BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -  Twenty whooping cranes led by four ultra-light aircraft are poised to fly over Central Illinois on their way to wintering grounds in Florida.

Liz Condie, a spokesman for Wisconsin-based Operation Migration, says the geese may be able to make the next leg of their flight as early as Saturday, but weather could stall them in northern Illinois for a number of days.

The geese need calm skies to fly daily legs averaging 50 miles, and warm temperatures mean southerly headwinds that slow their progress. They spent Friday in Winnebago County.

The next rest point is scheduled for LaSalle County, and a Livingston County stop is scheduled to follow a day later.

This juvenile bald eagle was shot in Millsfield, NH.
Allen Cahill, NH F&G Press Release

New Hampshire Fish and Game reported on Friday that a juvenile bald eagle has been shot in Millsfield, NH. The shooting resulted in a broken wing and other injuries to the bald eagle which is currently being cared for by an authorized animal rehabilitator. It is expected that the bald eagle will recover enough to fly again and will eventually be released back into the wild.

The injured eagle was discovered by local sportsmen in Wildlife Management Area B adjacent to the Millsfield Loop Road. Officials estimate that the eagle was shot on or about October 22nd, 2009 in the area in which it was found. Shooting or otherwise harming a bald eagle is a crime under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act as well as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. New Hampshire Fish and Game enforcement officers will be working with federal agents to investigate the incident and try to bring the guilty party to justice.

The juvenile bald eagle is harder to identify than the adult since it does not develop the characteristic white feathers on its head until its fifth year. A misidentification, however, is not considered disculpatory in terms of the violation of the law.

A $2,500 cash reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the shooting of the bald eagle. Anyone with information about the shooting of the juvenile bald eagle should call the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Operation Game Thief 24-hour hotline at: 1-800-344-4262, or make an online report at http://www.HuntNH.com/OGT. Tipsters can remain anonymous.   

 

[A chance to show off your pets peeps....I've seen some good ones here.]

 Best Friends Photo Contest

Photo District News (PDN) and Kodak present Best Friends: The Ultimate Animal Photo Contest, which celebrates the art of pet and animal photography while also raising money to help endangered and mistreated animals throughout the world. The contest is now accepting paid online submissions from amateur photographers, with part of the proceeds going to three animal and wildlife protection groups.


One Grand Prize winner and four other first place winners will receive selection of prizes from Kodak, including the new Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera; a Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One printer; Kodak EasyShare Z980 Digital Cameras, and Kodak Professional Tri-X, T-Max or Portra film. Winners will also gain admission and exposure at the PDN PhotoPlus Expo 2010 in New York.


$12 per entry
A portion of each $12 entry fee will be donated to the contestant's choice of one of three non-profit animal welfare groups: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Best Friends Animal Society, and Kids Saving the Rainforest.


  • DOMESTIC ANIMALS    • WILDLIFE ANIMALS    • MY PET & ME    • ANIMAL HUMOR



Deadline December 22, 2009

For more info and to enter online www.bestfriendsphotocontest.com

A chance to show off your pets peeps....I've seen some good ones here.

[Hey Donna,"Just line-up lights.. If a plane lands at night it's strictly "Night Vision Sight"....."]

Do you know if (or can Jeff tell you) the runway has lights for landing?

Well, here's his answer Janet:

Hey Donna,

"Just line-up lights.. If a plane lands at night it's strictly "Night Vision Sight"....."


I guess most planes land during the day Janet.

Wow, where has all the white fluff gone???   

I see one annoying piece left on his head....ahhhh

Donna,

I love all the pics he's sending to you.  Thanks for sharing!

                     Kris      

Me too, can't wait for more. Your welcome.

Do you know if (or can Jeff tell you) the runway has lights for landing?

I just asked him...have to wait for respond. I would hope so.

Runway almost done...C-17 testing. Here's 2 pics. C-17 taking off and landing. Still waiting for the Emperor pics.

I'll post them as I get them

You can also use the log for peanut butter, mixed with a little cornmeal or just plain. 
Or Kathy O's recipe from several years ago: 1 cup each of shortning, peanut butter, flour, rolled oats, corn meal and raisins, 2 cups bird seed.  Melt the shortning & peanut butter, stir in the other stuff and dump into 9 x 13 pan, cool, cut into size you need.  Can be frozen.

Sounds yummy. The poor birds are so hungry during the cold Winter months. I can feed them during that time as my porch cats are dormant.

<a href="http://shakymon.com/rfc-clipper.html?4af415600d01" target=_blank><img src="http://shakymon.com/thruway/archive/MainCamera_Thumbnail/20091106/MainCamera_Thumbnail_20091106-0724.jpg?" >[/url] (movie)

A complicated and challenging mission to a remote lake in Madagascar has resulted in
a huge step being taken in efforts to save the world's rarest duck from extinction.

A collaborative team of specialists were hampered by electrical storms, gruelling
journeys and illness in their bid to secure a precious batch of eggs laid by the
Critically Endangered Madagascar pochard (Aythya innotata) in early October.

The pochard, a medium-sized diving duck, was feared extinct by the late 1990s but it
was rediscovered in 2006 when biologists from The Peregrine Fund, who were scouting
for a threatened bird of prey, the Madagascar Harrier, observed 20 adult pochards
living on a single lake in northern Madagascar.

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), The
Peregrine Fund and the Government of Madagascar joined efforts to establish a
conservation-breeding programme for the ducks, with the hope of reintroducing them
back into their wetland habitats.

However, an emergency rescue plan was mounted after a reconnaissance visit in July
revealed the situation was worse than feared - with the sighting of just six females
and evidence that the young had died just a few weeks old.

As a result, members of the team monitored the tiny population during their breeding
season, reporting that three female birds were preparing to lay eggs. A team of duck
specialists from WWT and Durrell immediately flew to Madagascar in an attempt to
bring the eggs into captivity.

Patience was becoming a required skill, as Glyn Young from Durrell describes; "It
was a race against time to get the team and the equipment to the lake before eggs
started hatching. The situation was not made any easier as massive electrical storms
had delayed our arrival in the country. Once all the equipment had cleared Customs,
we had to wait for three days as a bridge was repaired on the only access road to
the lake. To add to our woes, having finally made it to the lake, we all fell ill!"

Having commandeered part of a local hotel in order to create a temporary breeding
facility, a batch of eggs was removed from a lake-side nest as near to hatching as
possible. With extreme care, the day-old ducklings were transported to their
make-shift rearing facility, 12 hours away.

Peter Cranswick from WWT describes the significance of this achievement, "This is
conservation at the cutting edge. The urgency of the situation has meant a great
deal of invention and improvisation - but next year simply may have been too late.
Safely bringing birds into captivity marks the start of a 20- or 30-year
conservation project that will also help restore wetlands across the region."

Eight ducklings are now reported to be doing very well, but work continues as the
team attempts to secure two more clutches from the wild over the next few weeks.
However, this collaborative rescue mission has provided hope for the future for the
Madagascar pochard.

"This is the first important step toward saving this rare species from extinction,"
said Russell Thorstrom, a biologist in charge of The Peregrine Fund's Madagascar
program. "It shows how organizations working cooperatively can overcome challenges
and continue onward in their conservation effort for this critically endangered
duck."

Four million cubic yards of material the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to dredge from the shipping channel at the mouth of the Delaware Bay would be used to restore wetlands on Kelly Island and be used for beach replenishment at Broadkill Beach, corps spokesman Edward Voigt has said.

Maya van Rossum, who heads the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and environmentalists have expressed concern that the beach nourishment project would harm horseshoe crabs that spawn on Broadkill Beach.

She said the hearing officer from Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s hearing on the corps’ plan agreed, and said the local horseshoe crab population would be directly and adversely affected by the project.

Migratory shorebirds, including the threatened red knot, feast on horseshoe crab eggs, a crucial food source, in the Delaware Bay each spring as they migrate north.

[Sorry, I buy pre-made suet but this looks like a fun project]

A Suet Treat

Sorry, I buy pre-made suet but this looks like a fun project

That's because of that "cooking" thing!   

Your absolutely correct Janet 

This one's good too. It won several film festival awards for short film.  Makes you wonder what you would do with the time you had left...

http://foreversnotsolong.com/

Lou

Daaaaaaaaaannng. That was well done and pretty freaky.

[Sorry, I buy pre-made suet but this looks like a fun project]

A Suet Treat

Many believe that once the cold weather sets in, much of Ohio's wildlife either goes into hibernation or migrates to a warmer place until spring. But just because the hummingbirds and warblers are gone doesn’t mean it’s time to put the binoculars away! Did you know that Ohio is home to many birds and other animals that are active during the winter? These wildlife, including birds such as dark-eyed juncos and chickadees, need a source of food for the winter. This is where you come in. With the help of an adult you can make your own bird feeder and food to go in it!

 
Birds on suet feeder
Homemade Suet Log

Supplies you need:

hook

drill

Sticks
   1 wooden log about 1-to 1½-feet long and 3 to 4 inches in diameter


1 screw on hook


A drill and a 1¼-inch drill bit, and a smaller drill bit for the perches


Perches (can be sticks collected outside)

• Drill three or four holes (depending on the size of your log) in various sections of the log, about ½ to ¾ inches deep for the suet.
• Drill holes for the perches. Make sure you don’t drill through the log.
• Insert perches in the holes.
• Screw the hook at the top of the log for hanging.

 
Homemade Suet

You can attract some species of birds, such as woodpeckers and chickadees, by providing them with a source of food called suet. What is suet? Suet is a type of fat that is found in cattle and sheep. This fat is just what these birds need to stay warm in the winter. You can even mix in a variety of nuts or fruit like raisins as an added treat for the birds. Try making your own suet.

• You can buy suet from your local butcher or use lard as a substitute
• Chop or grind the raw suet into small pieces then put either in a crock pot on low or in a double boiler on the stove stirring it every so often.
• Once the suet has mostly melted, turn off the stove or crock pot and let the suet harden, (leave in the unmelted pieces).
• Then let it boil again. It is important to boil the suet twice, otherwise it will not mold properly. Once the suet has melted a second time, you can add in other ingredients.
• Pour suet into a mixing bowl and stir in a very large tablespoon of peanut butter. After the peanut butter is melted try one of the combinations to the right for your suet cake!
• For a thicker consistency and additional nutrition, add cornmeal, rolled oats and/or a mixture of wild bird seed.

When you are finished, fill the holes in your new suet feeder with your homemade suet. You can freeze the remaining suet in molds like cupcake holders. Hang the feeder and then sit back, relax, and watch the different kinds of birds visit your backyard. Keep a journal of all the birds that come to visit.

Fruit Suet Cake:    Nut Suet Cake:
Dried Cranberries
Dried Blueberries
Golden Raisins
Traditional Raisins
Chopped Dried Apples
   Peanuts
Pine Nuts
Chopped Walnuts
Pecans

Sorry, I buy pre-made suet but this looks like a fun project