Wow, that's great news and what a beautiful young falcon. Good job inspectors! 

OMG Janet that is hysterical! 

Of course it is. He's all over the place. 

Perhaps Donna spotted her yesterday!

Seems to be her pattern...Xerox to FCT. This new cam is great for that, right on her route! 

  Thanks Donna! The more I learn about crows the more I'm interested in them. Over in Washington Square park during my morning watch everyday there are thousands of them in the trees. They roost there every night. About an hour before sunset they start coming in at night and just as it starts getting light in the morning they start leaving. If this is all one family it's gi-normous! And they have alot to say to each other,sometimes so loud I can't hear myself think!

It's amazing the memories they have. I learned a lot last night watching the show. They tell their kids who's bad and who's good....quite awesome.

http://www.mefeedia.com/video/33414685 here's a preview of what was on last night.

Thought for Today:

"If it were fun, they would not call it work!"

 

Good one Carol!

Today's WAI? LBJ

WAI????
LBJ = Lyndon Baines Johnson - 36th US President

 

Today's WAI? LBJ

Who do I belong to? Today's WAI!

Since we had no guesses on this, I'll post the answer. The feather belongs to the Short-eared Owl.

[Crows, those winged icons of Halloween, are so smart … it's scary!]

from the Chicago Tribune

Crows, those winged icons of Halloween, are so smart … it's scary!

With Halloween upon us, we thought we'd explore one of the holiday's iconic symbols. But which one? Jack-o'-lanterns? Candy corn? Halloween couture? All as boring as boring can be.

What about crows?

They have been intertwined with mankind for thousands of years. They exhibit humanlike characteristics: They play, communicate and have the capacity to deceive. They're smarter than any cat and most children. (We acknowledge that your cat or child is exceptional and would regularly outperform crows, but our money would generally be on the bird.)

Despite their charms, crows have been maligned for centuries.

"There are a couple of reasons for this," says Kevin J. McGowan, an ornithologist working at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y., who has studied crows for 25 years. "One is that they're black, and in our western European ethos, that's bad. They also got associated with carrion and death because in Europe there are no vultures. So somebody died, lying on the side of the road or after a battle, and the crows and ravens came in and picked at stuff because there it was, free food."


Closer to home and not as revolting, they get a bad rap from gardeners. It's undeserved, says John Marzluff, professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington and author of "In the Company of Crows and Ravens" ( Yale University Press, $19.95).

Marzluff says crows do more good than harm in a garden.

"They eat a great variety of crop pest insects (cutworms, army worms, even small bunnies)," he said via e-mail. "They do seem to have a penchant for pulling up some plants that are sprouting, famously corn. They also eat fruits and nuts, which can be a problem in orchards. But in the family garden they are good natural insecticide."

So crows are to be celebrated, particularly this time of year.

Here are more reasons they are cool:

A group of crows is called a "murder," a designation thought to date to the 15th century. The term is more literary or romantic than scientific. When crow experts talk shop, they usually refer to a flock, pair or family group of crows.

Speaking of "murder," crows have been known to kill one of their numbers in what seems to be a ritual of sorts. Marzluff said that there are many documented cases of this behavior. He has even seen it himself. "When I came upon this, the victim was injured already," he wrote. "It had a broken wing that might have been caused by a car collision or was inflicted by the group. Either way, the group was finishing off this bird. I suspect this happens when one bird is caught trespassing in another's territory, perhaps to sneak a copulation with a member of another pair (crows pair for life, but they fool around a bit)."

Most male crows live to age 10, females to 8, not a bad life span in the bird world, where a year or two is the norm. Three male crows that McGowan banded in 1993 are going strong at age 17 and could live to 20, he says. The oldest known captive crow was 57 when it died.

They have strong family values. McGowan equates it with our society, saying crows come closer to man than any other species studied, including primates. Crow society is family-based, he said. There's a single breeding pair that has offspring that don't leave right away and help raise the next batch of offspring, just like people. Relationships are maintained and individuals can join up with each other years later. Like us, crows have territories and they gather in communal places. When you see a number of crows gathering, he said, "those aren't gangs of crows, they're typically family groups that are helping each other make a living."

Crows can pick a particular person out of a crowd, probably more accurately than you can. Marzluff suspected as much and tried an experiment. Four years ago, he and his crew captured seven birds for banding — a slightly traumatic experience for the birds — and they wore caveman masks as they did it. He and a number of volunteers, some with caveman masks, some without, then walked around the UW campus, among the 40,000 students. Everyone who wore a mask was subjected to crow harassment — scolding, being dive-bombed, being followed. The birds knew the mask was evil. The thing is, most of the angry crows had never been touched by him or his crew. They learned by observation that the caveman was dangerous.

"This 'social learning' is an example of a high cognitive skill that is found only among the most intelligent and social of species (humans, whales and dolphins, other primates)," he wrote. "We have since determined that crows can learn to recognize a dangerous face by direct experience, by observation of a direct experience (seeing us capture another crow) and by observation of a tutor modeling behavior (seeing another crow scold a dangerous person). We have confirmed all this with less striking, much more realistic human face masks, as well."

A crow's vocabulary is extensive, with 30 or so unique calls, each with a distinct meaning. Each call is also shaded to indicate the intensity of a situation, and each has an individual signature unique to that bird. That way, crows can distinguish between family members, mates, neighbors and strangers. "This is important so they can react differently to different individuals," Marzluff wrote. "Reacting to a mate in distress is more important from an evolutionary perspective than reacting to a stranger, for example."

Juvenile crows like to play. "They chase each other around, pull each other's tails. They get an object like a leaf or a feather and they chase each other around, trying to get the object. Then whoever gets it gets chased," McGowan says.

There are several scientific studies that document tool use by crows. The best tool user is the New Caledonia crow, which makes tools from plant materials to probe into crevices for insects. In captivity, these crows will bend a piece of wire to make a hook, then use it to pull a bucket of food closer.

Crows seem to express emotions, something Marzluff and co-author Tony Angell are examining in their next book, "Gift of the Crow" (Simon and Schuster, due out in 2012). "Crows are very intelligent, among the most intelligent of all animals," Marzluff wrote. "They live a long time and they live in social settings where expressing emotions is an important part of life. They clearly let others know when they are meek, aggressive, fearful, playful and deceptive. The fact that they look you in the eye, crouch, erect their feathers and the like, using postures and positions much like a dog, makes reading their emotions tractable."

Some crow emotions and behaviors are amazing, such as leaving goodies — candy, pieces of bracelets, keys or shiny glass — for people who feed them, or pooping on the cars of people who harass them.

Scarecrows are a waste of straw. They have evolved from being built into fish drying racks by Native Americans to the kids ("crow boys") who chased the crows from European fields to the kites and concussive cannons of today. The crows get accustomed to each new idea, and man has to escalate the war.

(I watched the Crows on the Nature channel last night. They are the most amazing birds.) SMART!!!

It’s hard to find a gentler bear than Lily.  She has never swatted anyone.  She has never bitten in anger.  Like a dog, she may gently communicate using her mouth.  She has never harmed anyone.  She is calm and tolerant while having her bulky radio-collar and GPS unit replaced with a small, light radio-collar for the winter, as we did today.  And most of all, she is gentle with Hope.
Little Hope, becoming big Hope, regularly runs Lily off food.  If Lily finds something good to eat, Hope comes in and takes it with no protest from Lily.  Hope treats Lily like a sibling she can dominate.  Gentle Lily backs off every time.
We saw that again today as we were taking Lily’s heart rate.  To do that, we gave Hope a few hazelnuts to distract her and gave Lily a few of the same to occupy her.  Lily’s heart rate was slow, varying between 36 and 48 beats per minute.  Except when Hope came to steal Lily’s nuts.
Each time Hope approached, Lily’s heart rate rose to around 60.  This is slower than her summer rate in the 80’s and 90’s, of course, but today 60 represented a significant increase over her calm rate of 36 to 48.
Yet, Lily and Hope also calmly snuggle down together.  As they settle in for the winter, we no longer see the rough play they did earlier in the summer.
The area around their den shows evidence of more raking.
Lily is still the watchdog of the two.  When she is outside the den, she spends a lot of time sniffing the air, pivoting her ears, and looking into the forest.
From what we are seeing, we are looking forward to seeing Lily be the gentle, faithful mother of her next litter.
Yesterday, after Donna Rogers sampled some of the treats you sent, she said, “These people are incredibly generous.  Almost beyond belief!â€�  We echo that, and thank you for all you do.
Another thing you are doing is writing letters to editors and letters to officials, urging officials to do the right thing and give protection to the radio-collared bears that are so important to science, education, and the region.  For help with letter-writing check the guidelines and talking points listed as ‘Contacting the DNR’ at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=263755115498&topic=18562.  For addresses to send letters to see ‘Legislator Contact Info at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=263755115498&topic=18579.  Thank you so much.

Lily and Hope at Den

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

Sorry, Hawk Mountain.

Too bad, Pinnacle.

I hate to break the news to you, but the best view in Berks County is not from your lofty peaks.

A couple of Saturdays ago, the Baird Ornithological Club hosted its first-ever hawk watch atop the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower.

Although what seemed like gale-force winds kept the hawk sightings down, those who ventured the 168 steps to the top were treated to the most spectacular vista in Berks.

The northwest winds and passing cold front cleared the air and offered us an unparalleled view that extended more than 60 miles.

To the east, we could see the skyscrapers of Philadelphia.

To the northwest, we discerned the line of windmills that twirl on top of the Kittatinny Ridge. We followed the ridge-line east past Bake Oven Knob to the bleached and scarred mountainside near Palmerton, which was denuded by decades of pollution from a zinc-processing plant.

Could that be, farther on, the Delaware Water Gap?

Half the fun of the morning on the fire tower was picking out local landmarks and municipal boundaries.

BOC member Katrina Knight remarked, "It's not every day you get to look down at the Pagoda."

The view also reminds us that Reading truly is a beautiful city, a perspective we need to keep in these unsettled times.

And there were birds to be seen.

The local turkey vultures battled the wind, and a dozen or so sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks flew by.

The best sighting was a merlin, a falcon midway in size between a kestrel and peregrine, chasing one of the local red-tails.

The nonprofit Pagoda-Skyline Inc. has done remarkable work restoring and maintaining the fire tower and deserves community support and thanks.

Corrie Crupi from Pagoda-Skyline graciously opened the fire tower to the BOC and greeted visitors at the entrance.

The fire tower will be open to the public again this year on Nov. 20 and Dec. 18.

It might be a little chilly up there, but it's worth the climb for even a few minutes of that spectacular view.



-----

Last Monday, we carried a story about the dramatic rescue of an injured juvenile red-tailed hawk from the roof of the Chiarelli Parking Plaza at Third and Court streets.

Washington Towers residents Nilda Mercado and her fiance, Ariel Rosenthal, spotted the hawk and led the efforts to rescue the bird.

Eventually, the Reading Fire Department used a ladder truck to retrieve the wounded hawk.

The bird, suffering from a severe wing injury and dehydration, later died at the Red Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Schuylkill Haven.

There was speculation as to what caused the injuries, including a collision with an airplane.

I would suggest that the young hawk invaded the downtown peregrine falcons' airspace, which the falcons fiercely defend, and was attacked.

The parking garage is a mere block from the falcons' first nest site, and I've seen the falcons harass and drive to the ground adult redtails and even three great egrets.

Those birds, however, weren't injured.

This young redtail wasn't as lucky.

I take it, they are not banded???  Poor sweetheart, whoever she is.  I hope she makes a full recovery

Me too, Harriet or not. 

[October 25 Update: A Case of Mistaken Identity …]

October 25 Update:  A  Case of Mistaken Identity …

The falcon — a large female [weight of 1 kg] — was intially identified by Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologists as the female from the pair of peregrines that have been nesting in downtown Richmond since 2003 — first at the BBT Building, and more recently on the west building of the Riverfront Plaza.  This pair has produced numerous offspring, included chicks that have been used to introduce peregrines into other areas of Virginia. This female also had been the “starâ€� of the VDGIF Falcon Cam – a web-based camera focused on the falcon’s nest.  Web-cam watchers have given this bird the name “Harrietâ€� – her mate, of course, is Ozzie.

However, VDGIF biologists have now changed their minds and have concluded that #10-2118 is NOT “Harrietâ€�.  A pair of peregrine falcons has been seen in the past few days defending the downtown Richmond nesting site, and careful examination of photos of Harriet and #10-2118 suggest that these are NOT the same birds.

So who is #10-2118?  According to Dr. Dave McRuer, the Center’s Director of Veterinary Services, this adult female is likely a southbound migrant – most probably from New England, Canada, or even Greenland.

The Peregrine Falcon is a native species to Virginia, once nesting in the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains.  By the early 1960s, the falcon was believed to be extinct as a breeding species in Virginia and all areas east of the Mississippi River — a decline linked to the widespread use of DDT and other chemicals.  A program of peregrine reintroduction began in Virginia in 1978.  There are now about 20 known breeding paris of peregrines in Virginia.

I noticed an arc that appears in the upper right and upper left corners of the Cam 4 image at night.  It disappears in daylight.  Here's a movie from pre-dusk today that shows the effect:
(movie)

My first thought was that this was an optical effect from the IR illuminators, either the ones in Camera 4 itself, or possibly one of the nestbox cameras reflecting IR light off the lens of Cam 4.  The problem with that theory is that the arc appears to move, not only in and out of the frame, but also toward and away from the camera.  It never appears to be sharply in focus, so I thought may be it was a spider web of some kind, but nothing of the sort appears in the daylight shots.

So, would anybody care to weigh in with their theory as to what we might be seeing here?

Well, the effect on the upper left doesn't seem to move like the one on the right and it appears to then be a dark area upper left in the daylight.  I'm wondering if that is the cam visualizing the hood over the lens, catching the IR light at night.  Perhaps the one on the right is a reflection of the Times Square lights on the right side lens hood.

Kinda like the same effect as when you get a piece of glitter on your eyelash...you see the dancing orbs.

A piece of Jim's hair that got caught on the camera lens and blew away by morning??