Today's Who Am I?

A snipe?

First thing I thought too, Annette. Watch and see, tho - Donna will fox us again and tell us it is actually Jack-Snipe. Close. No cigar.

Sad news, the peregrine died over night. 

That is so sad. 

Donna, if it were not for you, I would not have known about this. Shame on some of the local wildlife sites for not mentioning this... or at least I have not found a mention.

Ok, on with it now...who am I?

Is it a Merlin?

Yup, it's a Merlin...MAK wins 1st place. That was easy but hard! LOL...here are some of the guesses Hobby, Merlin, Falcon, Tawny Owl, Sparrow Hawk, Nightjar, BBJ (Big Brown Job)...lol

Go, MAK! Esp since I said it was not a Merlin... "duh" on me!

Today's Who Am I?

Gotcha! I think... well... one out of three possibilities ain't too shabby... (or is it four??)

Apparently a rare migrant in Malta, this Osprey may be one of the lucky ones, after being rescued by the Raptor Camp volunteers.

http://www.birdlifemalta.org/view.aspx?id=279

Another link on this site points out that the extra police on duty are not there for the protection of the birds, but for the safety of BirdLife volunteers!

Now this is getting downright barbaric. That poor Osprey and a baby at that! We need a road trip to Malta!

I tell ya, I do not have the guts for that road trip. My admiration for the Raptor Camp people knows no bounds. (Having had the "odd" encounter here with some bad boys, I have to say they are mild-mannered, compared to those Malta shooters.) Best we can do is protest - and keep doing it! Letters, emails... the more voices are heard, the more likely it is that something might get done... some day... (Meanwhile, I trust that someone will tell me to "knock it off" if I seem to bang on about this topic.)

Apparently a rare migrant in Malta, this Osprey may be one of the lucky ones, after being rescued by the Raptor Camp volunteers.

http://www.birdlifemalta.org/view.aspx?id=279

Another link on this site points out that the extra police on duty are not there for the protection of the birds, but for the safety of BirdLife volunteers!

I'm always heartened when I find something positive about the world's bee populations. Every Spring, I wait with trepidation to see if ours are back - so far so good! Here's a piece from the BBC re recovering species in the UK.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-261841

Fascinating piece on coyotes from the NY Times. Pretty sure The Nephew and I saw two of them at Montezuma as we stood on the viewing platform near the Info Center. Staff were not sure whether they were coyotes or wolves. Gotta say "wolf" would have appealed. Any other encounters from the Forum? I understand they are definitely in our area.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/science/28coyotes.html?ref=earth

Donna, I can't seem to find this anywhere in local press etc. Did you say you found it on FB?

And Carly, I understand how you feel! But don't give up on Ireland and the UK, where there are so many people working to save these and other species. The hard work often goes unsung, tho, when we hear about the tragedies... of which there are far too many.

Ok, on with it now...who am I?

Is it a Merlin?

The Doof is gonna say not a Merlin because of the colour - but look how far that got me with the (not!) Diver!

Then again... a female Merlin? Or maybe a Hobby. (I know what it is not...)

Ok, on with it now...who am I?

Is it a Merlin?

The Doof is gonna say not a Merlin because of the colour - but look how far that got me with the (not!) Diver!

Had not seen this, Donna. (Not being much good at FB.) We will be ranked with Malta if this continues.

Today's 'Who am I'

This is a Juvenile Great Northern Diver! Congrats to Bird Crazy for 1st guessing. 

Haha on me, who said it was not a diver! What a doof!

We just had something on our local news last night that these creepy things have been found at one of our local elementary schools!    Sure glad my kids are grown but have to worry about grandkids now! 

Ohhhhhh, Annie! This getting waaaay beyond funny! Hope those grandkids of yours are ok... what's to be done?!

Here's another Marvellous Marcotte blog. I have not read the entire piece yet, and preface my remarks by saying I am not a licensed ringer/bander... only go into the field with those who are where I assisted in record-taking etc. It is so fascinating. I still say re Bob Marcotte: I want his job!

http://php.democratandchronicle.com/blog/birds/?p=3584

(Hey, Donna - if you see it first, post it!)