March 6th, 2010 ·

It’s a beautiful morning in Seattle. The sky is blue. The sun is shining. And Queen Anne is the perfect place to grab a perch and soak it all in.

At least that’s the same idea this Peregrine Falcon had this morning when he took in the views from KING5’s Queen Anne tower cam. Apparently there was a falcon nest on top of the WAMU (now Chase) tower, so this little guy might be a Seattle native!

    great story...and yes to the body shop guys!!! They are sensitive. 

The cam inside of the nestbox has now 10 sec.refresh pictures.
I read this on the forums of "beleefdelente".
Here is the link

http://www.alticam.nl/

Greetings Carla

Well it's certainly better than nothing.....thanks Carla..

yeah, you better leave quick.

I don't think he's too worried, Donna. Beauty hasn't been seen there for a few days.  Wonder where she is?

I hear ya but still, I wouldn't want to land on or near a Falcon's nest.    No clue where Beauty could be. Looking for a man probably.

yeah, you better leave quick.

[Then I spotted a Peregrine Falcon]

Pelicans continue to hang out on sandspit despite a dozen trucks carting sand and out of area (plus terns and skimmers galore). I only hope they are not starving but I hear many are. A man's dog off leash cause them to suddenly lift off.
Below is one of the Snowy Egrets settling in by the pelicans. Then I spotted a Peregrine Falcon with his kill by East Beach. I think it was one of the American Coots he was making a meal of. Nature in all its forms.

http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=27800  Great pics here

An X-ray shows the broken bone of wing, left side of photo, on a Peregrine Falcon found in Fairfield in October. The injury was repaired by The Alabama Wildlife Center and they are now preparing to transport him to a facility in Florida for more extensive rehab so he can be eventually returned to the wild.

Fifth attack on people prompts police warning; school keeps kids inside

Stonington - Kathy Baker was taking her daily walk through her Shawondasee Road neighborhood Tuesday afternoon when something flashed by her face and cut the left side of her head.

The injury was severe enough to send her to the hospital, where doctors cleaned the wound and gave her a tetanus shot.

Baker immediately knew what hit her - the talons of the red-tailed hawk that police say has attacked at least five people in the neighborhood since summer.

"I know the people it's happened to so I thought it might happen to me sooner or later," Baker said Wednesday as she resumed her walk through the neighborhood. "I just hope they can do something to get rid of it."

The attacks prompted police Wednesday to warn residents in the area to be mindful of the hawk. In addition, Superintendent of Schools Leanne Masterjoseph said recess and physical education for students at the nearby Deans Mill School will be held indoors.

Police Captain Jerry Desmond said there have been more attacks dating back to the summer. The hawk repeatedly charged a boy as he walked to his bus stop and took his hat. It snatched a pair of headphones and knocked the eyeglasses off a man while he was on his lawnmower. It even attacked a car.

"We're concerned because the bird seems to be becoming more and more territorial," Desmond said.

Margarett Jones, the director of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, said the hawk is trying to protect its nest during the spring breeding season, a time in which males can become more aggressive as they try to impress potential mates.

Animal Control Officer Rae-Jean Davis said she is investigating the attacks and working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to resolve the problem.

"People have said it just swoops down and dive-bombs them," she said. "It feels like they've been struck by a stick or a rock."

Davis and Jones were able to find the bird's nest on Wednesday afternoon. Jones also spotted a red-tailed hawk on nearby Flanders Road.

Davis stressed there are no plans to kill the bird but said its nest may be taken down in an effort to force the bird to move farther away from people.

"It's in a bad area," she said.

Jones agreed with the plan, saying no eggs have been laid yet so the hawks would have time to build a new nest.

Davis said no decisions will be made until she talks to DEP.

In the meantime, police said residents in the area should stay alert. Desmond sent out an e-mail to residents about the hawk on Wednesday. He said police have also used the town's reverse-911 system to call residents in the area, and the school system is alerting parents by e-mail.

"We don't want to frighten children or parents, but we don't want anyone getting hurt," Masterjoseph said of her decision to move recess and gym indoors. She said she will talk to Davis each day to see when the precaution can be lifted.

But Jones called it preposterous to take precautions at Deans Mill School, which is about a half a mile from the nest.

"The hawk is only defending its nest. All the attacks have taken place within a few feet of its nesting site," she said.

Jones said red-tailed hawks are usually fairly tolerant of humans, and some even live in New York City.

But, she said, the hawks are now entering breeding season, a time in which their hormone levels are high and they are engaging in courtship and nest building.

She said that as part of the courtship ritual and to show females they will protect the chicks, males can engage in dramatic aerial displays and try to scare off people who walk by.

"He's giving them a scare and trying to escort people away," said Jones, who once had her scalp cut by a red-tailed hawk in Mystic. "It's usually fairly short-lived during the breeding season."

She said hawks can also exhibit similar behavior after chicks are born.

Jones noted, "Anyone walking under the nest is a threat."

Not so long ago, it took an eagle eye to spot one around Douglas County. But these days more and more eagles are calling Douglas County home – including the one pictured above that built a nest near Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center.

Other local areas where eagles are often seen include Lake Christina, Lake Rachel, Lake Carlos State Park, Lake Ida and northeast of Krueger’s Creek access on Lake L’Homme Dieu.

The bald eagle population, which was at all-time lows in 1972, has rebounded in recent years because of federal law protection and successful habitat conservation efforts, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The best opportunities for seeing a bald eagle is December through March, DNR conservation officers said.

For 35 years, the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species. The bird was taken off the list in 2007 but bald eagles and their nests are still protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protect Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

In 2007, approximately 2,300 pairs of bald eagles were nesting in Minnesota.

Bald eagles are not game animals. DNR conservation officers point out that the fine for killing this beautiful bird is up to $10,000.

Here are some other facts, provided by the DNR, about our nation’s symbol:

•The bald eagle is one of the most powerful birds of prey. It usually hunts from the air, sometimes flying as fast as 50 miles per hour.

•Their typical diet consists of fish, ducks and other water birds, along with dead animals (carrion) such as deer that die from car collisions or during cold winters.

•Adult bald eagles are readily identified by their white heads and tails. The rest of the feathers are dark brown.

•Males and females are identical in color but females are larger. Males weigh 8-9 pounds and females weigh 10-14 pounds.

•Eagles are three to three and a half feet long from beak to tail and have a wingspread ranging from six to seven and a half feet.

•Bald eagles nest from March to July, and mated pairs usually return to the same nest each year. Eaglets hatch in 35 days, weigh about four ounces and are covered in gray down.

•Bald eagles do not acquire their adult plumage until they are 4 to 5 years old. Until then, many of the feathers are partially white, contributing to a brown pattern with irregular white marks on the breast and wings.

•Eagles may live to the age of 25 or 30 years.

A duck who had its beak chewed off has been nursed back to health by vets who gave it a beak transplant.

Vets reconstructed the bird's beak using a type of resin normally used by dentists for fillings after a member of the public found the mallard, named Bill, with most of his beak missing.

Tim Wingfield, from the Deane Veterinary Centre in Taunton in Somerset, performed the operation.
He said: 'I have heard of parrots having their beak replaced. There have been ducks which have had a dead bird's beaks implemented onto their own.

'The beak is a bit like a fingernail; it is growing all the time and it is a slow process.

'Bill couldn't eat before, so the procedure allows him to feed again and behave like a duck.

'We have had to patch him up a couple of times, when a crack has appeared, but he is feeding and doing very well.

'He seems very happy, but it will probably have to be re-done at some stage.'

Mr Wingfield added he is unsure exactly how Bill was injured, but many locals have voiced their own suspicions.

He said: 'A fisherman told me that a big pike could have done it while the duck was feeding at the edge of the water, but whether that is true, I'm not sure.

'We just assumed a dog or fox had bitten him.

'A fox would have probably gone for the neck, but whatever it was cut straight through his beak and tongue.'

Bill is now recovering at the RSPCA centre in West Hatch and if the beak repairs he will be released.

Being chickens, they probably didn't put too much thought into it.

But somehow a flock of four birds managed to kill a fox that had slunk into their pen hoping to gobble them up.

Their owner Michelle Cordell, 43, had the shock of her life when she went to collect the eggs on the weekend and instead found a heavily pecked pile of fur lying dead in the corner.
She said: 'I was shocked. When I opened up the door, the chickens came running out, happy as anything.

'I went inside and the fox was laying there. I've never heard of anything like this before. It's like revenge of the chickens.'

The family, of Basildon, Essex, have in the past lost a hen and a cockerel to foxes, so are well aware of the danger the animals pose.

And so, it seems, are their chickens.

This time, the marauder was a relatively young fox - and no match for the new cockerel Dude and his hens Izzy, Pongo and Pecky.

Miss Cordell has no doubt it is Dude who was the ringleader in the murder.

She said she had shut the sliding door of the coop when she put the chickens to bed on Friday night, but the fox must have nosed his way under. When she went out on Saturday morning, the door was still shut.

The little table in the corner of the coop, which the chickens perch on, had been kicked over and was lying next to the fox's head.

It appeared to have fallen on him and knocked him out, leaving him an easy target for the beaks of the chickens.

Miss Cordell said she thinks they finished off the young fox with pecking as 'it had little blood marks on its legs. It had not been dead long'.

The table falling down could have been part of an elaborate plot hatched by the brood - but was more likely the lucky result of frantic squawking,flapping and running about.

Miss Cordell, who lives with partner Gary Howell, 45, and daughters Maddi, eight, and Ruby 13, began keeping chickens last summer because Maddi begged her to.

They lost their first two before Christmas, and were left with just Dude and Izzy, both a speckled variety.

Pongo and Pecky, both Rhode Island Reds, joined them a month ago.

'The fox was not a cub but it was only a young one and Dude and Izzy are big birds,' she said.

'It looks like the fox bit off more than he could chew this time.

'I reared Dude from a tiny little chick and he has become very protective of the others.

'He thinks he is human and chases our dogs around the garden, pecking them.

'Now he is a murderer.'

TRABUCO CANYON - Move over "Real Housewives" – there's a new reality show in town.

Just over the ridge from Coto de Caza, in Starr Ranch Sanctuary, a male and female barn owl and their seven chicks have gained a worldwide following through the sanctuary's 24/7 "Live Barn Owl Cam."The Web feed at starrranch.org depicts the owls in their natural habitat – competing for their next meal (usually a native wood rat and occasionally a small rabbit), sleeping, loafing or casting a pellet (regurgitating indigestible fur and bones).

The video has become a surprise hit – now drawing about 6,000 viewers daily from across the globe, said Pete DeSimone, manager of the wildlife sanctuary. That's nearly double the daily views of last year's breeding season, DeSimone said.

http://www.starrranch.org/blog/?page_id=2

check out the babies.....noisy for sure. There's a buzz in the sound but great shot of their nest.

There are several different species of the Pygmy Owl, some of which are referred to as "owlets." The Ferruginous Pygmy Owl pictured here breeds in Arizona, Mexico, and a few other locations in South and Central America. This owl only grows to be about 6 inches high, about the same size as a sparrow.

How cute!

http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_gt.php

Live Cam

FISH FRIDAY!!!