Great Blue Heron cam

[geoffil]

Marley,
Thanks for posting the pictures. It was so interesting to see the nest from a human perspective.

[Lizbit]

Thank you for the wonderful photographs, Mr. Marley.

I've been spending lotslotlots of time with the web cam since I decided to become an ornithologist if the soldierdog thing doesn't work out. I have two bird books of my own now, too. One of them is by a man who studied ornithology at Cornell and later lived in my town and taught at our university. That makes Cornell seem closer to me, somehow.

I read (and sometimes write on) the chat thingie, too. I have noticed that a lot of kids get on there, where some of them promptly turn out to be obnoxious even if they aren't rude. I try very hard not to be obnoxious. A couple of days ago, I found out that two dumb girls were in the sixth grade. I was embarrassed for them and sixth graders everywhere. So, now I am less worried about anybody finding out how many feet I have than that I'm in sixth, too. I couldn't stand it if anybody lumped me in with them. I'm finishing up a bunch of Home School work this week so I can be promoted to seventh in a hurry.

I've looked at the hawk cam a couple of times, too, but mostly that proved to me that I am wading bird sort of dog, not a raptor.

[MarleysGh0st]

I went back to Sapsucker Woods, today.

This Canada Goose caught my attention.

Spoiler

Is he on guard duty?



Or is he pole sitting?

And one more photo to give a different perspective on the Great Blue Herons.

Spoiler

Are the terrible sky monsters gone yet?

[christie1111]

Glad all is well in the Sapsucker Woods.

Lots of drama elsewhere in the bird world.

The eaglet that was taken from the nest and then returned spent quite a bit of time without Mom or Dad showing up which had a bunch of people concerned they would have to take him back out to raise him, which was not what they wanted to do. And then the Mom and Dad came back together. Apparently they are now trying to make up for lst time and are stuffing him with food. LOL!

And then the red tailed hawk on a NYC ledge had gotten his foot stuck in a plastic bag (the handle part) that the parent had brought back to the nest (decorating gone a little extreme) and everyone was panicking that he wouldn't be able to get free. Somehow he unstuck himself. I think the bag is still there though so the two babies should be careful.

[MarleysGh0st]

Cornell has posted a new time-lapse video of the Heron dad protecting the eggs through the snowstorm on April 23. If anything says dedication, this does!

[christie1111]

Good Dad!

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

The red tailed hawks at U of Wisconsin keep inviting squirrels over for lunch

http://metobs.ssec.wisc.edu/aoss/camera ... dupes=true

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/05/lu ... irrel.html

[MarleysGh0st]

That pile of chicks is getting harder and harder for Mom to brood on them!

Spoiler

[MarleysGh0st]

Incredible how much the chicks can grow in one day, when you're not constantly watching them!

Reviewing the tweets of the day, there was one event that I'm particularly sorry to have missed.

4:45 PM 5/18: Dad serves a live goldfish!! A few other fish are quickly eaten. Finally, a chick swallows the goldfish.

That poor, tortured goldfish! Delivered, against all odds, from the belly of the beast, only to have five more beasts scrabbling for the chance to devour him again!

[Lizbit]

Incredible how much the chicks can grow in one day, when you're not constantly watching them!

Reviewing the tweets of the day, there was one event that I'm particularly sorry to have missed.

4:45 PM 5/18: Dad serves a live goldfish!! A few other fish are quickly eaten. Finally, a chick swallows the goldfish.

That poor, tortured goldfish! Delivered, against all odds, from the belly of the beast, only to have five more beasts scrabbling for the chance to devour him again!

It was awesome, Mr. Marley. I was there to see it. I laffed and laffed. The thing is that nobody seemed to want to eat that fish. Everytime somebody touched it, the fish would wiggle, and that freaked all of them out. Then all the chicks looked up at dad, as if to say, "Fix it, daddy, or get us some real food." Finally, Mr. Pig Boy #1 got a hold of it, and it flopped. He finally swallowed it, but I think it gave him a wiggly, floppy tummy ache. Nobody else was hungry after that.

You can go over there and ask in the chat box for a link to Miss Blackster's video. It's worth watching. And laffing, unless you feel reallyreally sorry for the fish.

I owe you one free foot therapy for telling me about that place, Mr. Marley. I like it so much, and I feel like all the baby herons are my very own puppies.

Love,
Lizbit

[MarleysGh0st]

I'm glad you saw it, Lizbit!

I guess this counts as their first lesson in what it'll be like when they have to catch their own fish!

[MarleysGh0st]

Here's that live goldfish video that you mentioned, Lizbit. The video is about 5 minutes long; it begins with general activity and grabbing Mom's (Dad's?) beak. The goldfish is regurgitated a little before the 3 minute mark.



"You see, children, grownup food MOVES!"

Hmmm, the youtube tags don't seem to display the video. Here's the plain URL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIZQz0qr ... e=youtu.be

[christie1111]

So which one of the bagies ate the gold fish? Looked like one of the early ones like #1 or 2.

[silvercamaro]

So which one of the bagies ate the gold fish? Looked like one of the early ones like #1 or 2.

Lizbit tells me that it was definitely 1 or 2. The two biggest ones are almost impossible to tell apart. There was only a 2-hour difference in their hatching, so they are virtually the same size.

Or so she says. I believe her.

Lizbit also was tickled pink yesterday when a nice lady told her that her observations had contributed to the site.

[MarleysGh0st]

It's getting hard just to distinguish Fiver, now, much less to tell the first four apart. And when they stand up, this afternoon, have they gotten tall!

[christie1111]

So which one of the bagies ate the gold fish? Looked like one of the early ones like #1 or 2.

Lizbit tells me that it was definitely 1 or 2. The two biggest ones are almost impossible to tell apart. There was only a 2-hour difference in their hatching, so they are virtually the same size.

Or so she says. I believe her.

Lizbit also was tickled pink yesterday when a nice lady told her that her observations had contributed to the site.

You go Lizbit! What a great ornithologist you are becoming!

I do find it amuzing when they call #5 a 'runt' when he is a whole week behind the others and just younger. I hope he grows up to be the biggest!

[herjosie]

So which one of the bagies ate the gold fish? Looked like one of the early ones like #1 or 2.

Lizbit tells me that it was definitely 1 or 2. The two biggest ones are almost impossible to tell apart. There was only a 2-hour difference in their hatching, so they are virtually the same size.

Or so she says. I believe her.

Lizbit also was tickled pink yesterday when a nice lady told her that her observations had contributed to the site.

You go Lizbit! What a great ornithologist you are becoming!

I do find it amuzing when they call #5 a 'runt' when he is a whole week behind the others and just younger. I hope he grows up to be the biggest!

thank you miss 1111. i am also the littlest one in my family, but that does not mean i let my big brothers get away with anything. when i yip, they ask how high.

[herjosie]

i like to watch the baby herons too. mommie lets me sit on her lap to see and hear them. she did not let me sign up on the site so i cannot talk like lizbit can, but i get to read the messages that other people write. i am learning a lot. i like birds but the ones i see on my walk never let me get close enough to play with them. i can really see the baby herons up close.

[MarleysGh0st]

I do find it amuzing when they call #5 a 'runt' when he is a whole week behind the others and just younger. I hope he grows up to be the biggest!

Some negative types come along to the chat and predict that Fiver is doomed because of the more aggressive big siblings. In fact, while Fiver is still smaller, s/he's growing just as quickly as the others.

And Mom and Dad haven't lost a chick, yet!

[MarleysGh0st]

The Herons get all my viewing time, so the Red-tailed Hawks get ignored. But here's a video Cornell posted that rivals the "live goldfish" incident.

Warning to ES: This video might strike a little close to home!

[christie1111]

The babies are huge now!

They must have grown inches over the weekend.

Lizbit is spending quite a bit of time there even making jokes with the other posters!

[MarleysGh0st]

Yep, they're looking like their parents, now!

I've seen how much time Lizbit spends over there. I stopped over at Sapsucker Woods yesterday afternoon (on the way to see Dark Shadows) and gave the chicks her regards. I also met one of the other chatters there (Eaglefeathers, or some spelling variant thereof) who had come some distance with her husband to see the herons. I think Sapsucker Woods has had a significant increase in visitors, lately, just from the webcam/chatroom.

[Lizbit]

I met Mr. Dr. Lab Director on-line yesterday! (Not Charles, but the boss of Charles.) I was so excited. I told him I wanted to come to Cornell. I asked a really good question about the herons, too. He said so.

So I've been thinking. I may have to wear my camouflage hoodie all the time, with the hood over my ears. They seem to have some old-fashioned, outrageous policy about keeping 4-footers away from the pond. That's not right! All 4-footers are not mean to birds. Sheesh. I am a Citizen Scientist! Anyway, if nobody sees my ears, and if I ask more good questions, I'm sure I can fit in and make contributions to bird Science.

I asked my mom if I could go to Cornell after I finish Home School High School. She gave me one of those goofy 2-footer-mom answers: "Let's wait and see, Elizabeth." I am a positive thinker, so I think that means yes.

[MarleysGh0st]

I asked my mom if I could go to Cornell after I finish Home School High School. She gave me one of those goofy 2-footer-mom answers: "Let's wait and see, Elizabeth." I am a positive thinker, so I think that means yes.

That answer also means "make a note of the question to be sure that you remind mom about it later!"

[christie1111]

Lizbit, what question did you ask yesterday and what was the answer?