Kestrel Falcon

A few days before The break this fun Christmas visitor arrived on the nest! It's been an awesome 7 years of the robin families, but this has been so fun! At first, we weren't sure what he was, but I googled all sorts of baby birds and figured he must be a falcon. I asked a friend's hubby who is a Falconer and he confirmed that it was a Kestrel. Off and on over the 2 weeks, he has showed up every night around the same time, especially on the coldest nights. He returned on windy nights for about a month!

Birds in Spring

So it has been about one month, and somebody is back sitting on the nest!

 When she flies off, I take a peek inside and there are 4 little eggs. I did not get the first 3 cleaned out, but I'm hoping she did before she laid these new eggs!

 She's been on the nest day and night for the past 3 days. I'm thinking the time may be soon!

Daddy is even out in the big tree out front. The pair may be getting ready for their full time parenting job soon!

 Funny.....she's watching me watching her!

She takes a quick break, so I swoop in get a picture....still 4 perfect little eggs, but they've been rotated and they are further towards the front of the nest now.

 

May 4, 2013  The nest has been abandoned. I read up on this, and it might be because the eggs are not fertilized. For whatever reason, I'm hoping someone else will roost here again!

First Signs of the new arrival! Peeps #1

This afternoon when I noticed mama out on the tree branch, I snapped the first picture, still 3 little eggs. Tonight after we got home from eating dinner out I had to make one more nest check. Sure enough, it looks like Peeps #1 is making its way out of the egg tonight!

Patrolling the Nest

Still 3 perfect little eggs in the nest. 
Keeping a close watch on this little family. 
Can't wait until they hatch!

Just had to take a peek in the nest when I saw mama fly away for a minute. Still 3 perfect little turquoise eggs......it won't be long. Stay tuned for more updates on the new little family! 

 

Oh Happy Day!

 Almost exactly 4 years ago some of you watched in amazement with us the adventures of Fauntleroy and Penny and the family of peeps that hatched on our front porch. It took place from May 6th-May 22nd, with a final visit on Memorial Day. You can click back on this blog. The first pictures looks a lot like this one, plus one egg!  In those weeks, I was totally occupied with checking on the nest morning and night, watching their every move and changes with those little eggs. Whenever mama left the nest I would take pictures and post them here on my blog. It was such a fun thing to observe. I know my family wondered if I could hold down my job. I was totally consumed by my birds! I never took the nest down after they flew the coop, secretly hoping that maybe they would return, but four years went by and each spring I would watch for any signs. Last week, April 24, I was home sick. I had noticed some action out on the front porch. The nest looked somewhat bigger, like a new addition had been added on! I held my camera up, snapped a picture and sure enough, three little blue eggs! Not too much later I caught sight of some fluttering and noticed someone sitting on the nest! Here we go again! I like to think this is one of the little ones who found their way back home to a safe place to raise a family! I'll be posting regularly, if you want to follow this story!  

Swallows leave our "Capistrano"

The Swallows have Flown the Coop!

This is day one of flying lessons.....

We watched them fly from the wire to the shop and back again.....

They would perch on the ledge of the shop door.....

The cats enjoyed watching the show too!

The deer were also out and about in the onion fields...

Cutest Little Sock Birdies!

I think I may have found a new project! I thought these were the cutest little sock birdies ever!

I don't have a pattern for them, but how hard can they be?

Protecting My Geese!

Mandy and I came home to be followed in the driveway by hunters in a pick-up asking if we minded if they go down in the field and shoot the geese! You can just imagine what I wanted to say, but I just said, "I'm sorry, this is private property and there's NO HUNTING allowed!" How could anyone shoot these majestic birds? It's almost as if they know they are on a "sanctuary," huge flocks of them flew in this weekend and bedded down in the field--fun to watch through the binoculars.

Ice Skating Geese By Wes Waddell

A friend managed to capture these ice skaters just as they were coming in for a landing. He's a pilot, so understands the aerodynamics of it all! I asked if I could post them to my blog.

Thanks for sharing Wes!

Here's one from Brody---I'm guessing Canadian Geese live in Alaska too!

A Lesson From Geese

Once again my trusty feathered friends helped me out in a big way with my final oral defense of my case study. The case study I was given dealt primarily with instructional supervision. There were 4 teachers in the case in question that were exhibiting sub par performance when it came to formal and informal evaluations. My task was to review the research and apply the most up to date information in creating and proposing a plan of action. The final document was just under 150 pages. Once the written document was approved it was on to present and defend my stand orally. I was able to use this analogy, a lessons from geese to clinch it! I even ordered geese lapel pins for those on my panel and our school board members. It was a success! I graduate this month with my Master's in Educational Leadership, thanks to my geese!

A Leadership Lesson from ……….. GEESE!

If you ever happen to see geese heading south for the winter – flying along in “V” formation you might consider what science has discovered about why they fly that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew by itself. Any goose that falls out of formation suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into position to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back in the set and another goose moves up to fly point. And the geese in the back honk to encourage those in front to keep up their speed. Finally, when a goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen teammate until it is able to fly or it dies. Only then do they launch out on their own – or with another formation to catch back up with their group.
The lesson: Like geese, people who share a common direction and sense of community, who take turns doing demanding jobs, and who watch out for one another, can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of their teammates. Geese are defined by how they stay connected with one another. Successful teams – and excellent leaders are defined the same way.

(From: 7 Moments That Define Excellent Leaders, Lee J. Colan, www.walkthetalk.com)

Cockatoo Story

A friend sent me this story. It made her think of me and my Peeps Family! I loved it and decided it needed to be posted on my Birdie Blog!

A Story of Love, Compassion, Friendship & Loyalty

About eight years ago a wild Australian Sulphur Crested Cockatoo flew into a car and broke its wing. The motorist took it to the Vet in Nerang, Queensland, who had to amputate the wing. My daughter wanted a pet, so we decided to adopt her - for which we needed a National Parks and Wildlife permit, and kept her in a cage outside where she was often visited by wild Cockatoos. One of the things that impressed us was how she would push lettuce leaves through the bars of the cage, offering food to visitors when they came by. Last Sunday 23 July 2006, she again had a visitor.

As usual he spent a lot of time sitting on the cage with a tamper proof latch.

There was a lot of talking and grooming. A bloke has to look presentable when courting a bird!


Things got interesting when he approached the front door. . ..

The clever fellow figured out how to undo the tamper proof latch!

He opened the door for a lot of mutual grooming and food sharing...

Oooh that's nice! Scratch a bit more on that side, dear...

He was not shy to get into the cage and would go in and out a number of times.

They mated!

Later on, the whole extended family came visiting but the special mate was back every day!!

We leave the door open during the day but if we forget, it doesn't matter - cockatoos have intelligence that rival primates. Because she has only one wing, she stays inside or just sits on top. Guess what happened next...
The Babies:

At first it seemed as though he was annoyed because she did not fly off with him and he would squawk a lot. He soon came to understand that she could not fly so he just stayed. However, she was no longer returning to her cage. The two of them would stay in the trees in our garden and because the yard is well fenced, they were safe from dogs but the neighbour's cat is not kept indoors at night and we often have to chase it away. Chances are the cat would come off second best in a confrontation with a Cockatoo but at night cats remain a danger because they could stalk a sleeping bird on the ground.

Cockatoos make their nests in hollow logs but we noticed the male hard at work digging a hole under a clump of Lilly Pilly trees. We put down a hollow log for them but they just ignored us. The nest he dug was a hole with a short tunnel leading off to where she laid her eggs. Once there were eggs in the nest, the male became extremely aggressive. You better not get near the nest or he will take chunks of flesh from your foot. It was difficult to take these pictures because I literally had to steal them while running away from the male.

We kept a vigil to see how things were progressing. They took turns incubating the eggs and covering the tunnel. After about three weeks, the eggs hatched. Have a careful look at this picture and try to spot the bit of yellow fluff.

Whenever Mum & Dad Cockatoo leave the nest, we try to get a look but you have to do it while running because Dad Cockatoo is chasing you!

Second lap running around the Lilly Pilly trees!

Well, I hope his mother thinks he is pretty and eventually I might think so too but at the moment, both of them just look like pink balls with a bit of yellow fluff.

How's that for a true Aussie Love Story???? Definitely has the aaawwwww factor!

How's that for a true Aussie Love Story???? Definitely has the aaawwwww factor!

Thanks to these bird lovers in Australia for sharing this neat Cockatoo story!

The Honkers Are Headed South!

I love living near the Snake River and the Dam, along the southern migration route for the Canadian geese. Huge flocks fly over head in "V" formations, honking their way to milder winter climates. Some of them do stay in our area year round, but most just make a pitstop in the fields around our house where grain was planted last summer. I haven't seen any pelicans lately.