Beats the rhythm of a distant forest
Etched upon its broken heart
The faded memory of flight.
---Ginni Bly, poet (b. 1945)
A new way to do birdwatching
Turns out there are lots more than previously thought.
by Gary Young
Shadows passed over the mesa, and I saw six eagles sail across the valley. They rode thermals until they were almost out of sight, then dove, and swung back in circles over my head. The air seemed insufficient to their size—one eagle is enough to fill the sky. Two of the birds veered toward another, and when they met, shook their open beaks and tumbled for a moment before swinging back into an easy glide. They made graceful, abrupt turns, and when they did, the sun hit their backs like a mirror and reflected a fierce copper flash. The sky behind them was so severe that spots of white light began to dance in my field of vision. I don't think I could have watched them any longer if they'd stayed, but they drifted off, with no other purpose, it seemed, than to fly.
"The coolest bird"
Even Eagle Scouts don't get one.
Court rules eagle feathers are for tribal members only.
Samuel Ray Wilgus, a non-Indian resident of Utah, was arrested in June 1998 for possessing 141 feathers of bald and golden eagles.
The federal Eagle Act bans the possession of eagle feathers or parts except for certain uses, including "the religious purposes
of Indian tribes."
Federal regulations provide the exception only to members of recognized tribes who obtain permits and feathers from the National Eagle Repository in Commerce City, which stores feathers and parts harvested from dead eagles by wildlife authorities.
Demand exceeds supply, and the waits for feathers or eagle parts are long. The feathers and parts aren't transferable, except when handed down from a generation to the next, by one Indian to another.
Signs of Spring
I heard my first Meadowlark of the season while walking on Sunday.
Kindness in sports?
In Hawaii, Friday night football games have been moved to the daytime. The reason? The stadium lights were confusing seabirds and causing them to crash to the ground.
I heard my first Meadowlark of the season singing on Easter Sunday.
There are now TWO fluffy baby eaglets in the Fort St. Vrain nest.
One hatched and one more possible
The Fort St. Vrain Eagle Cam that I watch every spring now shows that one of the bald eagle eggs has hatched. A second egg could hatch at any time.Here is a shot of the mama bird on the nest.
Hoot! Hoot!
Flammulated Owl
I was intrigued by the name of this bird, and wanted to know what "flammulated" meant. (I thought it was such a funny word.) Turns out it is from the French for "flame" and means "reddish colored". I don't see much reddish color in looking at these photos, but it is a cute owl.
Click on the "call" links at the bottom of the web page to hear some neat owl hootings
The two bald eagles have returned to their nest at the Fort St. Vrain power plant, but so far no eggs.
Earnest and Julio Gallo use them...
Want to keep the birds from eating all the grapes in your vineyard? Try a falcon.
There will be no pictures of eagles and their developing babies this year from the Fort St. Vrain eaglecam. This was posted on April 17th:
Sadly we have lost all three of the baby eagles in a spring snow storm. We believe something happened to one of the adults and the remaining adult had to leave the nest to find food. Unfortunately, the baby eagles were not able to stay warm and probably perished during the night. We will continue to look into the cause of this and for any signs of the adults.
I had a Northern Flicker pecking away at the suet ball on the bird feeder this snowy morning. Here is a picture.
