Gayle -

Happy Birthday!!

Wishing you a strong, good year filled with love, joy, and light! 


dale

Try to avoid walking under the ledge.

relevant quote from a fledge watch summary on the Evanston board by Neal N.:

"My most compassionate act of the day: suggesting to two human lovebirds that they might want to relocate from the bench directly below the flower box containing three Peregrine Falcon chicks."

Their navigation systems go haywire and they head for Europe instead of South America.

I think I'll head for Europe instead of the supermarket... 

Yeah, I posted about him a couple of days ago - I worry about him.

Here is a Toronto CityNews video of the event: http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/videos/138388

thanks, shaky!  
the title of the video is pretty alarming - says the "baby" was BRANDED!

and lovely photo, Kat - thanks so much!!

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A young Emperor penguin took a rare wrong turn from the Antarctic and ended up stranded on a New Zealand beach — the first time in 44 years the aquatic bird has been sighted in the wild in the South Pacific country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110621/ap_on_re_as/as_new_zealand_emperor_penguin

great shots, paul, esp. the little guy with bits of fluff, still.
and good toad. Very good toad.

I sure was, along with Linda Woods, and it was just great!!!  What a champ that Sunshine is!  Really flew quite well, landed well enough, flapped around with gusto!!  It was really delightful to watch!  I really hoped that she'd stay put on the Hilton, but, hey, that gal has her own mind and did what she felt she had to do!  And did much better than I thought she would!  She flew strongly, with good co-ordination, and, despite the strong wind gusts, made it as far up as she did impressively, landed quite well, not just "by accident"!!  I was totally impressed...once I started breathing again!!  And she's just fine where she is until the morning and she will be watched over by her parents and by Harry, a dedicated and practised watcher, first thing!  She certainly made my day!! 
Anne in Toronto

You've been putting in a LOT of full days watching, too!!
So glad you got to see that and that it went so well!

Great and unusual banding album, Paul - thanks so much.
Those pictures of the female perched right over the bander's helmet are so odd, as is her low pass at his head. Things we don't usually see in such very close juxtaposition! 

Terrific album, MAK, thanks!

I'm just getting a blank screen...

oh, orange footed megapode, your song is so sad---

isn't it touching and odd? I like it a lot.

Megapode, Orange-Footed

I've just discovered a wonderful bird - the orange-footed scrubfowl or megapode.
I got permission to post this lovely photo from the photographer, Werner Suter.
Here is the beast's song (really touching - listen to the whole minute): http://www.xeno-canto.org/recording.php?XC=42282
reminiscent, of course, of other rails, the NZ pukeko and takahe

Would this increase the possibility of endangered Whooping Cranes being shot by mistake?

You'd think.
It'd also sure increase the possibility of sandhill cranes being shot, which is already nuts.

Great photos, Paul - I'm so glad there was at least one and you got to see it banded!