CAW!

Recently (sort of) I've moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota (Which is why I have not posted. Don't fret!) . It's been a bit of a culture shock - going from sunny Florida to the Arcti-- I mean... Minnesota. I have been missing many important pieces of my personal life since I have moved; all of them being nature related. The biggest one, I'd have to say, is wildlife.

I'm unable to venture out of the cities and into the great woods and lakes that the state is known for. The city does not have much to offer. Bitter cold chases away all my beloved critters. My friends say I am not looking hard enough, and perhaps I'm not. However, the city does have plenty of hawks. Lots of hawks in which my small parrot panics and flock-calls at frequently. Poor bird.

Yet just as I was thinking that piece to my heart was left behind, as if they knew, the crows came. Thousands of them perched on every branch and wire and windowsill as far as you can pan. It's such a thrill to see!

Smarts are what I've always cherished crows and ravens for. And boy are they smart, flocking like this. Safety in numbers, that's for sure. What predator wants to mess with thousands of crows? The eats are perfect and the options for a mate are plentiful. Why not?

Crows and ravens have a lot of stigma to them, but no need to fear. These birds are fun and would rather watch you as you do them than harm you.

Just don't drop the bread!

Here's some articles and information:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/12/07/minnesota-sounds-voices-crows-in-minneapolis

http://www.twincitiesnaturalist.com/2010/02/why-do-crows-roost-in-cities.html

Molly the owl on Ustream.

Ustream has many things to offer such as live games for the sports fans, live radio shows, music and more. But my favorite thing about Ustream is its selection of live nature videos. Outdoors cams for those rare wildlife sightings, cams with horses ready to foal, egg hatching, puppy and kitten play pens and more. Along with a built in chat feature to discuss what you are seeing with fellow watchers. Or... just chat about similar (yet off topic) interests while you watch!

A man by the name of Carlos royal (carlosroyal for online username and the rest of the "royal" family) has been sharing his love of nature and travel with us for a while now, but was just recently featured on Burdr.com for his barn owl nest cam.

You can see the barn owl, Molly, on her nest 24/7 here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-owl-box

Her mate, McGee brings her food int he night. Molly is sitting on 5 eggs that are due to hatch tomorrow or any day now.

For more of carlosroyal's theowlbox bird-related photographs and information, you can visit:

http://www.theowlbox.blogspot.com/

His website is here:

http://carlosroyal.com/

And it has many things to offer. Travel photos, birding, real estate information (along with being able to buy a copy of his real estate book, ALL proceeds go towards Molly the owl), portraits, his schooling and so much more.

I will be watching Molly on and off all day and night taking part int he chat room. If you see a user by the name of Honeybird, that's me! Unfortunately you have to register to be able to discuss the video but it's well worth the 2 minutes it takes to sign up. Though watching the video is free.

See you there! Happy owlet watching!

Ever wondered how to wash your pet pelican?

Of course you have!

Thanks to Burdr.com, here is a video on how.

http://www.burdr.com/2010/02/how-to-wash-a-california-brown-pelican/

Also thanks to the IBRRC (International Bird Rescue Research Center) and special thanks to Dawn for helping us save wildlife for over 30 years.

1973 Liz and Gary Doyle "Thylacine" footage analyzed.

If any of you are actively tracking the "extinct" Thylacine (or any so-declared extinct animal for that matter), you've probably seen this footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCILrT7IMHc

This was the footage taken by a couple named Liz and Gary Doyle in 1973 of a possible sighting. The film is short, blurry, and as always not reliable... but this is the best footage existing after its declared extinction.

Below is a link to an article I stumbled upon at wherelightmeetsdark.com (the best website out there for rare Australian animal sightings) of the official footage of the caged Thylacine and the Doyle footage being analyzed side-by-side.

http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com/index.php?module=wiki&page=HighestResolutionComparisonOfTheDoyleAnimalWithAKnownThylacineExample

Again, here's to hope and getting your hopes up!

Enhanced footage received

In late 2009 I was supplied with a restored version of the Doyle footage. I do not have details to hand of the work which was carried out on the footage, but can source these if requested.

This analysis uses the best quality version of the Doyle footage that I have seen to date.

Analysis

This analysis is a straightforward comparison between frames from the Doyle footage and David Fleay's footage of a thylacine circa 1933.

The following key diagnostic features, visible in the Doyle footage, are those that most pursuade me to argue that the animal in the Doyle footage is a thylacine, albeit on the mainland of Australia circa 1973:

• The proportion of the pes (hind foot) relative to other bones in the hind legs and relative to the rest of the body
• The proportion and posture of the tail relative to the rest of the body
• The shape of the hindquarters
• The depth of the neck and chest

The above features can be directly compared with known thylacine images and footage. Unfortunately there is no known footage of a running thylacine, so the "kangaroo-like" posture exhibited in multiple frames cannot be attributed to the thylacine with any certainty. The posture does, however, align with descriptions of the thylacine resembling a kangaroo or wallaby.

It should be noted that there are additional frames, not included in this analysis, which also show the key features being highlighted here.

New York birders!

For any of you who might be birders and are lucky enough to live in the Big Apple, here are two websites that might be of interest to you.

The first is:

http://www.nycbirdreport.com/

A list is compiled of all the native, migratory and well... many many species of bird that have been (or not) spotted around the areas it listed. If you click on a location and then on a bird it will give you a sighting numbers along with the month sighted in. Unfortunately it seems to have not been updated since 2007, but at least you can get an idea of the sightings. Maybe if the website owner gets more traffic he/she will see people are interested.

The second is a fellow Blogspot blogger:

http://citybirder.blogspot.com/

This one is updated very frequently and is very informative. Rare bird alerts, sightings from trips and other wildlife and much more. It's a great website. Go check it out!

Hope this helped a little!

Australian Thylacine; resurrected from extinction... almost.

The Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus). An animal that has terrified me, baffled me and deeply interested me ever since I could remember. I don't remember how I found out about the animal when I was little, but I was shocked and depressed when I discovered it had been extinct since 1936.

After the bounty that had been placed on their heads, the last known Thylacine ("Benjamin" as it was named - though the sex was unconfirmed) was captured and sent to the Hobart Zoo in 1933.

It's obvious why this animal was bountied; it was one of the largest carnivorous marsupials known to that time. Its jaws were abnormally large and wide. The stripes on its back would make one think of a tiger (hence Tasmanian tiger). Above all people during that time did not have the knowledge of animals, the balance of nature, extinction and science that we do now.

But now that we understand and the animal is extinct... what do we do?

None of us can do much besides study at the evidence that they had left behind.

One man, former Science dean of the University of NSW, is trying to change that. How? By the science of cloning.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/a-cure-for-extinction/story-e6frgck6-1225757981767

When he was director of the Australian Museum, Archer set off, armed with gene technology, in the hope that he could bring back a Tasmanian tiger or thylacine. Others continue that hunt while Archer has fixed his sights on another extinct native; he will not say which: "The team that's been working on this now for three years has sworn in blood that we won't mention what it is."

But the optimists on the team, and Archer is one of them, think they may be ready to go public with a world first as soon as this year. Already, he says, they have managed to get the animal's DNA to reactivate, an essential step on the path to cloning. He is cagey when asked why this unidentified animal is a better prospect than the thylacine: "Suffice it to say, we're working with slightly better material."

Here's to hope, many breakthroughs and success!

Thanks to Where Light Meets Dark.

Mouth full of nom.

Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?

Enjoy some pictures of greedy little birds who bit off more than they can chew.

http://www.burdr.com/2009/12/dont-tweet-with-your-mouth-full/

Thanks to Burdr.com!