Rosalie Edge urged everyone, in the quote above, to appreciate all of the birds (and other species) that are part of our daily lives. Edge knew that what is once common can go extinct quickly if we do not begin conserving the species when it is abundant. That is precisely why she purchased Hawk Mountain and why the continuing migration counts matter. If you count then you can plot a decline or a rise. If you don’t count, you never know. I will add that if you do not put a sat-pak on an Osprey chick in Port Lincoln, you will not know how far the fledglings travel from the natal nest. Solly’s tracking information confirmed that they venture much farther than ever imagined! Tiaki is more than half way to Chile today. She is making excellent progress. It is also comforting to see those GPS monitors moving on all the migratory birds including the Black Storks from Latvia and Estonia. We learn, we appreciate, we treasure what we have in front of us and take care of it.
This is the article I was reading from the online Audubon Magazine. It is a Canadian who has gone to look for Snow Geese and, instead, gets fields of Canada Geese.
It is a good read. I love my sparrows and the regulars to the garden and rejoice in the seasonal visitors but it is the sparrows, the 3 Blue Jays, the 1 Black Capped Chickadee, and Mr and Mrs Woodpecker that are my regulars. And, then, of course, there is Mr Crow and the Squirrels. They keep me busy and happy when all the other exotics are gone to their winter homes. So have a read, it is short and really has a couple of good ‘hitting home’ messages.
If you did not see, boots on the ground in the Sydney Olympic Park around the Parramatta River report that WBSE 27 and 28 have been seen and heard them. This is excellent news. I hope that someone will get some good photos of these two. Wouldn’t it be grand if they did survive against the odds? Oh, I hope so.
This is one of the best video clips I have seen of the Collins Four. Dad, that little cutie, arrives with the pigeon meal. Two of the eyases are out of the scrape and into the gutter. The largest one – has to be a really big female – is ready to eat. Notice how she stands up erect and walks with her feet! Getting out of the scrape box, for the other two, is a little easier than getting back. Dad just seems to get smaller every day! Enjoy.
Yurruga is just waking up with a big yawn in the scrape box on the water tower of Charles Sturt University in Orange.
Xavier brings a completely unprepped bird into the scrape box for Yurruga. This might make a mess and the little one might be urging Xavier to hurry and finish but that chick is watching and it will be learning how to do this plucking itself.
Yurruga has a really loud screaming voice when it wants food. My goodness they can probably hear the little one clear across the campus.
The screaming for breakfast has stopped. Yurruga will be very full if it eats all of that Starling!
Yurruga ate all of the Starling except for the head and is stuffed!
Oh, wait! Xavier wants the chick to eat all of the bird. So here goes all of that Starling!
Xavier, that was an excellent feeding!
The trio at Port Lincoln are still sleeping. No doubt Dad will have a fish on the nest soon.
It looks like everyone is doing very well, indeed. That is fantastic. If you have been waiting for the Dyfi on line Shop to open in Wales, it is now functional. Emyr Evans’s book on Monty is for sale.
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam at Orange and Cilla Kinross and 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.