Reader John Pears sent several bird photos and an explanation:
A recent trip to the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire gave me an opportunity to photograph Red Kite (Milvus milvus) which are a terrific conservation success story. Here is an extract from the UK’s RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) website which tells the story better than I could and there are a couple of the photos I took [JAC: I used one of the two]. I also attach shots of a Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) and Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) which strayed into my viewfinder.
I’ll just give one excerpt from the RSBP red kite conservation page (my emphasis):
The red kite is subject to the longest continuous conservation project in the world. The first Kite Committee was formed in 1903 by concerned individuals appalled at the continuing destruction of kites, who initiated the first nest protection schemes. The RSPB is thought to have been involved continuously since 1905.
The rarity of the red kite made it a prime target for egg collectors and bounty hunters, who robbed up to a quarter of nests each year. More sophisticated nest protection initiatives during the 1950s and 1960s succeeded in reducing the proportion of nests robbed, and this is no longer regarded as a serious problem for red kites.
In 1980s the red kite was one of only three globally threatened species in the UK, and so it was a high priority for conservation efforts.
The rest of the page will tell you how it has been bred in captivity and reintroduced into England and Scotland.
The Eurasian magpie:
The common buzzard:
Reader Diana MacPherson sent us a goldfinch, which of course she’s anthropomorphized!:
This goldfinch (aka American goldfinch, eastern goldfinch (Spinus tristis) kept trying to fly into my kitchen, but as soon as he approached the sliding glass doors, he realized he couldn’t go there and pulled back. He is a young one, I suspect. His contemplative pose here makes him look like he’s in deep thought, wondering what that invisible force he keeps running into must be.
Finally, one of mine: the only wildlife I get to see these days. It’s a mother squirrel (an eastern gray squirrel: Sciurus carolinensis) who, along with the juvenile (who might be her baby) is doing a number on my stash of seeds and nuts. Here she’s nomming a peanut.
I sometimes wonder if this is one of the squirrels I previously fed as infants, and wish that there were some way to mark them. Nevertheless, I am proud of the fact that they’re all in good nick, as you can see from this photo. Look at that fluffy white tummy!
I have to fatten these puppies up now so they’ll make it through the winter.
That squirrel has an extra fluffy belly!
With such a large supply of noms, I would expect a good part of it to end up in the ground. Looking forward to spring images of bright yellow sunflowers and thickets of peanut trees. 😎
I figure he’s wondering why God watches every sparrow fall but apparently is unconcerned with goldfinches.
Damn. Check. Box.
Red Kites were so common at one time that Shakespeare refers to London as “The city of kites and crows” (Coriolanus, Act 4, Scene 5)
The Red Kite gets a mention in this Monbiot article reporting on one of the more bizarre bits of anti-life legislation ever proposed outside of the US. Human conquest of the biosphere has a tendency to click in only one direction, like a ratchet, but has rarely needed the force of law behind it.
And thanks again to whoever recommended Monbiot’s website the other day!
That common buzzard is very pretty, but I grew up in Virginia where we called these birds “buzzards”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_vulture
I was thinking the same thing.
I was going to say the same thing about buzzards in Texas. I’ve only heard the word refer to the turkey vulture and black vulture. I never heard it refer to a bird of prey.
Buteo Buteo to be precise !
Yeah, I had no idea…I too equated buzzards w/ vultures. They’re nothing of the sort.
“Buzzard” is the word used in England (and Europe, I guess) for Buteo buteo, a widespread hawk. It’s only in North America (where we don’t have that hawk) that it’s applied to vultures. Lots of people snark about it being “incorrect”, but it’s just like saying “robin” for a thrush (Turdus migratorius) or several birds of the genus Petroica, birds that are utterly unrelated to the UK’s Erithacus rubecula, a tiny flycatcher. Or for that matter calling Cervus canadensis an “elk”.
Very nice shots!
Doing the requisite Chigagology, that must mean the wild Albatross has slipped its moorings!?
Chicagology.
Thanks for the photos and the Kite information. A story about successful nature conservation is always appreciated.
Hopefully the Finch doesn’t hurt itself! I hate it when birds fly into the window, esp. if they knock themselves out; easy fodder for our canines…or should that be c*nines? Sorry PCC, trying to pull a fast one on you. 😉
And keep those squirrels fed and healthy! Maybe one day you’ll be able to give one a belly rub on that fluffy white belly.
There are at least 2 ways birds fly into windows–at full speed, when they either can’t see the glass or are being chased by predators, and by fluttering up and down the window in question when they see their reflection. The latter doesn’t harm them, though it drives some people nuts.
Great pictures, as always.
When I started reading the sentence about fattening up the squirrels I thought, given the previous post, that you were going to finish the sentence (ironically) with killing/eating them. 🙂
Great photos. The magpie pic is quite striking, love the black and white.
My goldfinches must have started migrating, I haven’t seen them for a week. Nice shot Diana.
Good to see one of Jerry’s squirrels again, was wondering if they were still hanging around.
Where do you live, Taskin? Goldfinches where I am don’t migrate but they get their winter colours which are much more dull.
When in Mongolia, we were explained that one of the standard local greetings (between the herders on the plains) translates as “I hope your animals are fattening up nicely for winter”.
So there’s to you, Jerry :-)!
What a sweet squirrel portrait! 🙂
Amazing BIF shots, John!
Great goldfinch capture, Diana. What is it sitting on?
The finch is sitting on the stock of one of the canna lilies potted on my deck.
Looks like they have interesting seed pods.
Yeah, that’s what is left after they flower.
Nice!
I need to garden more…