Dedicated to understanding  the remarkable emotional, social and mental abilities of birds, and the unsuspected richness of their societies.

Vicky's sitting on her nest

Vicky greets us when we pay a visitYesterday Gitie and I went to see how Vicky and Bertie are doing this year on the nesting front. Although Vicky's nest is in line with our breakfast room, it is distant and we have not been able to set up the telescope this year. So imagine our delight when we found Vicky sitting proudly on the nest. The nest is in a tricky spot, so Gitie stayed by the road while I went through the paddock to the nesting tree. This is the tree that Vicky and Maggie purchased from a crow some years ago, giving the crow their old tree and nest in return, as well as rights to get food from their human friends (us) for a year). The crow made Vicky's old nest bigger and stronger, while Vicky lined the crow's nest with lots of soft material.

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The Magpie Winter Season

Our birds have had a strange winter to deal with: overcast most days instead of sunny, cold days, but some warmer nights as the clouds keep the heat in.

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Fiona's Peewees Help a Turtle

peeweesFiona loves Peewees and has a favourite Peewee family living in her yard (see slideshow below).  Also called mudlarks, the birds are friendly and get along well with her gorgeous hens (Lucy and Gertrude –Columbian Wyandottes, and Edna - silver-laced Wyandotte), but Fiona was yet to discover how amazing these birds can be.

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Fireworks At The Lilypot!

OMGosh!   What's that exploding in the short lilypot?

 

(click on the 'next' button to forward through the slides).
Previous Slide 1/14 NextExplosions galoreWhat's creating this ruckus?What's creating this ruckus?OMG! It's a bird!OMG! It's a bird!Who is it?Who is it?Creating such a commotionCreating such a commotion...again.....again..Is it Dimpy?Is it Dimpy?or is it Kerry?or is it Kerry?Can't believe my eyesCan't believe my eyesit's Larry!it's Larry!How has he managed to get here?How has he managed to get here?Time to dry outTime to dry outpreenpreenand catchand catcha quiet nap unobserved?a quiet nap unobserved?

 

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Claire's Baby Hawks

Reader Claire Muskus sent us these gorgeous pictures of baby red-talied hawks.  The chicks look so cute: here is Claire's story:

 "We have a pair of red-tailed hawks that nest each year on our 5th floor ledge.  Usually mid-March, the mom starts her annual ‘house cleaning’ then commences to ‘just sit’.  This year there were 3 eggs; all survived. Last year the same number  were in the nest, but only two survived.  Several years ago, one of the ‘youngins’ fell out of a tree that was near the bldg. Because its wings weren’t strong enough to make it fly back up to the nest, it wandered back and forth on the wall with its mother was dutifully watching and calling to it from across the street and often making low sweeps over it.  Some agricultural students from Trinity College were called in to try to capture it, which they were able to, somehow.  I had the good fortune of actually seeing the hawk ‘up close and personal’.  It certainly was a magnificent, yet scary example of power. I couldn’t believe the length of its talons – to gaze into its eyes was unnerving at best; it was if it could look through to your soul and beyond.  ‘Determination’ was the name of the game because somehow the bird escaped again, this time crossing the road and found its way into the bushes at the Bushnell; the DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection) was contacted.  They found the bird, put a large towel over its head, brought it into the building, up the elevator (wished I’d been on that ride up – can you ever imagine getting on and seeing this ‘thing’ sitting on someone’s arm covered with a towel???) to the 5th floor, opened a casement window and put it back on the ledge where it was supposed to be. "

baby hawk in window baby hawk

 

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