The deer in the reindeer herd is trying to pick Santa's pocket for a treat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9sKpDSAQ7I#

Yes, Shaky, I know Donna already posted it.  I just enjoy it so much it was time to bring it back up top!

And let's not forget the official Santa's Reindeer Cam!

http://reindeercam.com/

Looks like Santa's getting things ready for tomorrow night! 

South America...no wonder...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-whiskered_Owlet

The Long-whiskered Owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi) is a tiny owl that is endemic to a small area in the Andean mountains in Amazonas and San Martín in northern Peru. It is restricted to cloud forests with dense undergrowth and epiphytes at about 1890–2200 meters (6200–7220 ft) above sea lev

[I never heard of this owl! Has anyone? I'm so lame.]

I never heard of this owl! Has anyone? I'm so lame.

Saw this on the Bird Conservancy site.

Can't say I ever have either...

I am beginning to wonder if Sparky is actually the female at the Lakeshore nest. She definitely was not from Hilliard. I can't seem to find any records of what actually happened in 2008 at the Bayshore Power Plant.

One addition to the information on Millie's 2010 chicks; the female who was found on the ground in poor condition, banded black/red 77/E, was given a name - Atira. It sounds as if she was released:

From the Midwest Peregrine site:

Bird was collected on ground in August - emaciated but no other injuries. Banded before release.

I'm pretty sure it is the same Sparky-her sister that year was named Electra and the male named Chance. For such a huge database one typo is understandable.

I was surprised the 2008 nest wasn't reported more.  They made the papers in 2007 with Ted & Lucas hatching on and falling off an active conveyor belt.  2008 started in the same place with a relocation to a proper box.

Pretty cool Bobbie and as for Scotch....I drank 3/4 of a bottle when I was a wild teen and was sick for days. Can't even look at a bottle of it! Lesson learned! (Well, not really)!

So THAT'S why we're so simpatico!  Did the same thing...

Sugar Plum Fairy by P.Tchaikovsky - Glass Harp LIVE (HD)

via

via Bits & Pieces

Just checked the midwest database-I think they have Sparky listed at the wrong nest site.  The band is B/G S/75, but they have her hatched at Hilliard Rd.  3 are listed as hatched & banded at Bayshore, but only 2 birds are shown.  

And notes from CMNH forum:

C&C: MIFan: We were told by DOW that her bands are S/75, although the data doesn't match up in the archives. The archives say it's "Sparky" from '08 Hilliard, which isn't accurate-- that was the year of Mystic (S/22) there. S/74 is Ravine from '08 I-480 nest, and S/76 is "Pelligrina" from '08 Toledo, so this female's ID remains a mystery.

MIfan:C had & Chris: Thank you so much for responding and thanks for the banding info ... I've updated my records with it.

My notes show Sparky S/75 is from 2008 Oregon-Bay Shore Power Plant (Toledo), so maybe we do know who she is!
----------------------------
I'll update my bands in the family tree...

Lakeshore Power plant...why is that ringing a bell?  Is one of "ours" nesting there?  Or offspring of?  

Was that where Archer's sister Millie ended up?  I can't access all my notes on the family tree from here...she had eyases with Swifty in Oregon, OH in 2006 & 2007.  She then went on to Leopold in Monroe MI in 2009 & 2010.  Hmmm....

The resident male at the Lakeshore Power Plant is Michelin, banded black/green B/94. He was born at the I-480 Valley View Bridge nest site in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 2008. His mate is Sparky, banded S/75, from the Oregon-Bay Shore Power Plant in Toledo, Ohio, also born in 2008. In 2010, Michelin was also the resident male, and Sparky was probably the resident female, although her bands were only partially read at that time. I don't know of any connection to the Rochester peregrines.

Millie, banded black 81/K, was at the Monroe Power Plant nest in Monroe, Michigan. In 2010 she and Leopold had four chicks, one male and three females. Three of the juvies spent time in rehab and were banded; two females, Lindsay, black/red 75/E and Randi, black/red 76/E, and one male, Dave, black/red 07/C. Leopold was found on the ground on June 16, 2010 and died on the following day of a skin-eating bacteria in the crop.

In August, 2010, the remaining juvie, who was unbanded, was found in very poor condition, extremely emaciated. She was not named, but was banded black/red 77/E. She was expected to be released by the end of September 2010, but I have not seen any further updates on her.

I haven't been able to find 2011 updates on Millie so far.

Funny, I forgot to check more when I got home that night.  It must have been the Bayshore that was ringing the bell, not Lakeshore.

Thanks for the research.  I knew Millie had 4 eyases with Leopold the year he died, but I didn't have names or band numbers.  

But, there may be a connection after all.  My records are showing Sparky is the 2008 daughter of Millie (Archer's sister) and Swifty-I have her (Sparky's) band as P/75, hatched Bayshore Power plant.  If one of us has an incorrect band listed and Sparky was still the resident female, then Centennial does have a Rochester connection...great-great-grand-eyas of M&K via Freedom (& Purity).  And related to Beauty too...Swifty was the son of Roosevelt (& Freedom) who was the brother of Erie, Beauty's father.  

...and type in Let it snow

"But don’t worry if you get caught in a complete virtual whiteout, because Google has provided a Defrost button, which replaces the usual blue magnifying glass search button (if you click the Defrost button, the flakes will continue to fall, but without any accumulation). You can also click and hold your mouse to manually brush off some of the white stuff." Search Engine Watch

[Len Soucy has tended to about 85,000 birds since 1968 as founder and director of the The Raptor Trust, a nationally renowned avian rehabilitation center]

I don't remember seeing this posted...

Len Soucy has tended to about 85,000 birds since 1968 as founder and director of the The Raptor Trust, a nationally renowned avian rehabilitation center nestled in a rural part of the Millington section of the township near the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

Yet on Thursday, one bird — a tiny, frail Eastern Screech Owl named Simon — was just about all he could think about.

A thief sneaked onto the 18-acre property sometime Wednesday night into Thursday morning and used a cutting device to enter an outdoor cage and pluck Simon from his home, an emotional Soucy explained, adding that the center will close this weekend for an undetermined period of time while security is assessed and a police investigation into the matter continues...

cont'd...

Perhaps no one in Central Jersey will be more pleased to be home for the holidays than a tiny Eastern Screech Owl named Simon.

The disabled owl, who was plucked from his home at The Raptor Trust in the Millington section of the township by a person who used a cutting instrument to enter his cage earlier this week, was returned to the avian rehabilitation center Friday night, less than 48 hours after he disappeared.

“As you can guess, we are really overwhelmed with joy,� trust Education Director Lauren Butcher said Saturday morning. “We got a call yesterday evening from a good Samaritan who came forward and said that they could bring the owl to us.�

cont'd...