Hello Folks,Here's something for all you fans of our feathered friends. Each friday for 12 weeks, I will be posting a little teaser for you. Without looking in books or on the internet (i.e - no cheating), see if you can identify this bird. The following Monday, so as long as no-one has guessed it, I will post one clue. The day after I will post the answer along with some additional information for your interest. Here goes ....MYSTERY BIRD #9Despite his irridescent garb, Mr W.A.L Drapp doesn't need a comb!
Clue (just in case): I'm follicularly challenged and the only one in my family that doesn't like getting my feet wet.
Becca: We've had an Osprey floating around and Woodlark we been seen recently. The high light for me on friday was 4 Ravens in mid air fun and games!
I'm still sticking with my Northern Bald Ibis :-)....Fingers crossed!
I think I might take a trip up to Sandy over the weekend then if the weather is nice, I haven't been for a while.
Have the Ravens been back since?
Becca :-)
Congratulations to all of you who guessed Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), also known as Hermit Ibis or Waldrapp. To my mind, this bird's taxonomic name reflects it perfectly; 'Geronticus' comes from the ancient greek for old man and 'eremita' means desert. Northern bald ibis are partial to arachnids, insects and scorpions as well the occasional earthworm, snail and small fish.
Found for the most part in Morocco, within the Souss-Massa National Park and nearby Tamri, a small population also exists in Syria and Turkey. Though they once nested on buildings, Northern bald ibis now nest on cliffs or near watercourses. It is estimated that there are around 112 breeding pairs in Morocco and one in Syria.
Keep an eye out for your next mystery bird.
Claire
Thanks Mrs T. I thought I knew, but then cheated by googling "waldrapp", so didn't feel I could take part.
Anyway, if you do google "waldrapp" it leads you to an interesting 4-part film on youtube, about an austrian-based project whose aim is to re-establish a wild population of bald ibis in western Europe. This is Part 1 - the others are linked in the RH margin once on Youtube.
The project has involved teaching captive-raised ibis to migrate, by leading them to winter quarters in Tuscany using microlight aircraft - rather like the whooping crane migration in the US. Apparently they have now reached the stage where a few birds are starting to migrate independently.
Thanks for the clip Sue C, Waldrapp's are quite endearing in their own special way.
I'm so proud of myself, I finally got one right! :-D
Now I don't need to try anymore lol, but I might have another go on Friday...
Hi Becca, despite it being such a gloomy day, one of the Raven's was floating around the tall trees outside the office today.
Do hope you have a go with the quiz on friday!
That's it...The weather better be good this weekend!
Saturday or Sunday it doesn't matter, I'll head up for the first time in ages, even though I'm only in Stevenage!!
Hopefully I'll see a Raven :-)
I will try my best, even if I just say any old random bird lol
I'll let 'em know your coming. The hill fort seems to be the best place for them, well by my experience anyhoo!
I don't really know where that is lol! But I'll take a walk around and hope for the best...Especially as I'm 'camera studying' at the moment, maybe my settings might even make the pictures come out better!
Are you there at weekends?
Make sure them Ravens are there :-D