Donna, you are crazy.

Who ME??    I know!

http://youtu.be/JWToUATLGzs   

http://www.nemesisbird.com/2012/09/sharp-tailed-lifer/  This morning I read of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper that was found at Irondequoit Bay near Rochester NY.

http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/379080/video-first-penguin-egg-laid-at-the-calgary-zoo/ 

  Bobbin and Balloon

Looking for breakfast!

  Bobbin coming in with prey.

[Have a wonderful day Dana!]

Have a wonderful day Dana!      

  Kendal today from nycbird

  I sincerely think Quest has "Jackie Gleason Syndrome" .
She seems to like to exit with a dance...."And Away we go!!!...."
Hope you enjoy these.

Thanks nycbird!! Great screenshots!!

That was so cute! Thanks!

He's in good hands. Thanks Bonnie!!! 

Thanks for posting this again Carol. I remember that day so well.

  In France


Blue 44 Photographed in France
Posted on September 26, 2012 by rangeremma
Brilliant news from our colleagues in southern France: Our young Osprey Blue 44 was photographed yesterday on Etang Blanc!

Stéphanie and her colleague Paul Lesclaux , the rangers at Réserve Naturelle Nationale de l’Etang Noir Cati Ducailar, have kindly been looking out for our bird over the last few days: we have been sending them detailed satellite data to help them track him down.

Paul managed to get this picture via a camera on a telescope of our bird on its’ current favorite site- what a brilliant picture and  a such a thrill to see him safe and well!  Stéphanie tells us he is doing really well, fishing a lot (glad to see he’s grown up in that respect) and seems to be developing favorite areas of the lake already.

Stéphanie says:

 â€œWe clearly read the ring .This bird fish a lot !!!! Seen at 10.40 fishing, and at 12.30, and at 13.45 and at 15.30 : Always in the same place on the Etang Blanc. When another osprey arrived and fished on the Etang at 13.40, Blue 44 left the tree where he was eating his fish (and the fish falled !). Blue 44 chased away this osprey and return to fish. Yesterday there were 3 ospreys fishing on the Etang Blanc.â€�

A HUGE thankyou to Stephanie and Paul: we hope if Blue 44 stay in this area we might be able to go across to meet our collegues and thank them in person.

     From fb

[Good morning! We thought you might like an update on Mei Xiang. She slept well last night and is mostly sleeping this morning, as you can see on the cam. She has not expressed any interest in going outside. She is eating some bamboo, produce, and biscuits and her appetite is improving, though she's still only eating about a quarter of her usual amount of food.]

Good morning! We thought you might like an update on Mei Xiang. She slept well last night and is mostly sleeping this morning, as you can see on the cam. She has not expressed any interest in going outside. She is eating some bamboo, produce, and biscuits and her appetite is improving, though she's still only eating about a quarter of her usual amount of food. 

fb today

A morning glory is a flower, right?

Yes, and it’s also the name of these very rare roll clouds that stretch as much as 1000 km.  That’s 620 miles, the distance from Pittsburgh to Dallas, Texas!

I’ve never seen a morning glory cloud but the literature says they are low and tubular and appear to be rolling on their horizontal axis.  They travel up to 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph) over a landscape that has no wind at ground level — until they arrive.

Posted by Kate St. John   Amazing photo!

Morning glories bring wind with them and such great updrafts on the leading edge that glider pilots flock to the only place on earth where these clouds reliably occur:  northern Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria from August to November.  Some have ridden these clouds for 500 km (310 mi).

Morning glory clouds can form (rarely) in response to severe thunderstorms but in Queensland they’re caused by sea breezes that flow onshore overnight at the Cape York Peninsula.  The moist air comes from both east and west, meets in the middle over the peninsula, and rises into a stack of cold, turbulent air.  Before dawn the stack is blown westward over the Gulf and causes ripples in the sky, each one carrying a long roll cloud.

Right now it’s spring in Australia and prime season for this rare phenonmenon.  In Burketown, Queensland the glider pilots awake before dawn, hoping for glory.

(photo by Mick Petroff via Wikimedia Commons.

Beauty graces us! I swear I heard DC also in the distance chirping.

B on Main

Happy birthday, Larry!!!


(and Donna-- love the post)!!!!

Thank you jeanne!   (pic by MAK)