Ask Jeff if he knows which ship was standing offshore?

That is the Oden, Ice Breaker. Still breaking Ice.

[While we're at it, maybe we could come up with better names than Main and Camera 1-4.]

While we're at it, maybe we could come up with better names than Main and Camera 1-4.

Main=Mega cam

    2=Orville cam      

Maybe a contest in the making?

Cam 3 & Cam 3 & Cam 3   

It's still there.

See 

The fuel ship "Paul Buck" has arrived and will unload up to 5 million gallons of fuel. The water under the dock is 350 feet deep.

Jeff was watching the Minke whales last night playing in the coves. Cute fellers.

Very Cool!     FYI, Ruby (RSH) is in the tree across the road - must be looking for breakfast!   

Oh boy...look out lil critters and birds!!

[This is so horrific!! How could anyone do this to a bird. I actually feel sick after reading this.]

This is so horrific!! How could anyone do this to a bird. I actually feel sick after reading this.

CHENNAI: Thousands of native and migratory birds, which fly long distances to visit the protected Pallikaranai marsh on the city’s outskirts, are ending up on the dining tables of restaurants. Poachers, who had beat a retreat after 317 hectares of the marsh was declared protected forest area in 2007, are now making a comeback.

While ‘narikuravas’, originally nomadic forest hunters, are known to hunt birds and animals across the state, a group of poachers from the Karapakkam area is killing black-winged stilts and teals in large numbers, according to forest officials. The birds are often sold to restaurants, which pass them off as quail meat.

The Karapakkam poachers have adopted a unique method to catch the stilts alive without creating much noise. They use a single bird as a live ‘bait’ to attract a flock. The bird’s eye is sutured shut and its legs tied before it is propped up in the middle of a net. The bird’s cry attracts others flying by. As a flock descends on the net, the poachers, who sit some distance away, pull the strings to net the birds.

“They catch as many as 30 birds at one go. These birds are either sold here or transported outside the city to be sold to restaurants,� a forest department source said. Kancheepuram forest officials came face to face with such a gang a couple of days ago, but the poachers managed to flee.

“We have registered 35 cases of bird poaching in the Velachery range alone since April 2009,� said forest range officer David Raj.

Phil Sattler Jr. isn't a big-time bird-watcher with binoculars and books, but he's taken enough nature walks to know most owls like to snooze in trees, not the eaves of homes.

That's why the Livonia resident grabbed his camera Jan. 11 and got a picture of the Eastern Screech Owl taking a nap about 11 a.m. in the eaves of his house on Louisiana near Farmington and Joy roads.

“The only thing I can think of is he was searching for warmth,� said Sattler, 30, adding the owl was tucked up under the eaves near the chimney, “It was the day before it started warming up.�

Sattler said the owl was there most of the day, but hasn't been back since.

He said the owl was probably sleeping because he didn't notice him coming within a few feet of him with his camera to get a photograph. It wasn't until Sattler tossed some snow in the owl's direction that he turned to look at the camera.

Sattler said he looked up the owl's description on the Internet to determine he was an Eastern Screech Owl, found in nearly every habitat throughout the eastern United States and southern Canada. Eastern Screech Owls are common in urban as well as rural areas and readily nest in tree cavities.

Their coloring and markings help them to blend in with trees, Sattler said.

According to the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology Web site, the Eastern Screech Owl eats a variety of small animals.

It stalks its prey by sitting and waiting. It hunts at night and in the evening and occasionally during the day. Eastern Screech Owl pairs usually are monogamous and remain together for life.

[500]

Thursday, January 21, 2010

State wildlife officials have proposed removing the bald eagle from Maryland's list of threatened species, marking a victory in a 30-year battle to bring the national symbol back to the Chesapeake.

From a low of 44 breeding pairs found in 1977, the bald eagle has rebounded to 390 pairs in 2004, and that number may be over 500 now, said Gwen Brewer, science program manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' Natural Heritage Program.

"The breeding population in Maryland alone has exceeded recommended goals for the entire Chesapeake Bay, so it's really been a success story," Brewer said.

The two main reasons for their rebound are the ban of the pesticide DDT, which caused the bald eagles eggs to become thin and brittle, and improving water quality that has provided more food for the birds, Brewer said.

Bald eagles are now found throughout the state, mostly concentrated around the bay with the largest populations in Dorchester and Charles counties, she said.

The majestic national symbol is listed along with nearly 30 species of plants and animals in proposed changes to the DNR's threatened and endangered species list. The changes include adding 16 species, revising the status of four others and removing eight.

The DNR is also proposing that the Bridle Shiner, a small fish, be listed as extirpated, or no longer found, in Maryland, and insects, including the Elfin Skimmer, Appalachian Snaketail and the Treetop Emerald, be placed on the endangered species list.

The federal government removed the bald eagle from its list of threatened species in 2007. Brewer said Maryland officials review their lists about every two years and issued their last update shortly before the federal decision to remove the bald eagle, Brewer said.

Even though it is no longer listed as threatened, the bald eagle is still protected under various federal acts, she said.

The proposed changes were published Jan. 15 in the Maryland Register and public comments are being accepted until Feb. 16, the DNR said.

If no objections are raised during the public comment period that would warrant a review or hearing, the DNR secretary will then approve the removal, Brewer said.

January 22, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A pair of bald eagles was seen roosting in Charleston's Golden Eagle country -- the University of Charleston's Triana Field -- on Wednesday.

Employees of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce on Kanawha Boulevard East spotted the two bald eagles perched on trees across the Kanawha River, along the edge of the UC baseball field.

"People in the office watched them with binoculars, and I took a couple of shots of them, but my lens wasn't good enough to come up with anything worth using," said Larry Malone of Malone Consulting Services, who works with the Chamber.

"You could see their white heads and tails clearly," said Malone. "I wonder how many other U.S. cities there are where you can see eagles flying around. Does this make us a candidate for one of the nation's most livable cities?"

The eagles, spotted around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, eventually flew off, and weren't spotted again on Thursday or Friday.

"Over the years, a number of bald eagles have been seen flying through there -- not in big concentrations, but one or two every so often," said Wendy Perrone of the Three Rivers Avian Center in Brooks. "They seem to come down the Elk River into Charleston and then disappear."

In addition to the bald eagle sighting, a peregrine falcon has been seen preying on pigeons in the vicinity of the Nitro-St. Albans Bridge, Perrone said. "If anyone sees tags on it, we'd like to know what colors they are," she said.

THANK YOU!!!

Harumph!  Hey!  Some were just better at dodging the cameras.   

Were you the faithful watcher who gave Orville a lift to his new pad?

Why dodge, when you can    OK, the men and woman behind the cams, sorry Carol! 

THANK YOU ALL!! But what is Cam 4 going to be for...inside the TS nest box?

21 Jan 10 -

 Public is Invited to Observe Release of Captive-bred California Condors to the Wild on 6 March in Arizona
Two California Condors will be released to the wild in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona at 11 a.m., Saturday, 6 March. The public is welcome to observe the release from a viewing area where spotting scopes will be set up and experts will be available to answer questions.

This will be the 15th annual public release of condors in Arizona since the recovery program began in 1996. Condors are hatched and reared in captivity at The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Idaho and transported to Arizona for release to the wild.

Currently, 74 condors are flying free in the Grand Canyon region. The world’s total population of endangered California Condors is 348, with 186 of them in the wild in Arizona, Utah, California, and Mexico. Condors were reduced to just 22 individuals in the 1980s when a program was begun to save the species from extinction.

Recovery and reintroduction cooperators include The Peregrine Fund, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

DID YOU KNOW?
•    Prior to reintroduction, the last wild condor in Arizona was sighted just south of the Grand Canyon in 1924.
•    Condors reach maturity at about six years of age. They usually produce one egg every other year.
•    The condor is the largest flying land bird in North America. The birds can weigh up to 26 pounds and have a wingspan up to 9 ½ feet.
•    Condors were added to the federal Endangered Species List in 1967.

                                     MORE RESCUES!!

VERO BEACH — Officials from Sea World and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about 3 p.m. were trying to help more than a dozen manatees that may be cold-stunned in a canal.

Roughly 15 manatees were found huddled together in a canal near the Vero Beach Country Club. As of 3:30 p.m., officials were trying to retrieve two mothers and their cubs that looked like they were stunned from the cool water.

This story will be updated when further information is available.

The men behind the Camera Jim P

THANK YOU!!!

 Lily the Black Bear  Lily gave birth to one cub at 11:38am CST. So far we have been unable to confirm a second cub. We just haven't heard 2 cub voices.   

http://www.wildearth.tv/static/wildearth/channels/we_bear_den.html