! That went fast. When I was in Rochester in April, they were migrating in!!

All that whining paid off! She gets her man.

but only for a brief!

The only excitement at the nest so far!

[How precious is this little Eagle!!]

How precious is this little Eagle!!

thank you SO much everyone for the wishes!  I have been keeping busy and forgot to come by here and say thank you!   Had a REALLY nice birthday!  One son and GF took me to Red Lobster YUM! On the way there one of my other sons called.  He is around the world on the George H.W. Bush Aircraft Carrier!  What a wonderful surprise to hear his voice!  LOVED IT!  Another son and wife brought over cheesecake after my stuffing late lunch!  Had 3 lady friends/neighbors yesterday for pizza and pool time!  So I guess I did spend it doing what I love to do!  EATING, TALKING, EATING, in the pool, EATING!       

EXCELLENT Birthday Annie! 

This image of nine waxeyes feasting at a bird feeder has netted a Christchurch photographer a Fairfax photography award.

Andrew Lukey snapped the image on July 31 at his parents' Halswell farm.

"It was early and my mother had put some butter on the bird feeder and the waxeyes were going crazy for it. The light had just broken above the nearby hills and I thought the scene was worth photographing," he said.

He entered the photo in a Dominion Post competition that attracted more than a 1000 entries.

"It was a spur of the moment thing. I remembered about the competition afterwards."

Lukey, who is a freelance photographer, said the win was "a bit of recognition" for his work.

He took up to 100 shots of the birds to get the standout image.

His winning entry will be shown in The Wide Angle: Best of the Dominion Post exhibition, alongside the World Press Photo exhibition in Wellington, and he also wins a Canon PowerShot SX230 HS compact digital camera worth $650.

Christchurch photographer Andrew Lukey snapped nine waxeyes in a feeding frenzy - and took out a Fairfax award for his patience

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/delaware/item/24374-historic-bird-houses AWESOME!!

Bedfordshire is the UK capital of the bird world and we are very lucky to have the RSPB headquarters in Sandy. Thanks to the excellent work they do we are now able to identify and enjoy the many different species of wildlife birds that visit our gardens.

Over half of adults in the UK feed the birds in their garden and the most common item in bird feeders is peanuts, which are rich in fat and are particularly popular with tits and greenfinches.

But do we really know if the titbits we leave out for the birds are doing them good or causing them harm? Unless they are top quality, peanuts can potentially be lethal because they contain a naturally occurring fungus, called aspergillus, which produces toxins that are poisonous to wild birds.

Peanuts are imported and there has recently been a big increase in price. So not only are we damaging the environment because of the increased carbon footprint and number of food miles, there is a risk that imports can be of poor quality, based on price rather than what is good for the birds.

It is vital the birds receive a well-balanced diet as well as plenty of fresh drinking water. Top grade mixed seeds and fat or suet based cakes, balls and pellets, which contains lots of energy, help birds survive during winters and sustain breeding birds when they are foraging for natural food for their young.

Bedfordshire has the ideal sandy soil for maize and sunflowers, which are the main crops used for birdseed. The Parrish family farm is on the Greensand Ridge at Chicksands and has now allocated several acres specifically for growing bird food. We also make the products on-site and this year we have developed a new type of fat ball ‘the A-maiz-ing fat ball’ which includes more maize and less wheat providing the birds with a high energy feed all year round. Grown and manufactured locally, it means A-maiz-ing fat balls provide guaranteed quality and a much lower impact on the environment.

When you next purchase bird products read the label carefully. Imported products with cheap ingredients have little nutritional value and so much is wasted because it falls out of the feeder onto the ground below.

By spending a few pence more on good quality products it is not only beneficial for the birds but in helps the environment too!

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/a-sanctuary-for-wildlife-plants story and video

[The agents found the carcasses of about 90 brown pelicans, 17 great blue herons, five great egrets, four black-crowned night herons, four turkey vultures, two osprey, two gulls and one scaup.]

A Palacios fish farm owner faces up to six months in prison after he was found guilty of killing federally protected brown pelicans.

A federal jury found Seaside Aquaculture, a fish farm in Palacios, and its owner, Khanh Vu, guilty of illegally killing about 90 brown pelicans, which are protected under federal law, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release.

Phone messages left for Vu were not returned Friday afternoon.

Vu's Corpus Christi-based attorney, Christopher Andrew Lowrance, declined comment.

Vu and Seaside Aquaculture were indicted in April, charged with one count of killing migratory non-game birds, which equates to about 90 brown pelicans.

The killings violated the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which provides protection for migratory birds and unless permitted by regulations, prohibits the killing of any migratory bird or the nests or eggs of any such bird.

The brown pelican is a non-game migratory bird, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office press release.

In October, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife received a letter from a former contract worker of Seaside Aquaculture alleging that while employed at the fish farm he saw several employees, including Vu, illegally killing many species of birds, according to testimony.

Two months later, a Fish and Wildlife Department agent inspected the area around the fish farm and found and photographed several empty shot gun hulls and bird carcasses.

In February, with the assistance of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens, agents executed a warrant to search the fish farm.

The agents found the carcasses of about 90 brown pelicans, 17 great blue herons, five great egrets, four black-crowned night herons, four turkey vultures, two osprey, two gulls and one scaup. 

Seaside's employees denied shooting any birds, but owner Vu did admitted to shooting six pelicans to prevent them from eating his fish, according to the news release.

At trial, the defense maintained the birds died after running into power lines, according to the news release.

Vu faces a fine of not more than $15,000 or a maximum six-month prison term or both. (That's it!!)

His company faces a similar fine.

Vu and his company's sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 7. He will remain free on bond pending the sentencing hearing.

Two Red Tail Hawks, that were evidence in a federal investigation into illegal wildlife trafficking, are now back in the wild. They were released Thursday in Frankfort.

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/Hawks_trapped_illegally_set_free_127555263.html Video