Happy new week folks! Don't foget to check the last few posts of the previous week. Heron posted a photo of a female reed bunting, AQ saw a "ginormous flock of corellas" (must Google that!), OG has found a nice B&B for her trip, Alan posted a nifty shot of the changing of the guard at the eagle nest, folks are wondering how Diane is doing with the storm the big storm back East, and much, much more! :-) We had almost 2 inches of rain in Santa Barbara today, which is brilliant. Still sorting files and likely to be doing so for a day or three to come. Take care all.
I'll finish up this week's chat thread, and then you all can start fresh.
patriciat: I so hope that your sister is able to have her pacemaker inserted immediately. Also hope that the quality of her life improves dramatically after the procedure. Such a worrying and difficult time for you. I know that hospital visits are much more complicated and difficult than the time spent visiting with the patient loved one. And your having asthma probably adds stress. Try to get enough rest and eat well. Sending good energy to you. OG: I'm so happy for you -- getting your new vehicle. I hope it serves you very well and meets all of your needs. I'm sure that you will work out all the logistics after a few trips! Annette: I'm so sorry that your sister is so far away. At least you have a good relationship with her. Many siblings have strained or hostile relationships. It's too bad that loving family has to be so far away for so many people.
Sue C: Oh, I love the Chichester peregrine website. I will explore it fully tommorrow. The architecture there is wonderful, and to see the falcons perched on the elegant old spires is a sight to behold. I can see why the nest has been so successful. Thanks so much for the link. What an awe-inspiring place. AQ: So sorry you didn't get your gully washer rain you needed. Enjoy the Olympics. They had to expend tremendous resources to truck in snow for the Olympic events, because Vancouver is experiencing very mild weather. In the U.S. southeast, where it is nearly always hot, it's cold and snowing -- even in tropical Florida! Very strange, indeed. I'm starting to form all kinds of conspiracy theories about weather manipulation. :-o Lindybird: I enjoyed the elephant video. I was very interested in the article about the studies of their walk. Interesting conclusion. Thanks! Alan: Thanks for the stork nest link. I enjoy watching those birds. I watched the Gebesee nest last year. Tiger: Three adults on that eagle nest? Cooperatively breeding for many years? How open-minded of them. LOL! And the male was called "Superman"! LOL! Seriously, that's a fascinating story. Have nesting ospreys ever been reported to create a similar arrangement? I know that males have been known to have 2 mates in separate nests. DjoanS: It's difficult for me to pick a favorite bird. Of course, I love the owls, but I also am dedicated to hummingbirds, pileated woodpeckers, great blue herons, wrens, all raptors, cardinals, ravens/crows, and now, of course, ospreys...I think I've never met a bird I didn't like. LOL
Night all. I have to do stupid, boring housework tomorrow and remodeling later this week, so I won't hog up the chat thread like today. :-)
Hullo? Did someone say, "Peregrines?" Such amazing creatures they be! I think Diane's explanation was right on about juveniles and the only thing I would add is reading a quote something like "a young Peregrine having all those flying skills is like giving a teenager a Ferrari." I believe first year Peregrines have an approximately 75% mortality rate; much like all their amazing bird of prey relations, I suppose.
Diane: I enjoy the Indy Falcon cam and check it most mornings for birds.
Djoan & other Owl fans: I'm linking you to the Raptor Resource forum page that has a photo of Snowflake's nest, a scary 200 feet in the air. The picture really put it in perspective for me.
http://raptorresource.org/forum/index.php/topic,436.405.html
I also saw a very sad posting that the Eagle pair on the NCTC nest in West Virginia will likely lose all 3 eggs due to the 40 inches of snow in that area. As I type this at just after midnight, the poor female is lying on the nest in all that snow, but she's not giving up so there may yet be a chick(s) at that location.
I hope many of you were able to watch the amazing opening ceremony for the Olympics. It was wonderful to see the native Indians included with the dancing, music and their creation stories. And the special effects were out of this world!
I'm signing off as it's past my bedtime. =O) Take care one and all!
Less bright, but consequently no frost this morning – ooh, sun coming through right now!
AQ – pleased you are getting it a bit cooler this coming week – hope the humidity is nearer your usual, but that you’ll get real rain soon. Lovely blue sky picture!
Wattle – welcome back! Don’t blame you for aestivating (equivalent to hibernating in summer). Pleased that you have been enjoying your reading, especially with the family links. I hope the rain has been enough to do some good – but without flooding problems for you.
Annette – “White Goods” are kitchen electrical appliances made of metal - which often aren’t white! “Scotch Mist” is very light drizzle – when English tourists find the weather a bit damp and say it’s raining, they are told it’s only mist! I guess it sounds a bit like the evaporation from a distillery, but that has its own name – “The Angel’s Portion”!
Diane – a great roundup of responses to posts– but did you think it was Saturday night when it was only Friday?! Sorry about your boring housework – and which part of your nest are you remodelling?
Caerann – sad about W V nest if they do lose all the eggs – she has been so faithfully sitting through all that snow. I don’t really “do” Olympics, sorry, and I think the ceremonial is an awful waste of money - another bah-humbug area for me!
On that controversial note, that’s all from me for now – a coffee morning at 10am, then shopping for birthday present for G-Dau#2 – she can have it a week early when they visit Monday – but what do you buy for a ten-year old who thinks she’s nineteen?!!
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Diane It is a fascinating story isn't it? I had exactly the same thought about ospreys that you had. I do not know of any polygmous ospreys. but then they could exist out there somewhere!
Tiger Signature
OG: I saw Annette's note about it being Saturday, and my feeble ol' brain decided that it was Saturday night. LOL Shhhh. Don't tell anyone! LOL re house: I'm slowly going through this old house doing repairs, painting, etc. -- everything I can do inexpensively to improve the place. ;-)
Morning all from TI,
Thanks for all the chat, links, pictures etc. Fascinating about the falcons and the eagles.
Lady P has gone into town with her niece from Ireland to do some shopping so I am free to watch the FA cup on the tele and look after the Thunderdog.
Weather was cold and cloudy early on and the bird bath had some ice in it. However that has all gone now and the sun is starting to come out.
Temp 3.6c , Wind NW 7mph , Sunrise 07:20 , Sunset 17:09.
Alan Notice how the sunrise/sunset times are really whizzing round now. Well over 1 hour on the evenings and soon be an hour on the mornings.
Hello All, Cloudy, with a very cold wind here, but strangely, a thaw seemed to have started overnight and we had our post delivered this morning. We haven't seen the postman since the snow arrived.
Caerann, I do hope that the WV eagles eggs hatch, even if it is only one out of the three. That poor bird has sat in the nest through the most awful conditions. Thanks for the picture of the owl's nest. Just don't know how they survive.
Patriciat, Hope your sister has now had her pacemaker fitted and all is now well.
Must go and do some shopping and hope all the roads are now safer to drive on.
4 eagles on the Estonian webcam in the snow:
Today's APOD really is a wow wow wow. See http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100213.html