Stay in bed, it's 36 degrees! Archer's not going to like this!

  Perhaps we'll have pics real soon!   

 

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/wildlife_group_volunteers_coun.html babies

http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/04/raptor_trust_is_a_healing_refu.html Kestrels

http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2009/05/thousands_of_red_knots_migrate.htmlRed knots on Delaware Bay

Meadowlands nature Blog!

We spent our lunch hour on the side of a closed North Arlington landfill on Thursday, and so did this American Kestrel.

Our lunch was forgettable, but the kestrel's ...  the falcon dined on a delicacy, in flight.

As the bird first came into view, we could see that it had something in its talons. We were so busy trying to photograph the bird that we did not make out what it was carrying.

It was only we downloaded the photos that we saw the meal  -- a Praying Mantis.

Like humans, kestrels sometimes need to eat lunch on the fly. 

7day old seal pup

caption: When I went bird watching with the misses today we didn`t expext to be babysitting a 7 day old seal pup for around 4hours. We found the poor thing on the grass verge on Kilbaha Pier Co Clare. It had been wash up by the storm. So we contacted Dingle wildlife and seal rescue and the came to collect it. It was quite weak but they are hopeful, fingers crossed. They will be keeping us up to date on it status. My heart just went out to it. So no birding was done, I just have to bird tomorrow.

Oh the poor baby....his mother must be frantic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea_f8rgyjww video

If you drive through downtown Bellevue, you won?t be able to help but notice a flock of 10 life sized Sandhill Cranes, Michigan?s tallest bird, flying low through the northwest corner of the Capital Avenue and Main Street intersection. If you don?t get through Bellevue very often, then this interesting temporary art installation is something you won?t want to miss. This combined school / community effort was orchestrated by Bellevue School?s art teacher Audrey Haddock.
As an art teacher with Bellevue Community Schools for the past 11 years, Haddock has always made an effort to tie her art curriculum into community projects. Her thrust as an art teacher, explained Haddock, ?is to involve as many layers of the community in an effort to give back by leaving something beautiful.? For the past 5 years, Haddock and her students have painted about 20 wooden sandhill cranes to celebrate the CraneFest that takes place in Convis Township every fall. These colorful student contributions liven up the actual site of festival. With limited funds, creative students, and the help of community volunteers to cutout wood cranes, Haddock was able to make this happen, but she had a vision for bigger and more permanent installations. Unfortunately, not the extra money such projects require. But in the Fall of 2009 that would change.

Haddock had encouraged one of her students, Naomi Haralson, to ender a contest that the Battle Creek Community Foundation, now the Calhoun County Arts Council was sponsoring for a Gateway Design Grant. Harlson, who graduated from Bellevue last year won the contest and was awarded $5,000 in scholarship money and the Bellevue?s art department was awarded $5,000 in matching funds. Haddock dedicated part of this money to have life sized metal cut outs of the sandhill crane cut out. She involved Bellevue students Riley Beam, Brace Graham, Adam Simons, and Josh Wix at the Calhoun Area Vocational Center where the plasma cutter was used to cut out the ----ga. birds that were then welded together. The birds were welded to a tube steel post that slides over another tube steel post that was set in a 10 gallon bucket of concrete to provide a future footing for the bird. All of this skilled and very cumbersome preliminary work was achieved with the supervision of local community member and assistant welding teacher at the Calhoun Area Vocational Center, Gary Edwards.

In Spring of 2009, The birds temporarily flew into the the back door of the high school auditorium, the only doors large enough to get them in, where they waited for their next unique phase of transformation. Haddock lined up artists and community members to adopt a bird. They would have the birds all summer and were asked to do adorn these large metal sculptures and bring them back to install this fall to ?Beautify Bellevue? in conjunction with the 16th annual CraneFest to take place this weekend in Convis Township.

Photo: Leader of the pack

BattleCreek Enquirer

Since 1999, Natuurpunt (BirdLife in Belgium) is tracking migrating White Stork Ciconia ciconia  on their route to Spain and West Africa. Thanks to the support of the partners of ‘Storks without Borders’, which include the animal park Planckendael, the Ministry of the Flemish Government and provinciaal Natuurpark Zwin we already followed 25 storks on their migration route. Satellite tracking data give us a detailed picture of the migration route, stopover sites, potential bottleneck areas and threats. We can still track one bird, an adult male, for its 5th autumn migration. On the 30th August 2010 he covered 429 km in one day through central France. This is a spectacular result as storks normally cover 150 to 200 km on the western route across Europe.

Dozens of birds died Wednesday near the Blue Plains wastewater treatment facility, but the manager of DC Water said there is no indication that the plant had any direct connection to the deaths.

George Hawkins, general manager of DC Water, said the chimney swifts were apparently trying to eat bugs near the facility when they were struck by vehicles driving on Interstate 295. Hawkins said many of the drivers probably didn't know the birds were being hit because they are so small.

DC Water and the Department of Health responded to reports of dead birds on the road Wednesday night. The Department of Health even sent a hazmat team to investigate.

The American Bird Conservancy said it doesn't think any external factors were involved and that it is possible "that atmospheric conditions forced the birds to fly very low to the ground where they were struck by passing vehicles."

A spokesman said that situations like this can happen when the weather is cool and wet. It causes bugs to fly closer to the ground, and the birds will follow.  A similar situation happened recently in Richmond, Va., he said.

The ABC put the number of birds that were killed at about 200.

Hawkins said three of the birds are being examined at a local lab "just to be absolutely certain" that there was no connection to the treatment facility.

The birds apparently are migrating from New England to the south, Hawkins said.

The Department of Health is the agency in charge of the investigation because the incident happened off of Blue Plains property on the I-295 corridor and on Overlook Road SE.

The Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant is the largest of its kind in the world, according to DC Water.

Wow Sage, where ya been? Oh I'm so sorry about Dyngus, so sad to hear this.

 Glad Frightful will be OK. Yeah, why are they there? Lots to ponder! Thanks for popping in, keep us posted.

  Now that is one homely chic!   

Now, Now, MAK!

It's Cugly! 

its in the eye of the beholder the little guy is cute

He is cute and looks so helpless.

Last data report was the 20th of Sept and she was still in the Power Plant area. RED is the latest!

Golden eagles are proving to be the best friends of the sheep farmers who once feared their reintroduction.

Farmers in Co Donegal, where the eagles are finally flying wild, have noticed a decline in the number of attacks by local hooded grey crows on newborn lambs.

The arrival of the golden eagles, after an absence of more than 100 years, has scared off the huge number of grey crows, a known local scourge as they attack young lambs, according to a new report by the Golden Eagle Trust.

Three young eagles fledged in Donegal during the summer; while in Co Wicklow, 11 pairs of red kites nested this year, breeding 12 young birds.

Also this year a pair of eagles returned to their 2007 eyrie in Glenveagh, Co Donegal, and successfully reared one chick, which left the nest in late June. In total, three pairs of golden eagles laid eggs in Donegal in 2010.

The breeding kites in Wicklow were found to be feeding their young on rabbits, crows, rats, and in one case scraps from a butcher's.

Despite the setback of poisoning incidents in both Donegal and Wicklow, this year's breeding results suggest that "red kites will once again become established along the east coast of Ireland", the report says.

The Golden Eagle Trust praised the ongoing support of the local sheep farming and shooting communities in Donegal and Wicklow.

A total of 58 young golden eagles have been released since the project began in 2001, and the plan is to release a total of 75 birds.

Meanwhile in Kerry, several white-tailed eagles introduced there have become fully grown over the summer. A four-part series on the golden eagles, red kites and white-tailed eagles, called 'The Eagles Return' is being aired on RTE 1 at 7pm next Tuesday. (We don't get that channel) 


an eagle spotted in Donegal

http://hawkescarvings.com/index.php Some nice carvings.

A "PROLIFIC" bird egg collector was today sentenced after he was found guilty of owning equipment used in his illegal hobby.

Aaron Kisiel, 39, of Hanley Avenue, Bramcote, was twice spotted disturbing nests in the Peak District by birdwatchers.

At Nottingham Magistrates' Court today he was sentenced to 84 days, suspended for 12 months.

In August, he was convicted of three charges of possessing equipment used to take wild birds eggs protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

His trial heard members of Derbyshire Ornithological Society  said they saw Kisiel scrambling up a quarry bank in Youlgrave, Derbyshire, close to a former peregrine falcon nest used by ravens on April 19 last year.

Also in April last year, Kisiel was seen by other birdwatchers watching a nest used by a merlin, a breed of small falcon.

Police and RSPB officers searched Kisiel's home on May 20 last year and found 35 wild birds' eggs.

Kisiel pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing birds' eggs last November.

The charges he disputed during his trial, which was heard on various dates this year, related to the possession of items capable of being used to take birds' eggs on April 19, 2009.

They included binoculars, a rucksack and a car.