[Another sad story]

FORENSIC investigators are trying to work out if a bird of prey found in a Lincolnshire river was shot.

Police have been informed after the county's RSPB group was called to fish out a dead peregrine falcon from Lincoln's Brayford Pool.
National veterinary experts are rushing to discover what brought down the bird, which had suffered a broken wing.
Lincolnshire RSPB member Steve Lovell said it was not immediately apparent what had happened to the young female bird, which was less than a year old.
"Quite where it's come from I don't know," he said.
"But I fished it out, dried it off, cleaned it up and took measurements and photos before storing it in my freezer.
"We know it's a juvenile female because of the plumage on the breast – it will have only hatched last year – but we know it's not from Lincoln because the only chick up at the cathedral fell down and before we returned it to the tower we put a ring on it.
"It's going away for tests to see if it's been shot, hit overhead wires or if there's another cause.
"I can't see why anyone would want to wipe it out of the sky with a gun, but I'm still a little bit suspicious."
Peregrine falcons are a protected species and there are only 1,402 breeding pairs in the whole of the United Kingdom.
Professor Richard Shore, of the predatory bird monitoring scheme at the Centre For Ecology And Hydrology in Lancaster, said it would be their priority to perform an autopsy.
"Due to the concerns the bird may have been shot we will do this postmortem far more quickly than normal," he said.
"We'll then feed back to the local RSPB and if in this case it turns out that something illegal has happened then they can involve the police."
Spokesman for Lincolnshire Police James Newall said the peregrine is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under the Wildlife And Countryside Act of 1981 and if someone had harmed it they could face jail.
"It is an offence to intentionally take, injure or kill a peregrine or to take, damage or destroy their nest, eggs or young," he said.
"It is also an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb the birds close to their nest during the breeding season.
"Breaking this law can lead to fines of up to £5,000 and a prison sentence of up to six months."

Another sad story

Lincolnshire

[So sad!]

CLEVELAND, Ohio--Cleveland MetroParks Zoo officials said they would reopen Tuesday after four-foot flood waters destroyed an employee service building and killed a Peregrine Falcon Monday.

Crews had been working overnight, and by 3 p.m. Monday, the floodwater had receded leaving the wreckage of the service building, picnic tables in the parking lot, and mud everywhere.

Spokeswoman Sue Allen said it was too early to put a dollar figure on the damage.

"It's Big Creek that caused all this," Allen said. "It's tough when you know it's going to happen. There's nothing we can do to stop it."

Big Creek runs through the zoo, which Allen said has three distinct elevation levels. The lowest level, which includes parts of the parking lot, the African Savanna area that begins on the right after you go through the main entrance, are often flooded during large storms. Zoo officials keep the animals at the higher elevations to keep them safe.

Still, a one-winged Peregrine Falcon died when the Amphitheater filled with water and it couldn't get to safety. That was the only casualty, except for the large service building that was used as an operations center for parking lot attendants, cashiers, and ticket takers.

Allen said Monday's flood was among the worst, and the earliest, she's seen in her 21 years with the zoo. "We've had floods here before," she said. "Yesterday, the creek looked fine. By 4 a.m., it was overflowing its banks."

So sad!

http://phoebeallens.com/ The cam, in case!

Phoebe has laid 2 more eggs-one on the 21st and the other on the 24th!  Hatching expected in 17 days!   

Sheesh, she's a Hum-dinger that one! Just fledged 2 and laid 2 more. Did the others leave? I must read up on Hummers, they just keep going and going. Of course the male does NADA!!!

I had read that he put off contacting someone to remove the bees.  There's been so much concern with colony collapse resulting in loss of so many bees lost that I just thought that they should have been saved.  Just my opinion...

I thought the same thing Kris!

Oh I didn't know he killed them, thought they were dead already!

[The hubby told me he saw a peregrine perched on a lamppole on 590 N betweenBlossom and Empire exit in the center median at 4:00 today.Christiane]

Feb 26

This afternoon I spotted a red tail hawk that usually like to land on the
railing on the top of the buildings near me. (once landed on my balcony railing)
A few minutes later I saw a span of wings fly by and realized there two
together. Do hawks fly together or maybe these are our peregrine falcons? I
grabbed my camera and caught some wing action on video. I'll have to post so
someone can view and help me out with maybe better insite.

The hubby told me he saw a peregrine perched on a lamppole on 590 N between
Blossom and Empire exit in the center median at 4:00 today.

Christiane

Look at the doo on this guy! Estonia Squirrel

In nice sunny weather squirrels have been romping around for some weeks already in garden cities and parks and cemeteries. The last couple of years both pine and spruce cones have failed, and the "usual“ squirrel haunts are without tracks. The cone kings seem to have become fewer in forests but they move quite long distances in search of better feeding grounds.
 
In Tallinn – Nõmme the squirrels very successfully use the sturdy power line cables as express "motorways“:  it is easy to observe what happens and food can be found at birdfeeders. Winter is spent on minimum rations, according to some sources the daily food need is only 40 grams or less. When the heat period arrives the need of food is doubled. One female is usually accompanied by two or more males who try to catch her interest; then the squeaks of the males are often heard, occasionally even loudly.
 

The gestation period is 35-38 days; during that time the female builds the nest for giving birth in, where her young are to be expected from mid-March; generally 3-4 tiny squirrels. The squirrels have several sleeping or night nests, and often change between these so the irritating fleas won’t bother them.

on Mercury, not long

Look who's back!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn2h3_aH3vo#ws This was so my Bucca. Not to that extreme but just half way up. RIP  Presents too!

Being fed

[Aside from the quantity of bird and bat deaths, a more complicated question remains unanswered as more wind turbines are put up along the Texas Coast: Have the turbines changed the ecosystem and displaced wildlife?]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/environment/article/Wind-farms-and-deadly-skies-1032765.php

Aside from the quantity of bird and bat deaths, a more complicated question remains unanswered as more wind turbines are put up along the Texas Coast: Have the turbines changed the ecosystem and displaced wildlife?

http://www.nemesisbird.com/2011/02/amur-falcons-%E2%80%93-south-africa/  Look how they all hang out together.

Man that's a lot of beezwax. What a job to remove. I love how he uses the term Vile. I never knew Bee's and Wax had a bad smell, even in death. Anyway, thanks dale, your always good for getting us jazzed up for the owls return.

Now that's NICE!!