GO TEAM PEREGRINE/RTH!! 

Beautiful Eagle, thanks Margaret & friends!

Guess all is well with the RTH. Had bread by the door Joyce said and it apparently had a great meal of Starling. Here's a few pics Joyce sent me. Not the RT but evidence. Glad it's OK!

poor thing, is it at BFF or still at guys door?

Beauty's little friends playing on Mercury's head.

If that's Beauty, she looks awful small!! Looks like her though.

Saw it too - distressing!

I can't read any more posts like this !!!

I know I'm sorry, should I just delete it? It is too distressing.

Wow, how unusual is that. So cute. Thanks I agree, hope he's OK.

Wow Bobbie, your PC smart, funny video!! You did this from lil MAC??? 

Everything here is a sheet of ice but I made it to my brother-in-laws  to babysit. We got 20% of what they predicted for this area. Pfft, what do they know!!

A RARE swan from the Arctic has caused a bit of a flap on the river Severn by appearing alongside much more common cousins.

A beautiful whooper swan has appeared at South Quay in Worcester alongside mute swans.

The whooper swan is a large white bird with a long, thin neck and black legs. Its black bill has a large triangular patch of yellow on it.

The bird is mainly a winter visitor to the UK from Iceland, although a couple of pairs nest in the north.

Its winter population and small breeding numbers make it an amber priority on the RSPB’s bird guide – red is the highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action. Amber is the next most critical group.

It is usually only seen in Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and parts of East Anglia between October and March.

There are only 5,700 whooper swans in Britain.



John Phillpott, Worcester News columnist and birdwatcher, said: “I have never seen a whooper swan on the Severn before and I have been bird watching in this area for years.�

Kirsi Peck, an RSPB wildlife adviser, said it was possible the bird had come from further south, perhaps from the Slimbridge Wetland Centre by the Severn Estuary.

She said: “To find one way up in Worcester means it has gone a long way up the Severn valley.�

She said it was not impossible for a whooper swan to breed with a mute swan, but it would be rare.

“I have never heard of it happening but you can never say never,� she said.

Some sad news: The trumpeter swan whose rescue, recovery and subsequent reunion with his mate was chronicled in the birding column Jan. 5 has died.

The swan was re-rescued and brought to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville in late January in poor condition. Testing showed extremely high levels of lead in his bloodstream and supportive care was not enough to keep him alive.

The swan was originally rescued from a Wisconsin marsh after it was injured by shotgun pellets in late October and brought to the wildlife center, where he recovered and was released in early November.

The swan, which wore ID collar 88F, tested negatively for lead when he was released from the center in November, so the lead that led to his death was picked up after his release. Water birds such as swans, which dabble head down in the water and mud to feed, can pick up old lead pellets or even fishing sinkers from pond and river bottoms. 

 

[Seven photographers and their work have been recognized by the city of Palm Coast for capturing the essence of Linear Park/St. Joe Walkway, according to a press release from the city.]

http://news-journalonline.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1163629&CategoryID=51969

Seven photographers and their work have been recognized by the city of Palm Coast for capturing the essence of Linear Park/St. Joe Walkway, according to a press release from the city.

Well, he won't see it here either as his door is probably sealed shut from all the ICE! 

From The New York Times


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/science/18birds.html?_r=1&ref=earth

Whoa, I can't believe the number of bird deaths in just 1 DAY!!