early am visit

In total darkness I felt my way through the sugarcane. I had come to watch with my own eyes what I had observed the previous day on a radar screen: millions of swallows taking off from a wetland reed bed wedged between the cane plantations.

But all I could make out was a soft rustle, as from a breeze stirring leaves. I knew this was the sound of the birds leaving, early risers that they are. What was I thinking? I could barely make out my hand, even if held against the first faint glow touching the eastern horizon.

I would have to be content with what I had witnessed at sunset the day before, when the swallows came in to roost. The spectacle of so many birds landing for the night is a major attraction in this part of South Africa.
Birdwatchers start gathering on terraced lawns above the reed bed well before sunset. They bring camp chairs and picnic baskets, and, the sun reflecting off their beer and wine glasses, wait for one of the greatest shows of nature to begin.

The swallows start arriving in small flocks about half an hour before the sun disappears. I would not even have noticed them had it not been for Angie Wilken, chair of the Mount Moreland Ratepayers Association, who was standing next to me. "Look," she announced excitedly, "there they come!"

The little birds steadily gathered force, until they became a swirling mass in the fading light. Then suddenly they ducked into the reed bed, as if sucked into a vortex. There during the night, it is reckoned, they drop a ton of manure from insects they consumed during the day.

The barn swallows that roost here, also known as European swallows (Hirundo rustica), are summer visitors to South Africa from Europe and Asia, where they breed.
What it is about the Mount Moreland site that makes them return there year after year in such breathtaking numbers is not clear.

Whatever the lure of the reeds, it was enough to present a serious headache when it was finally decided, after nearly four decades of indecision, to proceed with construction of a new international airfield for Durban.

Named after the legendary Zulu king who, in the 1820s, had his royal residence nearby, King Shaka International Airport is scheduled to open for business on May 1, a few weeks before the 2010 Football World Cup tournament commences in South Africa.

The swallow roost happens to be right in the flight path of aircraft that will be arriving and departing at the new airport. So real was the danger considered to be of the birds being sucked into jet engines that there was talk of destroying the reed bed.

But there was an outcry from conservation organizations, including BirdLife South Africa, BirdLife International, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), and WWF South Africa.

If the roost was destroyed, conservationists warned, the effect on breeding barn swallows numbers would be felt throughout Europe.

The deadlock was broken through an extraordinary instance of cooperation between a developer and environmentalists, aimed at ensuring the safety of the airliners and the preservation of the roosting site.

The breakthrough, says Albert Froneman, an ornithological consultant engaged by Airports Company South Africa, came when it was understood that it took the birds less than an hour to gather and settle at dusk and a few minutes to fly off in waves before dispersing at dawn.

It was also noted that the roosting site was 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) from the end of the runway and in a valley 295 feet (90 meters) below the runway's elevation. The angle of approaching and departing aircraft would put them about 741 feet (226 meters) above the roost and also well above the birds' normal flocking height.
The knowledge of the birds' flight patterns led to incorporation of an exceptional safety plan into the legally prescribed environmental impact assessment for the airport. It resulted in the installation of a radar system to keep tabs on the comings and goings of the massive bird flocks, and the development of a procedure that would allow air traffic control to pass on a reliable risk assessment and safety advice to pilots.

A U.S.$300 000 radar system was custom-built by a U.S. company and placed at the runway end nearest the swallow roost. Vertical and horizontal scanners cover a radius of 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) and show clearly when there is a build-up in bird density.
A computer system alerts the airport's bird and wildlife unit and the air traffic control tower when there is any risk of significant numbers of birds straying into the flight path.

In the control tower a bird warning light will change from green to red, while in the control room of the airport's bird and wildlife unit, which is responsible for clearing animals off the runways, there will also be an amber light that will enable the unit to start assessing the situation on radar monitors even before the red light flashes--allowing time to prepare an advisory for the control tower
Froneman says it might happen on rare occasions that flights have to wait a few minutes before taking off, or slow their landing approach. Incoming planes should hardly ever have to go into a holding pattern, though it could happen when for some reason the swallows flock at a higher altitude and stay there longer than usual, he says.

The radar system is already operating and is being run and monitored with the help of a student. The purpose, says Froneman, is to develop an algorithm based on a clear understanding of the birds' behavior patterns and of the language in which risk assessments get conveyed.

Everybody, right up to the pilot, must know exactly what the situation is, he says.

The protocol is being prepared in consultation with all the parties, including ornithologists and the airlines, but it will need to be finally approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority.

There will be plenty of time to familiarize everybody with the system even after the old Durban airport shuts down at midnight on April 31 and the entire operation switches to King Shaka International Airport on May 1.

By then the birds will already have left for their northern sojourn, and it will be another five months before they start trickling back.

In a North American first, two pairs of endangered northern spotted owls have successfully hatched young in captivity at the non-profit Mountain View Conservation and Breeding Centre in Langley.

The latest hatching, in May, followed the successful mating of a 14-year-old female and 11-year-old male, both captured from the wild in 2008.

"It's pretty exciting," said Mountain View founder Gordon Blankstein, who is working with the ministry of environment on a recovery program for the birds of prey. "It's doing fine, a big ball of fluff. It's fledged and can fly."

The earlier hatching occurred in May 2008 to a pair that included a 14-year-old female raised in captivity after being struck by a vehicle shortly after birth, and a precocious one-year-old male plucked from the Stein Valley near Lillooet in 2007.

That one surprised everyone at Mountain View, given the age difference and the fact the female had never seen another spotted owl. "Lo and behold, they both had a youngster," Blankstein said.

Previously only one pair of spotted owls had given birth in North America, at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Ore.

A total of 10 spotted owls now live at Mountain View, including six obtained from the wild and two obtained last year from High Desert Museum in a friendly hands-across-the-border gesture. Future owlets born at High Desert Museum will go to Mountain View, as will any from a pair of owls at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.

Another wild owl died of head trauma in 2007 only two days after arriving at Mountain View.

It's unknown whether it suffered the wound before arriving.

Only about half a dozen of the owls are still thought to exist in the wild in southwestern B.C., where they are the victims of old-growth logging.

Joe Foy of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee argued that the recovery program can work only if the province stops logging of old-growth habitat.

The owls' habitat is so fragmented that wild individuals cannot find each other to mate.

Foy said he is encouraged that the province is considering declaring an area of 300,000 hectares of spotted owl habitat (which includes parks) off-limits to logging in southwestern B.C., but argues the measure remains inadequate to ensure the owls' survival in the wild.

Sex of the two young owls born at Mountain View is unknown due to a policy of interfering with them as little as possible in captivity. However, there are cameras that record breeding success.

The owls are fed live mice and quail bred at the facility, with the plan to give them more natural food from an old-growth forest -- flying squirrels and wood rats, also captive-raised -- closer to their release back to the wild, should that day come.

Pairs of owls live apart within an enclosure 35 metres long, 25 metres wide, and 18 metres high. It is billed as the largest such owl facility in the world. Natural deadheads from the forests are provided for nest sites to make conditions seems more natural.

Blankstein said Mountain View has spent about $500,000 on the spotted owl program.

The society receives money from donations and visitors to the centre, although the spotted owls are not for public view.

"It's a big undertaking," he confirmed. "But that's why we're here."

GOODLAND — Five men, including four Navy officers-in-training, who were accused of shooting and killing 21 wading birds near Goodland in February 2009 were indicted Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The men were each charged with misdemeanor unlawful killing of migratory birds, which are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. If convicted, the men face up to six months in federal prison and $15,000 fines.

“We have indicted them, and we fully expect to convict them, but they are innocent until proven guilty,� U.S. Attorney spokesman Steve Cole said. “Migratory birds are beautiful things. We take them just as serious. It’s part of Florida, it's part of nature, it's part of why we live here, and destroying these beautiful bids is an outrage.�

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Michelland in Fort Myers. No court date has been set, Cole said.

The five men were identified as: Zachary J. Mato, 23, of Marco Island; Cullen M. Shaughnessy, 23, of Pensacola (previously of Marco Island); Joseph W. Gursky, 23, of Pensacola; Alexander B. Wilhelm Jr., 25, of Corpus Christi, Texas; and Mark L. McClure, 24, also of Corpus Christi.

Shaughnessy, Gursky, Wilhelm and McClure previously were identified as Navy pilots-in-training. Two people who had initially been arrested as part of the case — Stephanie M. Meads of East Naples and Keith G. Lisa of New Jersey — weren’t mentioned in Wednesday’s indictment.

The indictment comes nearly a year after the State Attorney’s Office in Southwest Florida declined to pursue charges against the men because the property where the shootings were said to have occurred wasn’t properly marked “No Trespassing,� and because none of the law enforcement officers who made the arrests actually witnessed anyone shoot the birds — ibises, swallows, cormorants and egrets.

Mato was the only one of the group who admitted to shooting the birds, but his statements were deemed inadmissible in court because they were made before officers read him his Miranda Rights.

“I never had any doubt that it would end, at least in indictment,� Fish and Wildlife Capt. Jayson Horadam said of the case.

The case made national headlines in February 2009 after a Fish and Wildlife officer heard a volley of gunshots coming from a bird rookery off County Road 92, between U.S. 41 East and Goodland, near Marco Island. Responding officers watched from the road as birds dropped from the sky.

About a half hour later, seven people emerged from the rookery, three of them in a boat containing guns. Officers went back to where the shooting took place and found the carcasses of 21 birds that had been shot. One officer said at the time that the alleged shooters “were sitting in the birds’ bedroom waiting for ... the birds to return to go to bed for the night.�

“This is a tremendous recognition of the hard work of the (Fish and Wildlife) officers,� Fish and Wildlife Maj. Alfredo Escanio said. “It’s been over a year since the case was made, but because of our outstanding partnerships with the federal government, we were able to see that justice will be served.�

Attempts to reach Marco Island residents Mato and Shaughnessy were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Officials from the Naval Aviation Schools Command in Pensacola, where the Navy officers-in-training were stationed at the time of the initial arrests, also couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. However, in December Commander Vic Bindi of the command said the “careers of these young officers will continue to be ... watched over until the charges are settled.�

A new baby appeared Tuesday night for San Marcos Internet celebrity Molly the Barn owl.

Thousands of people around the world have been glued to their computer monitors recently watching the owl that's moved into the barn of San Marcos residents Carlos and Donna Royal, the North County Times reported.

The Royals are broadcasting Molly's nest 24/7 as she takes care of five eggs. Right after the second egg hatched just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, Molly shielded the owlet from view, the paper reported.

In the meantime, viewers can watch Molly as she sits on her nest, getting up every 15 minutes to roll each egg and shift her position to make sure they stay equally warm.
 
As word about the live feed has spread, the number of people who have logged on has jumped to more than 360,000. Thousands are also following Molly on the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter and "her" online blog.

After a week of eating every 30 to 40 minutes, the three eaglets in the Norfolk Botanical Garden nest have almost tripled their birth weight, according to a press release.

With all the reaching for food, they are now able to hold their heads up for several minutes at a time.

One parent stays in the nest to keep the eaglets safe and warm by sitting over them or "brooding." They were born with only thin, fluffy down feathers.

"As a second coat of darker, thicker down grows in and their thermal system develops the eaglets will gain more freedom to move about the nest, and less need for their parents to keep them warm," says Stephen Living, biologist with The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

The eaglets are not able to use their feet yet, but scoot a little with the help of their wings. People in all 50 states and in 27 countries are viewing this eagle family on the eagle cam.

The most international visits, by far, come from Canada. The top five countries in Europe watching are: The Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, Germany and the Czech Republic. In Asia, there have been visits from Taiwan, China, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines.

The public can follow the efforts of these eagles to successfully raise their brood with the Eagle Cam. This collaborative project of WVEC.com, Norfolk Botanical Garden and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries provides 24-hour live streaming video coverage of the nest. Slideshows recording daily activity at the nest are posted on WVEC.com. Biologists from VDGIF make regular blog posts to keep viewers up-to-date with happenings in the nest and to provide general information about bald eagles. See the blog at eagle cam.

[OMG...she is as beautiful as her mom. In dales post, the pic there, she looks like Kaver . I can't stop the floods right now, my heart is pounding so much. I don't know if it's the lighting but she looks very dark. This is so cool that she has found a great spot and a great male.]

OMG...she is as beautiful as her mom. In dales post, the pic there, she looks like  Kaver  . I can't stop the floods right now, my heart is pounding so much.    I don't know if it's the lighting but she looks very dark. This is so cool that she has found a great spot and a great male.


Mods, this is your girl! Dale, thanks so much for posting this and to Chad & Chris... you rock  bguitar

[The Grover Beach man and the two Washington state biologists who were with him, as part of a documentary film project examining the habits of peregrine falcons,]

Grover Beach resident Steve Gibby initially thought he was having a nightmare when the earth started trembling as he slept at a beachside rental near Constitución, Chile, on Feb. 27.

It was shortly after 3:34 a.m. and pitch black in the room when the 61-year-old videographer realized it wasn’t a dream.

He hung onto the side of the bed as tightly as he could for two minutes while being tossed and rattled.
Click image to see caption

A few hours after the earthquake, Steve Gibby standing in one of the many sunken areas of the coastal road near Putu, Chile.

Standing wasn’t an option, Gibby recalls, now back home to tell about his near-death experience only seven miles from the epicenter of the massive earthquake.

“I’ve been through a lot of the big California quakes,� Gibby said. “They just don’t compare to what you feel in an 8.8-magnitude quake. The earth started to rumble, and then there was this huge, violent shaking and crashing. My bed was lifted clear off the ground.�

Gibby said when the shaking ceased, the ground swayed about 10 feet each way from side to side.

“The silence that came afterwards was spooky,� he said.

The Grover Beach man and the two Washington state biologists who were with him, as part of a documentary film project examining the habits of peregrine falcons, knew it was a matter of seconds before a tsunami, a tidal wave caused by earthquakes, would wash ashore.

Gibby grabbed his pants and a backpack, feeling around in the dark room. He didn’t have time to locate a shirt or shoes.

The Americans from the Falcon Research Group and two Chileans who operated the restaurant and backroom beach rental went outside and jumped in two trucks and headed for the hills on bumpy, cracked dirt roads.

Gibby said they barely escaped the devastating tsunami that hit 15 minutes after the quake struck, and likely would have killed them.

In fact, they saw water engulf the land where they had been moments before, from atop the nearest hill in the moonlit night.

Gibby returned to the United States on March 5, after clearing major obstacles on his journey through devastated Chilean towns and destroyed roads littered with debris.

In the town of Putu, Chile, they found out many fishermen’s lives had been lost, or their homes and boats destroyed, and the town devastated.

“I’ll never forget seeing people huddled around fires in towns,� Gibby said. “Their world had changed. Many had friends or relatives killed in the quake and the tsunamis that came after.�

Gibby is a Vietnam War veteran and an Emmy-winning cinematographer who has won more than 65 national awards. He’s used to dealing with stressful situations.

Gibby and the wildlife biologists from Washington state who were with him in Chile, Bud Anderson and Kathy Gunther, along with the Chileans, survived with only a few bruises and small cuts. But the quake, the powerful aftershocks and related tsunamis made it a harrowing adventure.

His family back home was worried, though he was able to send occasional texts and initially left a message for his wife, Pamala, through a satellite phone the group had with them, Gibby said.

With Santiago’s airport shut down, Gibby decided to board a bus and travel 700 miles to catch a flight in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Gibby flew to Miami, and then to Los Angeles before boarding a flight with his wife to Seattle, where he had a commitment to shoot video of a music performance by the rock band Heart and musician Alison Kraus. He finally arrived home in Grover Beach on March 7.

Today Gibby wants people to remain aware of the massive devastation in Chile and continue to help them. He also wants Californians to be prepared when the next big quake strikes — including making sure they have kits of food and water in their homes and cars.

“You can’t depend on anybody but yourself when a natural disaster occurs, and it’s only a matter of time before something like this happens here in California,� Gibby said.

http://www.techfresh.net/singing-bird-alarm-clock/ but who'd want to get out of bed

http://www.shopidentiflyer.com/ecomm/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=5 this ones $10 cheaper.

[Nature's Photo Adventures - David G Hemmings]

Did a bit more browsing & found this one a few pages in...



      
Nature's Photo Adventures - David G Hemmings

That is one awesome shot....thanks Ei!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D960zBKF0nU  Nice crowd

http://www.boonshoftmuseum.org/falconcam.html

http://www.horizonmilling.com/falconcam/index.shtml