Thursday, February 12, 2009

Proof of the Chelsea Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle Rehab, Audubon Says-- Species Wintering Ground Is Changing, and Koalas!


After many an effort, NYC Hawkwatcher Brett Odom gets the goods, if indirectly, on the Chelsea Red-tailed Hawk!

Hey Donna.
I now have some photographic proof, albeit fuzzy since it was taken with a camera phone, of the Chelsea red-tail. A coworker's husband works near 23rd and Broadway and was eating his lunch in Madison Square Park this past Tuesday when he saw a crowd gathering. He went over and realized that it was a red-tail also enjoying his lunch in the park. So he took a photo and shared it with me which I have attached. The white behind the hawk isn't snow, it's the feathers of the white pigeon that was lunch.

Regards,

Brett B. Odom


From Easterner Karen Anne Kolling with some tips on the video player--


Wow, Bald Eagles are big. This is a video about one being treated. The video player is odd, it doesn't seem to have a way to tell how far you are thru the video and it stopped in a couple of places without any indication of if it was done or not. You have to wait for the reporter to sign off to know it's over. KAK
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=6654132

Photo D.B.
Wisconsin and March snow with a Robin flock passing north.

Robins have been overwintering in Central Park for years.
From Catbird, a Midwesterner on the Tulsa Hawk Forum--
"I've not seen any robins over-winter here but friends have seen them."

In Illinois, robins no longer reliable sign of spring
By Michael Hawthorne Chicago Tribune staff reporter

Once a harbinger of spring in the Chicago area, the American robin increasingly hangs around for the winter, too.

Their familiar dawn-to-dusk caroling might not be as prevalent when snow is on the ground. But robins are among scores of bird species that are steadily moving northward as average temperatures across the United States get warmer according to an Audubon Society study released Tuesday.


More than half of the 305 species in North America are spending winters at least 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago, the study found.During the same period, the nation's average January temperature climbed by about 5 degrees Fahrenheit.


The purple finch moved the farthest, adopting wintering grounds along the latitude of Milwaukee, more than 330 miles north of the edge of its former range. Robins are wintering about 200 miles farther north than they did four decades ago.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-robins-spring,0,2518174.story

From contributor R. of Illinois--
It has been so hot in South Australia for over a week…40+ degrees Celsius everyday, very dry also. (Anyone detect a global warming thread here? D.B.) A guy at work lives at Maude. His wife sent him these photos of a little Koala which just walked into the back porch looking for a bit of heat relief. She filled up a bucket and this is what happened!








What a face! And this little guy is only having to deal with severe heat, that kind humans have turned into a day at the pool, unlike some of his relatives...


Bush fires are raging across parts of Australia, decimating everything in their paths, including wildlife. From R. of Illinois--

Picture of hope ... CFA officer David Tree stops to give Sam the koala a drink of water. Picture: Russell Vickery
Sam the Koala holds hands while having her water, in fact she has three bottles of water.
Courtesy of The Australian, Online Newspaper

INSPIRING LOVE STORY

Sam was taken to the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson. Her story was reminiscent of a koala named Lucky who survived the 2003 bushfires that destroyed about 500 homes and killed four people in the capital of Canberra. Lucky became a symbol of hope.

Colleen Wood from the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter that is caring for Sam and Bob said both koalas were doing well while other animals like possums, kangaroos, and wallabies were also starting to emerge from the debris.

She said Sam had suffered second degree burns to her paws and would take seven to eight months to recover while Bob had three burned paws with third degree burns and should be well enough to return to the bush in about four months.

"They keep putting their arms around each other and giving each other hugs.
They really have made friends and it is quite beautiful to see after all
this. It's been horrific," said Wood.

Story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090211/od_nm/us_fires_koala_1


Donegal Browne

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