Barn Owl Update

[Sangye]

It's been kind of a disgusting morning watching the cams. In the barn owl nest, the largest baby was tossing around a corpse that looked like a dried up mouse. He was taking bites every so often. In the red-tailed hawk nest, a viewer noted that there is "1/3 pigeon, 1/2 bunny and a whole chipmunk." All clearly visible. I'm having flashbacks to all the Wild Kingdom shows I watched as a kid, where they'd let you fall in love with a beautiful baby zebra before showing a lion chasing it down and killing it.

[annekat]

It's been kind of a disgusting morning watching the cams. In the barn owl nest, the largest baby was tossing around a corpse that looked like a dried up mouse. He was taking bites every so often. In the red-tailed hawk nest, a viewer noted that there is "1/3 pigeon, 1/2 bunny and a whole chipmunk." All clearly visible. I'm having flashbacks to all the Wild Kingdom shows I watched as a kid, where they'd let you fall in love with a beautiful baby zebra before showing a lion chasing it down and killing it.

I guess I'm glad I've been gone all day! I'll check in on them tomorrow morning, I think.

[Al]

It's been kind of a disgusting morning watching the cams. In the barn owl nest, the largest baby was tossing around a corpse that looked like a dried up mouse. He was taking bites every so often. In the red-tailed hawk nest, a viewer noted that there is "1/3 pigeon, 1/2 bunny and a whole chipmunk." All clearly visible. I'm having flashbacks to all the Wild Kingdom shows I watched as a kid, where they'd let you fall in love with a beautiful baby zebra before showing a lion chasing it down and killing it.

Ah, the old "theodicy problem", that drives philosophers up the wall and chases some, like Charles Darwin, away from a career in the cloth. Framing it as a non-religious question, the issue is: Why do bad things happen in what should be a perfect world? Why, that is to ask, does a world that should be beautiful in all ways also allow unspeakably cruel things to happen? I can think of no "satisfying" answer other than to back off and say that it all depends on one's perspective. I call this the "for-all-the-yowling-there-is -no-shortage-of-kittens explanation: The pains of Tom and Thomasina Cat individually means not a whit, if your interest is in providing the world with more cats. Howbeit, please note that, while this might provide some intellectual comfort, I also have my parochial sense of aesthetics, and can't quite buy into that view emotionally. I always root for the zebra.

Al

[drz]

Yesterday was good day for my bird watching on a short walk to lake a block away and around my building. The baby diamond dove has only some feathers on its wings but is learning to feed on seed in the aviary cage. Mamma duck is still sitting on her eggs in the window well but the geese hatched 8 goslings on the island in the small lake and had their fuzz balls swimming around the lake between mamma and pappa. For the first time I saw a pelican on the small lake. Strange since I doubt there are any fish in it. There were also a half dozen small herons (green ones) sitting the threes along with the two hundred plus white egrets that roost there. It was a beautiful even to walk around and even with my very limited hearing i could enjoy the robins singing.

[annekat]

It was a beautiful even to walk around and even with my very limited hearing i could enjoy the robins singing.

It sure makes a difference this year now having 2 good hearing aids, as opposed to only one or none last spring. I can hear the birds quite well now. I'm glad you can hear them well enough to enjoy them, but wish it was even better!

[Sangye]

The baby eagles are huge. The eldest is practicing flapping its wings and stretching them. It also has the beginnings of tail feathers! The wingspan is impressive.

[Debbie C]

I looked at the baby owls for the first time in awhile and the ones face I could see looked deformed..it had a face only a mother could love. I don't know what the others looked like ,they had there back towards the camers. When I checked in on the eagles it was like the camera had been moved ..it was more of a distant view...couldn't really see in the nest. And I haven't been back to Africa,is that still up and running?

[Sangye]

The baby owls are just ghastly. LOL They went through a slightly-less-than-ghastly stage last week but that didn't last. They all look the same, so if they're turning around to face the camera, brace yourself.

The eagle cam does a general scan of the area every morning. It goes on for a few minutes. I don't like to watch it because it worsens the vertigo. It does give you a good idea of how high up the nest is, though.

[Al]

This isn't about bard owls, and there are no videos. But this is an interesting article for armchair birders (and, I suspect, most weggies are relatively skilled in some armchair mode...! At least, I am....

Migratory birds: They bring the songs of spring | Local News | The Seattle Times

Al

[Rose]

Check this site out. 3 live streaming cameras covering 3 waterholes and it has the option to view all waterholes at the same time. The fourth camera was recently set up to film a young female cheetah giving birth to 3 cubs and this happened on May 2nd live!! The plan is to constantly monitor the cubs and watch them grow. Enjoy!!!

Africam | A Live 24x7 Interactive African Wildlife Safari