http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-17T18%3A31%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=25

He Ei, I love this site!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mSd7VgRCQc&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG9iDNNzd-U&feature=player_embedded#! Cool!

http://vimeo.com/10670842 Japanese Alps. Would love to see the plow!!   I was getting dizzy!


Nevermind, found it!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8gLFJG6UpY&feature=player_embedded

[Figured I'd stick this in here:]

Figured I'd stick this in here:

It’s not everyday students get to see an endangered species up close and personal and on Friday students at Widdifield Secondary School were fortunate enough to see a peregrine falcon firsthand.

Kyle Holloway, with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation and Oscar the peregrine falcon and Alexandra a great horned owl, were at the school to deliver an informative, interactive, and fun workshop on the endangered fowl.

The main focus of the presentation dealt with pesticides including DDT, and how the chemicals affect the population of these birds.

“The best way to make changes is to get to kids. Youth are who is going to make the change,� says Holloway.

He says that since it is harder to change the mind of adults, the foundation focused on kids in grades four to twelve.

Seeing the creatures up-close allowed the students to explore what their role is in helping to keep the bird’s habitat clean and safe and free of pesticides.



Baytoday.Ca

Jeeze, can it get any worse??? Thanks Aafke and Kerwin's friend.

By falconwatcher Joyce
There have been several attempts to try and ID the female peregrine at Kodak Park (KP) by many Rochester watchers, including Kodak employees.  Last September, our KP falcon was very happy to show us her purple band (a sign that she was from the Midwest), but we couldn't distinguish anything on the...

Link:
http://rfalconcam.com/falconwatching/?p=1048

First thought at first glance was 71/H.....without zooming.

What is this bird? He's very fast and was hard to capture.

Norfolk Botanical Garden eagles build cozy new nest.

A pair of eagles are hatching another family this nesting season at Norfolk Botanical Garden

Maybe Mom is tired of the floor plan or wants a better view.

Whatever the reason, Dad is determined to keep her happy, so the eagles are building a new nest for the eaglets they will raise this season at Norfolk Botanical Garden. This is the eighth year they have nested together at the gardens in Norfolk.

Last year, the female eagle laid the first of three eggs on Jan. 31, so the pair works daily to get the new quarters in order before their nurturing duties begin.

But, sometimes they slack off, according to the "nuzzle, nuzzle" entry that the Center for Conservation Biology features on its eagle nest blog at http://eaglenest.blogs.wm.edu
"Not much nest building this morning," reads the blog.

"Male brought one small stick, hung around long enough to get a little lovey-dovey from mom, then left. She got tired of waiting for him to return so went after her own stick. After getting that in place, she left about 8am."

To make sure you can see everything that happens in the nest late January through late May, when the eaglets usually fledge, the botanical garden is moving its "live eagle cam" to the new location, and will have it set up for online viewing later this month. The camera was placed in the nest tree, about 15 feet from the nest itself. Biologists were there to direct camera placement, and clean up the equipment; you can see what the camera looks like in photos on the eagle nest blog.

The newly constructed site marks the third nest that the eagles have built within the botanical garden, according to Stephen Living, watchable wildlife biologist for the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries.

"It is normal for eagles to maintain multiple nests within the same territory and to periodically switch between them," says Living.

Why the eagles decided to build another nest is always a guessing game, agrees Reese Lukei, research associate at the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary.

"But, some factors likely are damage to a prior nest or nest tree, disturbance from other animals or people, insect infestation, insufficient foraging success or just a change of venue," he says.

"Only the last factor appears to be why the botanical garden eagles have built a new nest."

All of the nest sites are within approximately 220 feet of each other. The new nest is about 5 to 6 feet wide, according to Lukei. The parents continue to bring sticks and bedding material like pine straw, and will add to the nest as needed throughout the breeding season

In December, botanical garden and inland and game fisheries staff set up protective barriers around the nest to protect the breeding ground. Recent eagle nest blog posts mention the pair meeting on the "love branch," nuzzling a lot, for sure.

Watch the nest

•See photos of the eagles building the new nest at the Center for Conservation Biology's eagle nest blog at http://eaglenest.blogs.wm.edu

If so, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds wants to hear from you.

But they're not interested in just any old chough. The choughs they are monitoring have rings on their legs. These are coloured and in a particular sequence.

They are trying to work out where certain individual birds are feeding and how far they travel.

The birds that the RSPB would like monitoring have three coloured rings and a BTO ring, which is a unique numbered ring. The choughs have two coloured rings on one leg and one coloured and one metal on the other.

Each bird has been given an individual combination.

The RSPB are aware that the sightings the public make will be fleeting and difficult to observe, so they are asking them to send in information on whatever they see.

Claire Mucklow, project manager for the RSPB in Cornwall says, "Even just being able to tell us that they saw one of the birds with a yellow ring on one leg is really valuable."

Last year was an amazing breeding season for the choughs with six pairs trying to breed, three being successful and consequently raising nine chicks.

Sadly seven of the nine didn't survive. Claire explains, "It was one of those years where there was great success, but the youngsters didn't have much luck."

"The choughs are crows, which are very long lived birds.

"If you think they are going to raise two, three, four or even five chicks a year for up to 15 years, the mortality rate tends to be quite high or you would have choughs and crows everywhere.

"It's just a minor setback and we still have a really good population of about 18 or 19 birds in Cornwall at the moment.

"We recently had the spell of really bad weather but luckily around the coastal fringes it wasn't as bad as Devon but it does mean that the birds are more spread out and that they are not necessarily on their territory, so they tend to range further during this time of the year.

"It's really important that we know where they are and really, how they are faring through the winter."

If you make a coloured ring chough sighting, please contact Tony Whitehead or Claire Mucklow on 01392 432691.

The red kite has a long history of taking an interest in human belongings. Now several centuries later, it appears that this unusual practice shows no sign of stopping.

In recent years, RSPB Scotland has found a number of weird and wonderful items hiding in the nests of some of Scotland’s red kites.

Amongst the traditional nest-building materials of dead twigs, grass and a lining of sheep’s wool, staff have discovered coloured string and paper, as well as socks, underwear, a small child’s glove, a teddy bear and, very aptly for this time of year, a Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer toy.

Kites are well known across their European range to adorn their nests with bits of plastic and cloth which they might pick up in their breeding territory. Other bird species may exhibit similar behaviour, for example, magpies are known to like shiny items.

Shakespeare was amongst the first to document the red kites penchant for stealing human possessions, when he warned ‘when the kite builds, look to lesser linen,’ in The Winter’s Tale (Act 4, scene 3). In Shakespeare’s day, the Elizabethan era of the 1600s, the red kite was known to be an extremely common species, present even in many of our towns and cities. The red kite benefitted from poor sanitary conditions and presumably associated large rodent populations, indeed the species was protected by Royal decree as a street cleaner.

Brian Etheridge of RSPB Scotland said: “ Over the years we’ve found many strange and interesting things in the nest of red kites. The birds use these items, many of which are discarded by humans when out in the countryside, to line their nests. However, cuddly toys are probably taken as they are mistaken for food. We often find them later with bits of stuffing pulled out. That’s bound to cause a surprise, not least to a nestful of hungry chicks!�

Red kites were once completely exterminated in Scotland due to continued human persecution. However, thanks to a successful reintroduction project, led by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage in the 1980s, these birds are making a slow and steady recovery across many of their former ranges. Red kites are primarily a scavenger, feeding on dead animals that they find in the countryside.

[Wildlife agencies determine whooping cranes were shot]

Wildlife agencies determine whooping cranes were shot

CALHOUN COUNTY, GA -- The Georgia Department of Natural Resources reports the three dead whooping cranes found Dec. 30th were shot with guns. DNR officials say it is a crime to shoot any animal that is endangered.

According to DNR, shooting an endangered animal is a Class B Misdemeanor with six months of jail time and a $25,000 fine. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, it would also be a Class B Misdemeanor with six months in jail and a $15,000 fine.

DNR says hunters found the three endangered birds just west of Albany on December 30th. They say a landowner reported that the cranes had been living in the area for a few weeks before they were found dead.

Ranger First Class Ben Roberts with DNR says they are still offering a reward for anyone with knowledge on the whooping crane deaths. He says an exact amount is not available until Monday but he says it is several thousand dollars. If you have information, call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 404-763-7959 and talk with Special Agent Terry Hasting at extension 233.

Whooping cranes have a special classification according to officials with Operation Migration. They say the cranes are endangered but registered as "threatened non-endangered."

According to DNR, the cranes are part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership project to reintroduce the endangered birds into the eastern United States.  These three cranes were released in October 2010 with seven other first-year birds in Wisconsin as part of the Direct Autumn Release program. “The whooping cranes are one of the most critically endangered bird species in the United States,â€� says Chehaw Zoo Director Kevin Hils.

Hils says there are two main migration paths for the whooping cranes. Operation Migration officials say the flock of 96 that fly south from Wisconsin make a stop in Southwest Georgia on their way to Florida.

He says planes with Operation Migration lead the endangered birds to help them learn the path.

I don't care what anyone thinks, this is NOT normal. Every day, something new! Disturbing. Just leave our Falcons alone! 

Thanks Kris, what will tomorrow bring?

http://www.starrranch.org/blog/?page_id=2 Live web cam. She just woofed down a mouse! 1,2,3 gone!

what a beautiful quote, Paul,thank you!

I so agree!!