Hi All:
jsb: At the end of the previous Weekly Chat are two responses to your posting about the birds with French accents. One is from me and not especially profound. The other is from Diane, and reads as follows : Lovely article. I always have two pairs of house wrens (known as jenny wrens here) who return about the same time in the spring. Even though both females are house wrens, I can always tell which bird is singing, no matter where they are. I don't know whether the slight difference is because they winter in different regions or because individual wrens have distinct sounds. I always put up houses for them, but, this year, one pair decided that it would be more fun to nest in the nook above my propane gas tank, where the dials and controls are. So I had to fiercely guard the nest from the gas company employees who periodically check the gas levels. The gas company guys think I'm looney but they didn't dare to defy me and bother the wrens!
Everyone: AQ posted this one: Adelaide 10.50 am 12 C. Pumpkin soup for lunch thanks to friend giving me 2 large butternuts. Today is the Bay to Birdwood Classic for cars 1956-1977. Once upon a time they left from Glenelg (the Bay), but lack of space means they now leave from West Beach (2 km north). They travel about 70 km (44 miles) to Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills where there is a Motor Museum. Next year is the run for the Vintage cars (pre-1956). A picnic day. A bit chilly today but not as chilly as Wattle's.
And Teresa had this tip: If you delete something by mistake it is worth holding the Ctrl key down and clicking on Z. In lots of instances it undoes your last action - not always though but still worth a try.
AQ and Teresa: Hope it was okay to copy and paste your comments on this page - didn't want anyone to miss them.
Here is a map I found of the area where Rothes was on the last Google earth update. It looks like Rothes was only about 100 miles from the river and there is what looks like a 'small' lake on the way down.
No doubt somebody will tell me I got it wrong but I'm only posting it because there is a place just south of her called Richard Toll and I found it amusing.
Use whatever talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sing the best.- Henry Van ***
Thanks for the map Teresa!
dibnlib: THAT is a very interesting point. I believe that one of the female wrens here is significantly older than the other one! That could very well explain the difference in their songs. I hadn't thought about that until you suggested it. You mentioned woodpeckers; we have a pair of huge pileated woodpeckers. They look like primitive birds right out of the dinosaur era, and they are very loud. I just love them!
Good afternoon, 'tis 12.50 pm. 13 C. A shower of rain has cleared the air. Lovely. This is the spring I like. A pair of Pacific black ducks are visiting us again, begging to be fed. A few days ago one of them was standing in the bird bath, but when I went out to snap a photo s/he hopped out looking very guilty. Very friendly - if we left the door open they would wander inside. As well the magpie with a broken-beak has dropped by again.
Terrible news - the Samoan earthquakes & tsunami on Tuesday, followed the next day by earthquakes hitting Sumatra. When Earth flexes its muscles, man is so puny.
Hey Diane and AQ: Nice to see you here. AQ, hope your Spring continues clear and fresh. Diane: I just Googled images of Pileated Woodpeckers and they do look decidedly prehistoric. I sat under the hummingbird feeder yesterday and got buzzed by several, apparently for being in "their" garden. Even though some have gone south, those remaining still act is if there'll never be enough food to go around. By the way, have you guys checked out the livecam feeders on the LG webcam? Lots of fun to watch the birds and especially the canny squirrels...
Have you guys seen the link below? It's really interesting. We had a 5-point earthquake in Sequoia National Park, but of course, it was tiny compared to the biggies in the South Pacific and Indonesia. Our local Red Cross chapter is sending folks from Santa Barbara down there to help with disaster recovery...http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/
Back to the Ken Burns program....
Annette: Earlier today, you asked whether I knew anything about the removal of protections for U.S. wolves and the legal challenges in the courts. (This change of status will allow mass killings of the wolves, likely returning them to near extinction.) I see that Caerann has now provided a brilliant explanation, so I won't repeat it.
I will say that I am saddened that humans are so driven to destroy the bird and animal predators in every region we inhabit, throwing nature out of balance with all kinds of horrific results.
Often, after we kill the predators, we are surprised and dismayed when the numbers of prey animals increase to problem levels. And then we kill (cull) the prey animals. In the county where I live, the people kill the coyotes, no predators are left so the deer population swells, the deer eat the crops, and then the deer are killed.
I also find it fiscally stupid that the government spent millions of dollars to reintroduce the wolves to the west, and now the states are going to spend millions of dollars to kill most of them, often by aerial shooting. Insanity.
By the way, the following website has a webcam for watching wolves at the International Wolf Center in Minnesota. They also have a telemetry database where you can track individual wolves who have been fitted with transmitters. http://www.wolf.org/wolves/experience/webcam.asp?gclid=CKDY2J_1yZkCFdxM5QodfjJqnw I'm not very familiar with this group, so don't hold me accountable if you don't agree with their methods.
Aquilareen: I would love to see the Pacific black ducks. They sound wonderful. Glad your spring is going well.
Annette: Aren't hummingbirds wonderful? They are so tiny, but so bold!!! They think that they are huge birds! That's amazing about the earthquake there in Sequoia National Park. I hadn't heard about it. Makes you wonder what's going on inside the Earth right now. I check the site for earthquakes in our area sometimes. We are sitting near the midwest fault. I am so sorry for the people of Indonesia, etc. where the big ones hit. I hope that your oven re-installation went well today!
Morning all. Really cool morning here, only 4C, brrr...
Somebody asked before, if there were any finnish satellite-ospreys this year here, and I said no. But few days ago it was published that there is one! Male osprey "Jukka". It was ringed (red with white PS on left foot) and tagged 31st july. Jukka started his migration on 24th september, and 28th he was in Belo-Russia. I think it will be quite facinatining to compare his route to Skotland ospreys, `couse there destinations are pretty much in the same part of Africa.
my photos in flickr