Was watching today with my nephew and suddenly a Falcon appears and picked up poor Stuart. I snapped a pic off the TV. It was quite cute. Just thought I'd share.

http://jalopnik.com/5689816/for-15995-its-the-falcon-and-the-blowman

The sparrowhawk we know is the American kestral......that hawk looks huge!!

Our kestral would be a third the size of what appears there to be a Wood Pigeon.

What hawks do they call ''sparrowhawks''?

I believe there are many species of Sparrowhawks, including the Kestrel.

Sparrowhawk (sometimes Sparrow Hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus Accipiter. These include:

    * Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk, A. castanilius
    * Collared Sparrowhawk, A. cirrocephalus
    * Eurasian Sparrowhawk, A. nisus
    * Imitator Sparrowhawk, A. imitator
    * Japanese Sparrowhawk, A. gularis
    * Levant Sparrowhawk, A. brevipes
    * Little Sparrowhawk, A. minullus
    * Madagascar Sparrowhawk, A. madagascariensis
    * New Britain Sparrowhawk, A. brachyurus
    * Nicobar Sparrowhawk, A. butleri
    * Ovampo Sparrowhawk, A. ovampensis
    * Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, A. erythropus
    * Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk, A. rufiventris
    * Rufous-necked Sparrowhawk, A. erythrauchen
    * Shikra, A. badius, also known as 'Indian Sparrowhawk'
    * Slaty-mantled Sparrowhawk, A. luteoschistaceus
    * Small Sparrowhawk, A. nanus
    * Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk, A. rhodogaster
    * Frances's Sparrowhawk, Accipiter francesii, also known as Frances' Goshawk
          o Anjouan Island Sparrowhawk, or Ndzuwani Goshawk Accipiter francesii pusillus, an extremely rare, possibly extinct, subspecies of Frances's Sparrowhawk
    * American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, often incorrectly called a 'Sparrowhawk' or 'Sparrow Hawk'
    * Nankeen Kestrel, Falco cenchroides, may be called a 'Sparrowhawk' on Norfolk Island

FROM WIKI

THIS amazing picture of a sparrowhawk attacking a helpless pigeon was taken by a reader in the back garden of their home.
Ros Hurn, 65, took this picture on her digital camera after noticing the spectacular scene taking place outside her window of her home in Gerrards Cross.



She said: "It's a bit grim, but I made a very interesting picture, and I'm very pleased with it.
"I've seen a sparrowhawk in my garden before trying to catch a woodpecker, but this time I managed to get a picture of it."
Sparrowhawks are known to prey on other birds, and commonly attack smaller animals.

Sad 

Vandals are suspected in the death of one of the last of the graceful swans that have swum for years in the placid lagoon at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts. On Saturday morning, volunteer caretakers for the birds discovered the body of the swan, whose neck had been broken.

"To pull her out of the water was just devastating," said Gayle Hagerty, who has been caring for the swans for the past 17 years.

Hagerty found empty beer cans amid feathers and believes the female swan, also known as a pen, was intentionally killed. She did not think the swan was killed by animals because the bird had no apparent injuries other than the snapped neck.

The swan, a 5-year-old named Monday, was killed six months after her 19-year-old mother, Friday, was stolen, leaving only Monday's sister, 13-year-old Blanche, Hagerty said. Blanche is now the only swan that graces a lagoon designed with the birds in mind.

The original sketches for the Palace of Fine Arts, which was designed by Bernard Maybeck and built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, included two Mute Swans swimming in the lagoon, Hagerty said.

"Maybeck loved the Mute Swans and felt they were an integral part," she added. "This was really a senseless and hideous thing."

The swans slept on the grass and under trees near the artificial lagoon in what is a largely unprotected area, Hagerty said. The Mute Swans, named so because they are less vocal than other swan species, can live up to 40 years.

"They are a unique ... part of what makes the Palace of Fine Arts so special to so many people," Hagerty said, adding that Monday was especially gentle and sweet natured. "They are lovely spirits that really had personalities, and it's heartbreaking to lose them."

San Francisco Animal Care and Control is in charge of the investigation. Animal control officers removed the body and are planning to conduct a necropsy.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to call animal control at (415) 554-9400.

E-mail Victoria Colliver at vcolliver@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 16 of the San Francisco Chronicle



 

JUNEAU, Alaska - Juneau International Airport officials say that they will have to act quicker than expected in removing an eagle's nest on airport grounds.

The Juneau Empire reports that last month the airport received a permit from the federal government to move the eagles' nest. Officials wanted to wait until an environmental impact study is completed to do so.

But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not extending the permit's expiration beyond March, 2011, said Airport Manager Jeannie Johnson. And a biologist says eagles begin their nesting preparations in February.

Nick Borchert, a U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife biologist contracted to the airport, asked to be given authorization to act on the permit now, because waiting until March 2011 will put the airport at risk of possibly having an active eagles' nest for another season. He also said he believes it's important for the airport to not have any lapse in permit coverage.

"Based on the deadline of the permit, we might run long and end up with a bit of an issue - try to remove an existing nest after it's already active," he said. "It doesn't work that way."

Scott Frickey of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said eagles start getting active around Feb. 15. Once the eagles nest and lay an egg, it becomes off-limits for removal, so they need to watch for when the birds start dragging sticks to a nest site.

Borchert said he plans on tracking the birds after the removal.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Juneau airport to remove eagle nest quickly

http://cbs4.com/local/turkey.vultures.biscayne.2.2003435.html Video and story 

[Have a great Birthday Ei....(hope your off today)!]

Have a great Birthday Ei....(hope your off today)! 

RTH were out in force on Sat and Sun during our trip to Bucks County PA for the weekend.  It was the HUGE females on Saturday and the small males on Sunday.

Your always seeing something Janet. I'm still waiting for my big moment.

Lucky you FF. The last time I saw a RTH was in Rochester back in 2006. Actually, it was my only RTH that I saw that wasn't moving.

RTH on pole

And who knew that when I took this pic that it would be the future home of A & B.



Thanks and you saw a PF also?? Great weekend for you. 

Great Sapphirewing Hummingbird

At 6 inches long (or more than seven if you include its bill), the Great Sapphirewing (Pterophanes cyanopterus) is one of the largest hummingbirds in the world. It is larger than all of the other hummingbirds in its habitat and many other species as well, including flowerpiercers, conebills, and chat-tyrants.

by Search and Serendipity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnBau6fL8S8 Watch til the end

I voted this AM!

I vote every AM. 

    How sad is this all you long lens camera owners!? The only way it could be worse is if I took pics with my phone camera!!    

Well..hmmm...ok then! At least we can see her in there, it's better than not seeing her at all! 

Beauty on FCT, 2nd arm....see her?

Beauty on right side corner below Rocket.

LOL, I blew it up and still couldn't see her!