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Local farmers view it as a threat to domesticated wildlife. It didn’t occur to me till I started reading The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird that there was also a possible threat to the eagle herself: poachers, who steal raptor eggs and chicks.
“Here’s an idea for a blog,” wrote Donna Osburn, a wildlife rehabilitator from Kentucky. I have received so many calls to come rescue a baby hawk or falcon or some kind of raptor,” wrote Jennifer Dudley, and attached this photo. Someone brought me a Cliff Swallow he swore was a falcon,” wrote Louise Shimmel. Can you ID?”.
Peregrine Falcon ( Falco peregrinus ) at Delevan NWR (click on photos for full sized images). I’m sure most of you know that the Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species because of the use of organochlorine pesticides, especially DDT, during the 1950′s, 60′s, and 70′s. Love those talons!
Macdonald is, among her many accomplishments, a falconer. White, who wrote The Once and Future King and The Sword and the Stone , and who was also a falconer – but a very, very bad one. So what’s wrong with the book? Her autobiographical story alternates with her meditations on T.H.
To civilians who may have been puzzled by the wildlife crowd’s tossed-off references to peefas, modos or mice cubes, here is a beginner’s guide to Rehabberspeak. Some abbreviations roll off your tongue and are thus quite helpful – Mourning Doves are MODOs, Peregrine Falcons are PEFAs, Mississippi Kites are MIKIs.
That summer of 1938, when he was ten years old, Cade read of two brothers, Frank and John Craighead, who wrote of their experiences with falcons in National Geographic. I knew no falconers. ” Falcons could be taken from the nest just before they were able to fly or caught wild after maturity. The concern possessed him.
Babita Tours has many years of experience organizing tailor-made wildlife tours for private groups in this wonderful country. Here we look for sandgrouse, bush-quails, francolins, wheatears, shrikes, Laggar Falcons , eagles, buzzards, and the endangered Stolikza’s Bush Chat. The post Come to India With Babita Wildlife Tours!
When you live in Queens and you only have one morning of an August weekend to go birding there is only one place to go – the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Get out to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond and enjoy those shorebirds. What makes it so good? Shorebirds! Well, it is. See you out on the pond!
In a move that’s sure to stir controversy far beyond the borders of California, federal officials have announced that h enceforth, fledgling Peregrine Falcons won’t be relocated from nests built on bridges in the state. But it also means that some baby falcons are likely to plunge into a watery grave. What do you think?
If I had my druthers I would be birding the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge pretty much every day from July until September. Isn’t Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge a great place to see them? Despite my visits being limited in number and scope I have still enjoyed my visits to the East Pond. Aren’t shorebirds awesome?
Some people do think the Northern Goshawk is undignified, at least compared to the falcons, as I learned while reading the excellent memoir H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. Images courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Gosh-awk would be undignified. Goshawk, you see, is from Gosheafoc , Old English for Goose Hawk.
Around thirty miles from Missoula in the Bitterroot Valley lies the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. Fish and Wildlife Service a. By the time lunch was over, it was apparent that the weather was going to be fine, not only for us, but for the migrating raptors who were kettling in numbers. Welcome back waterfowl, indeed.
Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, Honduras, March 2009 After our trip to the Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge was rained out on our first morning at The Lodge at Pico Bonito we rescheduled our visit for our second and last morning at the lodge. Not only that, but we had a train ride to look forward to! It turned out to be pretty cool.
When the photo was posted on social media, people immediately began making calls – to the local wildlife rehabilitation center, the state falconry club, and the wildlife division of the state wildlife agency. But since it wasn’t a wild bird and it wasn’t a falconry bird, it wasn’t under anyone’s control.
I am inside the city of Belgrade, checking the theoretically possible Peregrine Falcon site. Yet, not a trace of a falcon. Serbia has a large number of pigeon fanciers and a long history of lack of law enforcement in the field of wildlife crime ( Newsweek on poaching in the Balkans ). One Feral Pigeon. A Great Tit.
That place is the fabled home of shorebirds, both common and rare, the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. American Avocet on Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond. I just wish I knew how this chase ended: the Greater Yellowlegs made some slick moves but the falcon stayed right with it until they both were out of sight.
“We had a call one morning about a snake and a hawk,” says Tom Sweets, the executive director and chief rescuer of the Key West Wildlife Center , located at the very tip of Florida. Key West Wildlife Center takes mostly birds, but will rescue mammals, marine mammals, and both land and sea turtles as well. Want to help this great place?
The narrative takes place across two timelines: 1) Early in Stotts’ life, when he begins working with the Earth Conservation Corps to clean the trash-choked Anacostia River 2) Decades later, when he has become a Master Falconer and is taking on his son as a new apprentice.
These are the neighborhood raptors that make do, even thrive, by preying on the wildlife of an urban landscape. A generalist raptor that can keep on living in a human dominated landscape.
And not far from that scene was my personal highlight of the day, when my life Prairie Falcon swooped across the road, circled back, and came over the car only a few feet above my head, then perched with prey and let us all observe her clearly for several minutes. Images courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
I think most of you know how important our National Wildlife Refuge system is to me. After all, I have written several posts on wildlife conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Pass that my co-founder Ingrid Taylar and I have been encouraging for years. I will close with a video from Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.
The Shoebill serves as the symbol of the magnificent wildlife experiences Uganda offers visitors, which may seem a bit odd. This deeply weird bird represents the very tip of the spear of Uganda’s wildlife tourism sector, currently considered the country’s largest and most significant export. Malachite Kingfisher.
Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. At one point, standing in the middle of one of the first dikes, I was able to spot 17 Bald Eagles , a Peregrine Falcon , two American Kestrels , and Northern Harrier. The last weekend of January found me in the frosty Pacific Northwest, meeting some long over due work and family obligations.
No strangers to wildlife observation and birding, this American/Tica couple have been publishing handy pocket field guides for Costa Rica and other places since the 1990s. During the sun and heat of the day, Raptor Ridge also entertained by living up to its name in the form of close looks at King Vulture (!), King Vulture.
Up to 100 kg – possibly a female, my guide and a bear researcher from the wildlife charity Callisto, Yannis Tsanakis, tells me. At the same time, a Peregrine Falcon flies across the valley. Further reading: Central and European Wildlife by Gerard Gorman (Bradt Travel Guides). Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus.
Osborn, a passionate field biologist who participates to the core of her being three re-introduction projects aimed at saving three very different, endangered species: Peregrine Falcon, Hawaiian Crow (‘Alala)*, and California Condor. She never finds her long days observing her falcons, crows, and condors boring.
Fish and Wildlife Service. On the short list of wins for wildlife during the Bush II era, Short-tailed Albatross were officially listed as Endangered in 2000. North American Peregrine Falcons have also enjoyed an impressive population rebound in recent years. Brown Pelicans are not an unusual sight on the California coast.
Publications like Ranger Rick and National Geographic Kids can also satisfy their curiosity through their kid-friendly articles on birds and wildlife. Walks around the neighborhood or at a nearby wildlife sanctuary are good opportunities for kids to learn in fresh air. GAMES AND APPS. What kid does not love games? RESPECT NATURE.
Wildlife rehabilitators are a multi-tasking lot. I had a finder bring me a bird he’d correctly ID’d as a merlin – a not-too-common falcon – but when he brought him in, I could see he’d been trying to feed it BIRD SEED!” People walk in and hand you a box, which you know will contain the wildlife and some bizarre food item.
You are also probably aware that Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, one of the best urban birding sites in the world, is on my regular list of spots that I like to stop by and visit. I have seen some absolutely amazing birds at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. I can’t abide the thought of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge without a West Pond.
I am a wildlife artist based in the UK, I have never had a real job! Other than paint, the only other thing I do is organize and joint-lead wildlife tours, mostly in Africa and India. It teems with wildlife of every kind and is justifiably known as “The Jewel of the Kalahari”. My name is Ashley Boon.
JFK Airport has announced that it will not continue its contract with Falcon Environmental Services Inc. This announcement follows on the heels of the announcement a couple of weeks ago that the New York City Department of Sanitation is going to spend $175,000 a year to hire a biologist to track “wildlife hazards.&#
This natural space of almost a thousand acres – once a deforested area for extensive cattle ranching – has been restored for four decades, considering every detail in the aesthetics and functionality of the landscape, seeking the regeneration of bird and wildlife populations that inhabit the ecosystem.
The festival headquarters is located on the southwest side of Mission Bay, overlooking a marina with nearby Black-crowned Night Herons and frequently plays host to several falcon species, and a short walk to the San Diego River. This makes it a prime spot for bicycle-birding, our niche at the festival. San Diego has so much to see and do.
The house , along with being my home for all that time, was as fine a place to enjoy urban wildlife as any I have ever seen. I had the pleasure of having four yard birds that are globally threatened or near-threatened; the Kaka , Stitchbird , Saddlback and New Zealand Falcon.
Peregrine Falcon is certainly more elegant than Duck Hawk. Likewise the Peregrine Falcon is the Duck Hawk as mentioned above, the American Kestrel is the Sparrowhawk, and the Osprey is the Fish Hawk. photos courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Feel free to add any you know in the comments.
One of the highlights of the trip for me, and for some of the other media folks being hosted by the Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority, was a kayak tour of Tule Lake in the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. Our guide, former wildlife refuge manager Mike Goddard, pointed out a pair of Cinnamon Teal in flagrante delicto.
Weidensaul worked on the first research project in Argentina 24 years ago, and his memories of that time in the pampas are both a baseline for what has happened since, a mini-story in itself, and a tribute to Pete Bloom and Brian Woodbridge, the wildlife biologists who originated the study of Swainson’s Hawks in Butte Valley.
Miracle upon miracle, I actually ran into my college friend at the visitor center, and now that that logistical snafu was taken care of I could actually focus on where I was and, even better, what wildlife we could see. I have only ever seen one Peregrine Falcon, and the scoters and guillemot were lifers for me! White-crowned Sparrow.
Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America by Pete Dunne with Kevin T. Fish and Wildlife Service. This is one of those volumes that belongs on every birder’s shelf. Karlson, $26.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Feature image by Lee Karney, courtesy of the U.S.
Set in an abandoned oil refinery where wildlife is slowly regaining control save for the desperate attempts of golfers to retain all eighteen holes, industrial ghosts loom over rolling freshwater lakes bordered by fifty foot tall trees. Peregrine Falcon. For the most part, vultures occupied the sky. Little Blue Heron. Black Vulture.
Early this morning I was out on the south end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge looking at common shorebirds and hoping for rare shorebirds. This one was not as bright as the one previously found but still retains some breeding plumage.
I was lucky enough to get off work early the other day and thought I would head out toward Battle Creek Wildlife Area and try to get some better photos of the Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk I’ve seen on Dersch Road. Driving on these less traveled country roads is always relaxing and unhurried.
This guest blog was written by Mikal Deese, Wildlife Educator, Rehabilitator, and founder of On A Wing And A Prayer in Corrales, New Mexico. Since I didn’t have an old falconer on hand, I watched some YouTube videos. I knew imping was possible, but had never actually tried it.
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