Western Bluebird Reintroduction, they fly the birds there!
"American Bird Conservation (http://www.abcbirds.org)/ and a coalition of partners are working to reintroduce Western Bluebirds to the San Juan Islands in Washington State. The project is off to a great start with nesting pairs returning to the island. See www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/stories/081208.html for more details."
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Male Eastern Bluebird
"Wally the Eastern Bluebird eats a mealworm, then takes one back to his babies. He and his mate Nora are among the many birds that frequent our feeding station this 2009 season. A couple of days after this video was taken, Wally brought two fledglings nearby, and carried mealworms to them, like the good daddy he is." Video July 7, 2009
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More Eastern Bluebirds:
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Attracting Mountain Bluebirds
"To attract mountain bluebirds, place bird house boxes in large expanses of land or large farms that are between 5,000 and 10,000 feet in elevation. Attract the mountain variety of bluebird with information from an active Audubon member in this free video on bluebirds".
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How to attract bluebirds to your backyard to eat and to raise their families using mealworms:
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Now, for an ugly bird:
California Condor
"The California Condor is North America's largest flying bird, with an impressive wingspan of over nine feet and a weight of over 20 pounds. Condors are long-lived birds; they can survive up to 60 years in the wild. They become sexually mature at six or seven years of age, and lay only one egg per year.
By 1987, habitat degradation, poisoning, and shooting had almost extirpated the California Condor in the wild, and so the 22 individuals remaining were captured for captive breeding programs. These programs were successful, and brought the California Condor back from the brink of extinction; condors are now being reintroduced into the wild each year. Unfortunately, lead poisoning, mostly from spent ammunition, continues to be a major threat to these reintroduced populations.
Besides lead poisoning, condors are at risk from collisions with power lines. Ravens and Golden Eagles can also pose a threat to eggs and nestlings respectively. Reintroduced populations are still dependent on human intervention for their continued survival."
Learn more about ABC's efforts to prevent lead poisoning of condors and other birds and support our efforts
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Yesterday, I said it too soon, " Nothing going on today".
I wanted to have a quiet day just trying to get some rest and relaxation, but it didn't work out that way. "Best laid plans of mice and men...."
Ray showed up, unexpectedly, and we did some caulking in the cargo trailer, I helped him because his back was hurting. We also repaired the dead bolt lock on the front door of the trailer. We had to drill new holes for the screws, and move the striker plate down. Now, at least, someone can lock themselves in.
The cable for internet and TV went out in the morning. I called them, but just got a recording saying that a wide spread area was out. So I went about vacuuming, sanitizing litter boxes, washing critter blankies, and other laundry, etc. The animals knew something was different, as it was so quiet.
Misty had managed to get through the maze to Bobcat's box, and left litter crumbs at the entrance. That upset Bobcat, so she went back to the old litter box place and poopied there. She is 15 years old, so I gave in, sanitized everything, and moved it back to the old place where Misty can't get at it. It means more work for me there, but less than the new place is causing. So Dizzy-Dick was right, you can't fool clever old Misty!
Two of the orphan kittens are eating me out of house and home, so I have to replenish their canned kitten food bowl often. But the third kitten, Pebbles, not the puny one, still won't eat, she just wants her bottle. So I have to drop everything and bottle feed her, while the other two eat by themselves. I have tried putting some canned food on her tongue and she will swallow it, but then refuses it, so I have to make her a bottle. I add some kitty vitamins with taurine, to help her along. I hope she 'grows up' soon. Precious, the puny one, refuses a bottle, she says " I am a big girl, now"!
Still no TV or cable after several hours, so I moved some furniture to get to a splice in a phone line, added a two-way, and got my old laptop on 'dial-up'. At least it has a 'phone hole'. So does my desktop, which is a faster computer, but I couldn't make the dial-up work on it, even after removing my printer/fax from the equation. I think it is something to do with another phone splice that is behind some furniture that I couldn't move. When we designed this house, a computer area wasn't even a thought, so the phone lines aren't in the right place in that room. That laptop hadn't been used for a while, so it spent all it resources updating, so the dial-up was so slow that I just gave up. I don't know how I managed to use dial-up for two years before we got cable.
Finally, about 7.00PM the cable and TV came back on. So much for a day of R & R!
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Today:
Ray is at the doctor's, and so Jay I made more areas for him to paint when he returns tomorrow.We installed the insulation and paneling in the next little full length cabinet by the front door. This is not a very deep space, only about 12", so it couldn't be used as part of the closet.
We didn't have any left over paneling long enough with the pattern going the right way, so used the cut-offs from the walls, matched the pattern up very carefully, and installed each section.
This cabinet will have a door, but will have drawers and shelves inside, so we can match up the shelves with the splices, so they won't show.
Then we cut the stiles and rails for it, so that Ray can prime and paint them.
It started out very humid, warm and muggy, so we expected some welcome rain, but it didn't happen, today.
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