Heard or read the following recently when Zsa Zsa Gabor (some will remember...) was taken to the hospital. She said (apparently):

"I want a man who is kind and considerate. It's the least you can ask of a millionaire..."

Wow, your coming home again Bobbie? Twice in a year? Way to go. I'm sure you'll see plenty where ever you decide to venture out to. (hope everything is OK).
[/quote]

Thanks, Donna - and yes, all is ok. My Dad (92 at Thanksgiving, bless that wonderful man!) lives with a sister, and she is off on a well-deserved break - a cruise down the Danube with a Gal Pal - get her! So I said I'd come home and "mind the store". Me and my trusty Little Mac will go anywhere, any time... Plus I get to see the Gang at Thanksgiving! WOO-HOO!!

(Spell check suggests that "well-deserved" should be "windsurf"... haha!)

MAK, Suzanne and others on Team Peregrine...

Can't seem to find yesterday's post re your success... but did you do most of the race in Montezuma? I would love to know where you were so I could perhaps google it (your route) for future reference when I am home. Thanks for that!

I am still reeling from the news of that Sandhill Crane! MAK, did you fall out of the car when you saw it?! I would have! Does anyone know when they leave on their migration?

I will be home at the end of October and do not know where I might go for a spot of The Good Stuff... suggestions appreciated. Thanks again!

Slainte!

(Well, really, Bobbie! I found yesterday's post... how easy was THAT? Still... would appreciate any feedback re the above...)

[Some birds have a remarkable talent for dancing, two studies published in Current Biology suggest.]

Fun piece and link about animals - esp birds - and rhythm. Hope the video plays for you...


 bguitar

Some birds have a remarkable talent for dancing, two studies published in Current Biology suggest.

Footage revealed that some parrots have a near-perfect sense of rhythm; swaying their bodies, bobbing their heads and tapping their feet in time to a beat.

Previously, it was thought that only humans had the ability to groove. The researchers believe the findings could help shed light on how our relationship with music and the capacity to dance came about.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8026592.stm

Welcome to the Forum, Heather! 

Hope you enjoy it as much as everyone else does.

Slainte!

Bobbie

Eeeeeee-haaaah, Team Peregrine!

Thanks for the journey...

Slainte!

Donna's posts re The Cove and SeaWorld are beyond sad. To my shame... and I can only blame youth and inexperience for this... I once went to a whale/dolphin "show" in Hawaii... and never again. In spite of everything they did to make us believe these magnificent creatures enjoyed what they were doing, something inside me kept saying "No". From their point of view, a pond the size of a teacup is not home... far better to face the dangers of the wild ocean...

As I don't know how to post images,  I am including this link to show a cuckoo chick and its hapless "parent"... Loads of other links, but this pic is The Biz!

http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2009/

From the BBC and the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) comes the following site with lots of links about how migration is going here. Something to click on from time to time...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/2010/09/migration-news-10th-september.shtml

Slainte!

I have one of those...

Yes, this institution of higher learning had to go with a cartoon bird with teeth. How educational.

Sign o' the times, m'boy... sign o' the times.

 The race ended at 7:00pm and you had to hand your list in by 7:15. They deduct one bird entry for every 5 minutes you are late. We handed ours in with only one minute left before that deadline!  PHEW! Kinda like finding a peregrine with only 15 minutes left in the race! We had to, after all we were Team Peregrine!  13 hours of chasing birds is tough but fun! Bobbie most of the birds on the list were firsts for me and my favorite was the Sandhill Crane. Suzanne can probably post the list. Thank you all for your well wishes. I'm sure that's what made the difference. A big thank you to Suzanne for inviting me to join you,Don and Lisa. I was very impressed by the knowledge my team had of identifying birds not only by sight but by sound. This was truly another unforgettable day of my life!

Ahhhhhh, jeeeeez, MAK! A Sandhill Crane??? My Bogey Bird! 

I am in a fever just reading that! However... I gotta say I am thrilled for you (well... sorta thrilled... or mildly happy). Nothing like a day's birding that yields something so wonderful. Still... it will take me a while to get over this... (not very nice, you know, waving a Sandhill Crane in my face!!!) Suzanne, over to you for The List!!! (I may have to take to the bed once this is published...)

And MAK, I think my inclusion on bird races over here has had more to do with the quality of my coffee and catering (bird race sandwiches are extremely important!) than it did with my birding knowledge...

Donna, you may know this from any links in the info you just posted... but anything we can do to suppport the efforts of BirdLife International in Malta would be money well spent. Every migration season, an untold number of birds are shot as they pass over this country... and I have read (tho this is only anecdotal as I am relying on memory) that one only "becomes a man" when he has shot a bird of prey. Other illegal trapping and shooting goes on all across the Mediterranean, but Malta's reputation seems to "beat" all others. Spain, for example, loves to sell "pajaritos" (pah-har-EE-toes] in its cafes and bars. "Pajaritos" are the sad, tiny remains of songbirds trapped in mist nets, then roasted and offered for sale. I have more than once removed myself from any premises that has these on sale. (It is illegal, but obviously a blind eye is turned... or many blind eyes...) And believe me, you do not have to speak the language to make your protest known.

Sorry for the rant - but this is something that perhaps many of you do not know about, and spreading the word, as Donna has, is very necessary.

Bob Marcotte (Democrat and Chronicle in ROC) has a new piece on his blog re migrating songbirds in the area. He is always worth checking.

http://php.democratandchronicle.com/blog/birds/?p=3493

[From government policy to personal choices, we must recognise the value of biodiversity]

From BirdLife International, a good companion piece for the earlier one on CITES...


From government policy to personal choices, we must recognise the value of biodiversity

As the world’s governments prepare to meet in Nagoya, Japan, to set new targets for halting biodiversity loss, authors from BirdLife International are among a group of leading conservation scientists and practitioners calling for a fundamental shift in the way we view biodiversity.

In their paper, published today in the journal Science, they argue that conservation of biodiversity is essential for the maintenance of vital ecosystem services, and ultimately for human survival. But they make clear that until governments, businesses and individual people begin to take the real value of biodiversity into account in their choices and decisions, the diversity of life on Earth will continue to decline.

Despite international commitments and an increase in conservation efforts worldwide, the rate of biodiversity loss has not slowed down. Recent assessments show a continued overall decline in populations of wild species and in the size, connectivity and condition of habitats, with accelerating risk of extinctions, and a steep fall in the benefits that we can rely on biodiversity to provide...

http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/09/value-of-biodiversity.html