The Wildlife that surrounds us part2

Swamp birds

Some moron banded a black-crowned night heron with a gray zip tie. The leg is not swollen but the band is tight enough to prevent growth. It seems to like the bush beside the "do not feed the birds" sign on the edge of the marsh.

We think we might catch it with a net. I'm trying to find out how to contact the marsh manager.

These birds are found in a lot of places; they're large and look just like your grandpa on a slow day The ones here in Hawaii hunt in the mornings and evenings, not just at night.

In other news, I also grabbed a stumbling moorhen--on the federal endangered species list. Moorhens are hilarious, with long-toed acid-green feet and bright red faces. Although they're characterized as "secretive," the bunch that hangs on the edge of the marsh behind the vegetarian grocery store will peck food from your hand! The stumbling one, though, was pretty nervous, and I had to sneak up on her. I thought she'd injured a leg, as she was scissor-walking. The vet thinks it's nerve damage from botulism, which is common in the swamp. There's only two places on the island authorized to treat these species. (ETA: As it turns out, the vet was wrong and I was right it was a leg break, up high, the bird was transported by the division of natural resources to another clinic for treatment, I'm so happy.)

A milestone: My first time ever being crapped on by an endangered species!



This site shows both types of birds and a few others from the marshland. He's a better photographer. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/14/793378/-Wetlands-Birds-of-Hawaii-A-Photo-Diary

!!! What IS that? Is that a fish????

Debra said:

!!! What IS that? Is that a fish????

Click to expand...

Chinook salmon, yes

The crowned one said:

Chinook salmon, yes

Click to expand...

Wow! Fantastic photo!

Yesterday while baking I heard my favourite divine chirping, looked out the window, and there he was, our regular Tui.

He is a big fat Tui and his colours are gorgeous. He comes to feed on the nectar in the flowers on our Rata tree.

This is the first semi-decent photo I have managed of him, even if it was thru my filthy kitchen window. The blurryness of the photo is cos of the dirty window.

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Oh, a Tui... that takes me back to NZ

TCO, your photos are spectacular!!!

I finally have some, and really qite decent, too, for a change, taken in BC, Alaska and Alberta on our recent trip... what awesome creatures you share your part of the world with.
The moose is one of my favourite shots, ever, and the bear, I promise we didn't harass him... it was just ambling along the roadside grazing, and we slowed, wound down the window, and zoomed in from a few metres... beautiful, isn't he/she??? The area where we saw a caribou herd, just outside of Fort Nelson or Fort St John (???, think gas pipes) was outstandingly beautiful... such colours!!!

meanwhile, closer to home...

yesterday we took our niece, nephew and great niece (???) down to the waterhole on our creek... Finally got some almost recognizable shots of one of the local platypuses... they are slippery little suckers, seriously!

That moose is beautiful!!!

A friend of mine has suddenly got 3 white doves visiting their area. No-one is sure where they came from. We lifted the blinds and I managed to get some photos thru the window of them sitting on the water tank. View attachment 60878

And one posed for the camera (it actually wanted a feed and was trying to act cute)

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And all day today I have been visited by ducks, they even climbed aboard my boat....

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What wonderful photos. A platypus, for heaven's sake!

Baylys, those doves are likely from someone's dovecote. They're too clean to be feral, and if they're posing coyly and wanting food, they're domesticated. I don't see any bands, so it might be someone who didn't anticipate that they'd get free. Local newspaper might have a "lost pet" column? Or do you have an on-line Craigslist-type site where people might advertise if they'd lost their birds? We see that here fairly often.

So, my wildlife news is that I have been involved with rehabilitating or rescuing 85 birds since I got suckered into wild bird rehab back in May--mostly simple first aid to injured feet. A few died, but most are better than they were before. I'm afraid the pictures I'm taking to document it for a web site on bird rescue mostly involve closeups of icky bird feet

But here's a photo of my mentor Mr. Smith rescuing a juvenile shearwater. These nocturnal sea birds have extremely weak legs--they're adapted for paddling, not walking--so they can't walk when they mistakenly land on the street. This happens frequently when the young ones are getting their bearings--they should be navigating by starlight, and the lights on houses and streets confuse them. So they see a big flat gray expanse that looks just like the ocean! and plop down and then flop around helplessly and if you don't pick 'em up, they get squished by cars or chewed by dogs. They can't recover on their own. Shearwaters away from the ocean are a real "go right now" emergency. They're easy to pick up, although they give a mean bite. Usually they just need a little rest in a warm place and some food and can be released.

Anyway, I love this photo. The juveniles all have mohawks.

He's gorgeous!!!