http://massapoag.zenfolio.com/p424721196/h24e95a2b#h24e95a2b

Very pretty

[What the heck is wrong with people????????????????]

DENISON (January 20, 2010)—An investigation is underway after nearly three-dozen migratory game birds were found shot and dumped near a lake at a no-hunting park in
Grayson County.

Game authorities are trying to determine who killed the wild ducks and geese and then discarded the carcasses, which were found Tuesday, piled along a brush line at Loy Lake Park north of Sherman.

Game warden Dale Moses said the breasts of some of the birds had been removed.

Moses said violators could face illegal hunting charges, including waste of game.

What the heck is wrong with people???????????????? 

WILLIAMS — Aris Iannios crouches in a wet pasture, about to play Labrador to a 3-pound hunter that is the apex predator of the air.

Circling 1,000 feet overhead is Petra, Iannios' 3-year-old peregrine falcon, the fastest hunting bird in the world. Her eyes follow Iannios as he inches toward a flock of widgeons swimming nervously in a nearby farm pond.

"Even though she's way up there and we can't see eye to eye, we still know what each other's thinking and doing," Iannios says.

With that, Iannios rushes toward the pond yelling and flailing his arms, scaring the ducks skyward. Sensing the cue, Petra dives downward at speeds eclipsing 200 mph, ready to ball her talons into powerful fists and punch her prey out of the sky in one winner-take-all explosion.

"To see a bird work in concert with a human is incredible," Iannios says. "She doesn't have much of a brain, but it's amazing what kind of instincts she has."

Harnessing the instincts of raptors is at the heart of falconry, a discipline that has remained both simple and complex for more than 3,000 years.

The sport dates back to 1,000 B.C., tracing its roots to China or Persia, where people began to take advantage of raptors' abilities to kill birds and small land mammals with relative ease.

The discipline became common among 15th century knights, who used falcons and hawks for hunting and sport.

And it remains a passion among a small cadre of bird enthusiasts who train raptors to hunt waterfowl, upland game birds and other animals for their own consumption.

Hawk-hunters are called "short-wingers," whose smaller and more maneuverable birds carry out on-the-ground attacks on everything from jackrabbits to quail.

Iannios, of Grants Pass, is a "long-winger," a true falconer who taps into the pure speed of these birds to hunt ducks in mid-air.

In either case, falconers must start under the wing of a master and garner intense and continuous training before man and bird can excel in the field.

It's a discipline Iannios has practiced since he was 9 years old, rearing and training several birds and culminating now in Petra, whose name means Rock in Iannios' native Greek.

Falconry has consumed his life and taken over parts of his house, which he shares with Petra. The passion cost him his first marriage, yet the allure of joining Petra as she plays out her instinctive role of aerial hunter is as intoxicating for him now as ever.

"It's just one of those things," Iannios says. "Either you get bitten by it or you don't. If you do get bitten by it, it takes over your life."

Iannios bought Petra when she was 12 weeks old from a captive breeder in California and instantly began training her to associate him with food.

Small pieces of raw ducks or pigeon entice Petra to sit on his leather-gloved hand. She flew on a tether for a while before Iannios made the falconer's leap of faith and let her fly free — hoping she would return.

"It's amazing to let an animal fly off your hand," he says. "She's totally free."

But Petra does wear a radio-transmitting bracelet, which he's needed only once to track her down after flying away during one early hunt.

To entice her return, Iannios swings a small leather pouch at the end of a leather tether. It signals to Petra that she'll be fed, and she will fly downward to attack the pouch and receive her reward.

Everything else is about helping Petra be the best falcon she can be.

"You're pretty much training them to allow you to be their partner and their flusher," he says.

This pair hunts together regularly during the traditional waterfowl season, focusing exclusively on ducks. She kills about 40 ducks a season, with each bird generating five days' worth of dinners for her and her alone.

For Iannios, falconry truly is about the hunt and not the kill.

"If she flies up to 1,000 feet and gets a good try, that's fine with me," Iannios says. "I'm not here to duck hunt. I'm here to see her fly."

Often, the pair hunt for ducks wintering on ponds at farms and wineries in the Williams area. Petra rides in the rear of Iannios' Subaru wagon. It's the only time she wears a leather hood over her eyes because it helps keep her calm.

Petra leaps off Iannios' arm and her fast wings quickly allow her to ascend in wide, sweeping circles.

The actual hunt takes precious seconds, and Petra gets just one chance to bag a bird.

When Iannios flushes the widgeons, the falcon begins her descent. Falcons have been clocked at close to 300 mph, and the raw speed creates a jet-like rumble in the air.

Falcons dive 1,000 feet, but normally hit their prey 10 to 30 feet from the ground. Just before impact, they spin and place their balled feet forward. The back talons stick out like spikes to rake into the duck upon impact, which normally knocks them dead to the ground.

That's when falcons pounce onto their dinner.

But these widgeons, already skittish because of a wild peregrine that had been in the area, had a plan of their own last Thursday. They fly erratically just 6 to 10 feet off the ground.

That's a peregrine's gray area. It's so close to the ground, the force of her punch could hurtle Petra into the field, injuring her.

At the last instant, Petra pulls off and sails horizontally over the field. A miss.

"You flush the ducks, she misses one and it's over," Iannios says.

As the widgeons scatter, Iannios swings his leather pouch and within seconds the bird bats the pouch before landing to enjoy a nibble of a widgeon she killed a week earlier.

Widgeons 1, Petra 0.

"It's like Murphy's Law," Iannios laughs. "Anything can happen when you're hunting."

[She had two large gonads filled with large eggs.�]

Saturday morning, Chauncelor Howell and Mike Iania went to River Park on Prima Vista Boulevard with the hopes of catching a couple of fish. What they never expected was to find one of the largest specimens ever seen of a fish native to South America’s Amazon River.

Howell arrived at the park at 7 a.m. with his fishing tackle ready to fish the St. Lucie River’s North Fork. Then he saw something that caught his eye.

“It was low tide and I looked down and saw something strange lying near the north end of the pier,� he said. “So I put on my gloves, jumped down and picked it up onto the pier.�

Iania and son Matthew, 11, saw the large fish and were amazed by its size and uniqueness.

“No one knew what it was,� Iania said. “We called (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) and the officer that came said he didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t want it.�

Iania took the fish to Billy Bones Bait and Tackle in Port St. Lucie, the Snook Nook in Jensen Beach and even to Florida Oceanographic to get a positive identification for it.�

While no one was sure what it was, Capt. Bruce Hrobak of Billy Bones found a site that suggested it was a pacu.

The fish measured 38 inches in length and 17 inches in girth. It weighed 52 pounds on a scale. According to the International Game Fish Association 2010 World Record Game Fishes, the All Tackle World Record for a pacu caught using hook and line weighed 44 pounds and was caught in Fort Lauderdale in 2000.

The tropical fish was one of the millions of fish killed by the prolonged period of cold weather. Water temperatures as low as the 40s were recorded in many places in the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie River. Although pa-cu is a freshwater fish, the St. Lucie River is usually brackish, containing some salinity.

Grant Gilmore, Ph.D. a marine biologist, verified the find as a pacu Wednesday. Another measuring about nine inches was also found Wednesday near the same location. Gilmore said some experts have stated that pacu are not breeding in Florida waters. After cutting open the fish Wednesday morning, Gilmore was surprised at what he found.

“It looks like the St. Lucie River is becoming the Amazon of the north,� he said. “She was a gravid female getting ready to spawn. She had two large gonads filled with large eggs.�

Gilmore said an egg count will be completed by next week and he also collected the head of the fish in order to examine its Otilith or ear bone to discover its age. He said its physical condition was good, even after dehydrating for four days.

“It must have been eating pretty good,� Iania said.

Pa-cu look a lot like piranha and are even called vegetarian piranha for their preference of eating low-hanging fruit when the rivers swell in the Amazon. Their teeth appear more similar to human molars suited for crushing nuts and berries.

Pa-cu are available for purchase at some aquarium stores but are on the list of species prohibited to be released into Florida waters.

Another update on Tea:  Tea is home, cleaned up and had a good look over. Tea has gained 60 lbs since early December, and is 1630 lbs. Foal has good heart beat.

Yay, she's fine...but c'mon...Foal already. 

The remaining ten whooping cranes have reached their winter destination.  This account contains some cool photographs!

http://www.savingcranes.org/remainingtenarriveatchassahowitzkanwrjanuary202010.html

Gayle

I'm so glad it's over...they all made it after a fruitful start. I love how they train them in their Whooper costumes. Great job they all did. Thanks.

Great Story Donna!  I am VERY familiar with that stretch of road and water - part of the old commute to Pru.

I'm glad Jersey gets in the news once in a while. 

I'm afraid this thread has taken a tern for the worse.

You're saying no one deserves this kind of tweetment? Come on, it's a mynah problem. I have no egrets.

On my Watch today, I saw a pigeon-toed Jay-walker.

That's Cuckoo!!!   

Just popped in there and she's still standing in the corner.  If it's any consolation my mare that I had went almost three weeks over her estimated date with her first one 

    OMG!!!

Peregrine outside the nestbox.
greetings Aafke

   yay

I'm afraid this thread has taken a tern for the worse.

Holy  these are funny!!

That's what she said!

Your the King of one-liners! 

Oh, here's her pic! 

The prognosis is very good for a bald eagle that was rescued in the area of the Canoe Brook Reservoir in Short Hills on Dec. 17.
The young female has been recuperating from lead poisoning at The Raptor Trust and was scheduled to be returned to the wild Wednesday afternoon. The eagle will be released on he grounds of the New Jersey American Water Company on JFK Parkway in Short Hills where he was captured after water company workers spotted the raptor in distress.
To celebrate its rehabilitation and release, the company will donate $1,000 to the Raptor Trust.
“We named the eagle Brook as she was found by the Canoe Brook reservoir and are very pleased that she was brought back to health and will be released,� said Richard Barnes, external affairs manager for the New Jersey American Water Company. “We are a very environmentally conscience company and we appreciate The Raptor Trust’s ongoing efforts to aid native species that frequent our properties and elsewhere in New Jersey.�
Workers from New Jersey American Water Company alerted The Raptor Trust, a Millington-based wild bird rehabilitation center, after spotting the bird in distress. The Trust’s Groundskeeper Benjamin Montgomery and Chief Vetinary Technician Cathy Malok participated in the rescue that took several hours. “We had to corner the eagle using kayaks because it was between the flood plain and the reservoir,� said Montgomery. “And we had to do a little swimming which was quite an adventure on a 30-degree day.� Finally, the exhausted bird came to rest on a log long enough to be captured and brought to the Trust’s state-of-the-art medical infirmary.
Blood tests determined the young female was suffering from lead poisoning and resulting neurological issues caused it not to be able to fly. “It is fair to say that there is lead out it nature,� explained Montgomery. “If an eagle eats enough affected animals it can suffer lead poisoning from bioaccumulation.�
The eagle was put on chelation therapy and given medicine that binds with the lead, which allows the lead to be excreted in the bird’s urine. Montgomery said that therapy was completed last week and the eagle was transferred to an exterior flight cage for rehabilitation. “When the bird can demonstrate competent flight and continued positive eating habits, then we can release her back into the wild,� said Montgomery. Two other eagles, an adult and a youth, were spotted in the area of the reservoir so it is likely the female will be released back where it was found. Interestingly, bald eagles have a brown then mottled brown coat of feathers until they reach maturity around the age of five. It is not until maturity that the eagle will sport its majestic white feathered head. Montgomery estimated that the young female was probably born last spring due to its dark brown color.
For more than 30 years, the Trust has treated and released thousands of birds from eagles to Red Tailed hawks to Snowy owls and Peregrine falcons. Close to 100 birds are full-time residents including two bald eagles -- one in residence since 1980 and the other a three-year-old sent from a facility in Maine after he had been shot.
The Raptor Trust is a non-profit facility that relies on donations from visitors to its open aviaries and education center along with donations from businesses and corporations. It is open seven days a week during daytime hours. Non-monetary donations of items needed to keep the Trust running are welcome as well. For more information, visit theraptortrust.org.

The recent heavy snow has caused problems for birds of prey as well as humans.

Red kites and other birds of prey often get into difficulties when snow lies for a while because they can't feed easily and get hungry and thirsty.

On Saturday 9 January, Sue Fowler was walking in woods near Dolybont when she found a Red Kite on the ground.

According to Sue it was very weak and barely able to move.

"Initially I thought it had got caught in brambles but then I realised it was very weak," she added.

Sue wrapped it up took it home and she and her husband, Dave Purdon, who is the secretary of North Ceredigion branch of the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, sought advice from the RSPB and the Welsh Kite Trust.

Rehabilitation

She said: "Kites and other birds , they can't feed easily when there is heavy snow and they can get desperately hungry and thirsty.

"The kite was taken indoors, and fed tepid water from a teaspoon, and small pieces of cat food.

Red Kite
The red kite was released into the wild on 19 January

"Initially it was almost too weak to swallow, but over a few hours revived enough to show some enthusiasm to swallow food."

Left overnight in a box in the shower room, by the morning it was sitting on the box and looking livelier.

Sue said:"I was thrilled because I have rescued many birds but this is the first one that has survived."

Wrapped and in a basket, the bird was taken to the Kite Trust HQ at Gigrin Farm at Rhayader, which has an aviary for the rehabilitation of sick or injured birds.

Chris Powell, who runs Gigrin Farm said more than 500 birds of prey had flown to the farm to feed during the cold snap.

He added:"Red kites will die if they are not found in snowy conditions so it is quite rare for someone to come across one and rescue it.

"The red kite found at Dolybont recovered well and was released back into the wild on 19 January."

Mr Powell said that the first point of contact for anyone finding a Red Kite in distress should be The Welsh Kite Trust.

"They will then assess whether the bird needs to be seen by a vet or come here for rehabilitaion," he added.