Some of our students took pictures of snowflakes-- they are awesome!!!

The link is here:

http://biomed.rit.edu

**at the bottom right, follow the link that says snowflakes.

jeanne, these are the most amazing photos. I'm loving them all. Tell the students they did a magnificent job. Could be in a magazine. Thank you so much for sharing. Snowflakes are beautiful, no wonder I  snow so much. 

Well can't be any worse than the pool water I have accidentally swallowed over the years. 

 

I love Puffins!  But if I take the job as Puffin Warden, I'll miss the Fledge Watch this year.  Hmmmm, guess I'll have to pass.   

Oh no, you can't go!     Passing is a good thing. 

Our favorite flying squirrel is back, and joined us for dinner tonight.  I was actually sitting closer to her than to either Mary or Catherine.  After a few minutes a second flying squirrel joined her, but was very skittish and was gone in a matter of seconds.  He or she was much smaller than Zuzu.  We look for ward to many other dinners with Zuzu.

Paul

How adorable is that? I'll take that dinner guest. Thanks Paul.

[caption: The island currently has a puffin population of more than 13,500.]

The vacancy for the job as warden of Skomer Island is expected to attract hundreds of applications from people wanting to get away from it all.

It is being described as the British equivalent of The Best Job in the World - the competition held last year to find a warden for Australia's Great Barrier Reef.


Skomer, two miles off the Pembrokeshire coast, has no blazing sunshine, coral reef or exotic wildlife.

But to those who want the great escape, it is closest Britain has to a desert island paradise.

It has no mains water, no electricity, no roads, shop, or pub, and is separated from the mainland by Jack Sound, one of the most treacherous stretches of water off the British coast.

It is inhabited by puffins, manx shearwaters, kittiwakes, razor bills and guillemots, along with thousands of wild rabbits.

It even has its own unique species - a tiny creature called the Skomer Vole which is not found anywhere else in the world.

The island is carpeted by bluebells throughout the spring and surrounded by a marine reserve, rich in sealife, including dolphins and porpoises.

And the new warden will live in a clifftop bungalow in the heart of the island's main puffin colony.

Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales chief executive Sarah Kessell said: "We are looking for a very special person to take care of our flagship reserve.

"The warden will have to manage people and resources, be familiar with conservation techniques and be confident on board boats."

The vacancy has come up because the current warden Jo Milborrow wants to return to the mainland after six years on Skomer and its sister island Skokholm.

She and her husband Dave, the assistant warden on Skomer, want a fresh challenge.

Jo, 33, said: "After six unforgettable years we have packed up and shipped our belongings off for the last time.

"I feel incredibly lucky to have lived in such an amazing place.

"Gaining an intimate knowledge of one place, its wildlife and seasonal rhythms are things I value greatly.

"This in-depth relationship with our surroundings is hard to establish in modern life."

The job pays between £14,000 and £16,000 for a 48 hours week with accommodation thrown in free.

Part of the work involves greeting the hundreds of birdwatchers and day trippers who arrive by the tiny ferry boat in the spring and summer - weather permitting.

But only the warden and a few overnight visitors get to see the island's greatest spectacle - the nightly arrival of hundreds of thousands of Manx Shearwaters, a rare seabird which lives underground.

A third of the world's breeding population of Manx Shearwaters breed each summer on Skomer before flying off to warmer climes in the winter.

Jo said: "To have shared my home with puffins, peregrine falcons, shearwaters and storm petrels and to be able to help protect these birds and inspire other people about them has been a high point of my life.

"I wish the new warden as many memorable times as we have been lucky enough to share."

caption: The island currently has a puffin population of more than 13,500. 

Can it be swayed to point at nest or at least the street?

He said it's not suppose to be this cold in Atlanta. A pic of the fountain across the St from his office.

Rheam Mae & Tiago are both on the ledge...no time to watch...phooey!

Here's one of them Ei.

Look like you have to join the Garden Club (or become a vet assistent) 

Dr. David Bainbridge introduced the Morris Area Garden Club to a couple of his special friends.

Dr. Bainbridge DVM of Morris Veterinary Clinic brought his Peregrine Falcon, Nijji Benay, (which means “Feathered Friend�), and Military Macaw Parrot, Charlie.

Nijji Benay was found on the Target building in Plainfield with a broken wing two years ago. He was brought to Dr. Bainbridge for rehabilitation. He cannot be released back into the wild due to his disabled wing.

Peregrine Falcons are the elite raptor of the birds of prey. It has the most maneuverability and is the fastest animal on the planet.

The Falcon can dive at 200 mph and is a bird eater. It has a wing span of 36 inches and can live 15 to 17 years in captivity, less in the wild. The Falcon can be  found on every continent except the  Antarctic.

Dr. Bainbridge said that Falcons like cliffs, so big cities are ideal for them due to the height of the buildings. Their favorite meal is pigeon or dove. They have a third eyelid to protect their eyes while diving.

Falcons do not attack people except to defend their territory, which can be several miles.

At two and a half year old, Nijji Benay lives in a 7-by-7-by-6 enclosure called a Mew, which has a plastic liner to protect his feathers. He does go outside in summer.  He eats four quail, two mice and one baby chick per week, which are all frozen. Dr. Bainbridge does not feed him live animals.

Nijji Benay also receives a vitamin supplement.

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s, pesticides, especially DDT, almost depleted birds of prey, Dr. Bainbridge said. DDT interferes with calcium, which causes egg shells to fail.

In 1970, there were only four pairs left east of the Mississippi.  There was a world-wide decimation, and Falcons were put on the endangered species list. DDT was banned.

Private, local, state and federal action was taken to breed and reintroduce the Falcon to the wild.  The birds were placed in wooden boxes, devoid of human contact (called hacking) so they could be released into the wild. Today, there are approximately 3,000 to 5,000 pairs in the U.S.  In August 1999, the Peregrine Falcon was “de-listed,â€� but is still protected.

Charlie is a 12-year old Military Macaw Parrot that Dr. Bainbridge received from someone who gave her up.

The Spix  Macaw is the latest bird to be placed on the endangered species list. There are about 15 to 20 left in the world due to the greed of collectors and the depletion of forestry in South America’s Amazon.

Clay licks, found along Amazon river banks, have a high concentration of deposits of minerals that are necessary for Macaws’ and parrots’ diets, but are disappearing. Macaws and parrots eat the clay to neutralize the effects of toxic fruits and seeds that they eat.

Macaw Parrots can live 30 to 60 years. Charlie eats 50 percent pellets, 25 percent seeds and nuts, and 25 percent fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Bainbridge said it is illegal to keep wild animals without a permit. They are not domesticated and people eventually have to give them up. They probably won’t survive if released back into the wild.  It’s cruel to the animal and most will be destroyed.

It is a federal crime to keep a Falcon. The laws are not lenient. Keeping a Falcon without a permit is as serious as smuggling animals from a foreign country. The fines are hefty and imprisonment is definite.

When the temperature hovers around zero and snow lays deep, we may have a feeling of being held captive by the harshness of winter. A day brightens when a flock of evening grosbeaks appears at the feeder to feast on sunflower seeds. The males’ honey-colored plumage gives them the appearance of large, luscious pears, and black-and-white wings add to their striking appearance. Until the 1940s, this bird was unknown in West Virginia. For several decades thereafter it became a common sight statewide, but today it is rarely seen.

The evening grosbeak was called pashcundamo by the Chippewa in reference to its heavy bill, designed for cracking seeds. The first specimen of this bird was collected in 1823 at Sault St. Marie, Michigan, by Henry Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft was a chronicler of Native American life who is credited with identifying Lake Itasca in Minnesota as the source of the Mississippi River. A Major Delafield may be responsible for the mistaken belief that the evening grosbeak is active late in the day. He observed the bird in a swamp near Lake Superior and noted in his journal, “This bird dwells in such dark retreats and leaves them at the approach of night.�

In the mid-nineteenth century, the evening grosbeak began to drift east during winters, reaching Toronto in 1854. The bird is an irruptive migrant, meaning its seasonal movements are irregular and often related to a search for sufficient food. It was speculated at the time that the widespread planting of the ash-leaved maple or box elder drew the birds east. The seeds of these trees are among their favorite foods. By early 1890, the grosbeaks had wandered further east to New England and appeared as far south as Pennsylvania.

After its early eastward movements, the evening grosbeak was found widely in eastern Canada and the northern United States. As they wandered eastward across the continent, the birds remained to nest at many places. Breeding was confirmed in New York State when a nest was recorded in the Adirondack Mountains in 1946. A key factor in their abundance in some areas was outbreaks of the spruce budworm, the larvae of which provides an excellent food source.

Evening grosbeak eating seedsIn his Checklist of West Virginia Birds, Maurice Brooks credits Worth Randle with the first observation of the evening grosbeak in West Virginia at Cranberry Glades in May 1943. The big finch appeared in some numbers over a wide area during the winter of 1945-46. In mid-November 1945, at least a dozen appeared at the home of Bill Lunk near Fairmont, where they fed on box elder seeds. Ann Schley saw 10 in Shepherdstown in December of that year. Relishing the hackberries there, they remained through the winter.

In early 1947, a large number of evening grosbeaks appeared at the Middle Mountain wildlife manager’s cabin, where they pecked a block of salt. Their frequent visits seemed to be solely for the purpose of consuming the salt. In mid-February, Fred Glover saw a dozen of the birds near the crest of Allegheny Mountain at the Randolph-Pendleton county line. It was speculated that they were seeking salt, since salt was available to sheep grazing in the area.

In his “Signs Along the Trail� column, printed in the 1950s in the Charleston Gazette, John Handlan alerted readers to the appearance of evening grosbeaks. He received this information from Charley Handley, the West Virginia Conservation Commission’s game management chief, who passed on to him the noteworthy bird observations of commission personnel. On November 1, 1954, Wayne Bailey and Hans Uhlig encountered a small flock of grosbeaks in the Cheat Mountain.

Extreme weather, often with heavy snowfall, may have been a factor in an influx of grosbeaks in West Virginia in March 1960. On March 13, as a student at West Virginia University, I was birding with Dr. George Hall at the horticulture farm near Morgantown when one flew overhead. Within a few days, as many as 10 were coming daily to a feeder in the neighborhood where I boarded as a student.

During the 1960 incursion, grosbeaks were found as far south as Alabama and Georgia. For well over a decade they came south in numbers every other winter. In early 1966, I found them widely in the Eastern Panhandle’s South Branch Valley. In March of that year, a flock of 100 was seen near a Moorefield highway, where they may have been seeking salt used to melt ice on the road.

The records of bird banders reflect fluctuating numbers of evening grosbeaks over many years. In 1962, his record year for evening grosbeaks, veteran bander Ralph Bell of Clarksville, Pennsylvania, banded 104 of the birds. Bell had first seen grosbeaks while accompanying Chan Robbins on the Garrett County, Maryland, Christmas Bird Count in December 1954. In the last 20 years, however, few have occurred at his farm. A single bird was banded there in 1998.

In the last few decades, the flow of grosbeaks southward in winter has dwindled to a trickle. Volunteers nationwide have identified a plunge in numbers in the new century. Data collected through FeederWatch, a project sponsored by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, reveals that grosbeak flocks in 2005-2006 were half the size of those observed in 1990.

Findings during field work for the Breeding Bird Atlas of Ontario show an alarmingly steady decline of the bird in the province since 1981. A correlation has been found between dwindling grosbeak numbers and decreased spruce budworm infestations in eastern Canada. Other factors contributing to the decline in the bird’s numbers remain a mystery. There is reason, however, for cautious optimism that the Ontario population has stabilized.

Decades ago, West Virginia birders looked forward to the winter day they would observe the evening grosbeak. Some traveled great distances in hope of seeing a flock. After decades of taking for granted the regular occurrences of the bird, birders now await their return. Reduced numbers and less frequent appearances surely add to the excitement of seeing these vagabonds from the north.


Naturalist and veteran birder J. Lawrence Smith brings to this article 50 years of experience with the evening grosbeak. He lives in Hurricane and is the author of many publica

RIDGEFIELD -- Keen-eyed and fierce on the attack, red-tailed hawks are becoming a familiar part of the state's environment.

For Michele Toia, too familiar.

On Tuesday, Toia heard a crash, looked out onto the screened porch on the side of her house, and discovered a red-tailed hawk had flown through the door screen, turning the porch into an impromptu aviary.

"I didn't know what it was at first,'' she said. "They are big birds.''

And in this case, lucky. An hour after the accident, Craig Lewis, a nuisance wildlife control expert from Danbury, was able to safely net the bird. Seeing it was uninjured, he took it outside and let it go.

"It flew off into a tree, rested for about 15 seconds, got its bearings and flew away,'' Lewis said. "It's much better to release a bird right away if you can, rather than send it to rehabilitation."

The hawk crashed the porch of Toia's home on Peaceable Street at mid-day Tuesday.

"I have no idea what happened,'' she said. Lewis' best guess -- based on squirrel prints in the snow near her porch -- was that the bird, intent on the game afoot, miscalculated its flight path.

The bird first began flying around her porch, she said. After banging into the screens a few times, it settled down, perching on a table and chair on the porch. Toia called the town's animal control officer, who put her in touch with Lewis.

Lewis said it took him two tries to net the bird. Once, he said, the bird grabbed onto his gloved finger with its talons and would not let go.

"The grip was incredible,'' he said.

Although Toia and Lewis got to view the red-tailed hawk much closer than most people, the birds are an increasingly common sight throughout the state, the United States and North America.

Red-tailed hawks now nest on city buildings (Central Park's Pale Male is a metropolitan celebrity), in the suburbs, and out in the country.

They're generalists.

They have learned they can live in different habitats and eat a variety of food, from rodents and rabbits to other birds, large insects and fresh carrion. They earned the common name "chicken hawk'' for their raids on backyard coops. They've also learned to coexist, warily, close to humans.

They're easy to sight, perched in trees bordering interstate highways, looking for prey in the medians.

Such birds do well in places like Connecticut, which offers a mix of habitats and foods. Specialists -- like American kestrels or harriers, which live in open fields and which were common when the state's landscape was largely pasture -- are mostly gone from the scene.

Tuesday's encounter with nature left Toia with a torn screen door that needs fixing. It left Lewis with a thrill.

"It was a privilege to see that beautiful, majestic bird so close,'' he said.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ala. -- A flock of whooping cranes whose assisted migration to Florida was halted in Alabama last month have finally taken flight again.

The 20 birds left Russellville Tuesday morning en route to Chilton County. Bad weather and a break for the holidays had kept them grounded since Dec. 17.

Pilots of the ultralight aircraft leading the flock fought frost buildup on the plane's wings and plan to make their next scheduled stop in Jasper.

The assisted migration began in Wisconsin on Oct. 17.

The endangered cranes were raised in captivity and in the absence of parents to teach them the migration route, ultralight aircraft are used to lead the birds to Florida.

After making the trip once, the cranes will be able to migrate between their winter and summer homes on their own.

Coastal Carolina University biology professor Chris Hill has discovered that the Saltmarsh Sparrow, a shoreline bird that populates the eastern coast, exhibits “extreme levels of multiple mating,“ making it probably the most promiscuous bird in the world.

The remarkable findings of the new research have been published in The Auk, the journal of the American Ornithologists Union. Hill collaborated with Chris Elphick of the University of Connecticut and Carina Gjerdrum of the Canadian Wildlife Service.

The sparrows, which mate and nest along the coast from Virginia to Maine, are characterized by “scramble-competition polygyny,“ according to Hill. When the females are ready to mate, they may mate with more than one male, and the males, instead of fighting each other openly for access to females, compete quietly to outmaneuver other males to fertile females.

Out of 60 broods tested, 57 of them had at least two chicks with different fathers. And 97 percent of the females were mating with more than one male.

“Frequently, every single egg in a nest would have a different father,“ says Hill, who conducted molecular analyses of paternity in his laboratory at CCU. Blood samples were gathered from chicks in the nest and from adults on the breeding grounds, then tested to determine paternity. Elphick and Gjerdrum conducted most of the field work.

Before Hill’s study, the species had been known to lack the pair bonds common to most songbirds wherein the parents nest and raise the young together. Instead, the female sparrows nest and feed the young with no assistance from the males.

The sparrows, whose muted grey and brown markings help them blend into their natural environments, winter in similar habitat, sometimes along the coastline of the Carolinas.

“They spend their entire life in salt marshes, which makes them vulnerable to habitat loss as sea levels rise,� notes Hill. “This is a species whose future is in question. They need watching.�

Hill was assisted by Scott Tomko and Katie Copenhaver, recent CCU graduates, and Whitney Bryan, a student from the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Math.

The sparrows are thought to be even more promiscuous than the previously known extremes of multiple mating, the Greater Vasa Parrot of Madagascar and the Superb Fairy-Wren of Australia.

Hill has been on the faculty at Coastal Carolina University for 10 years.

An associate professor of biology, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Hill is currently studying the nesting ecology of Least Terns in South Carolina.

I've met a LOT of fishermen in my day, but the ice fishermen are the most "interesting".  Daddy used to ice fish on Greenwood Lake.  Daddy didn't built a hut - Daddy set his rigs and walked off the ice, accross the street and hung out at a buddy's house with binocs until the little flags went up! 

I loved Ice fishing    when I was young. We skated while we fished and when we got thirsty, we drank from the fishing hole    ..OMG....I can't believe we did that.

eeeeeeewwwwwwww!   

I know BC...but it was good N cold. I just don't understand me.