November Nuthatch

Of all the birds that come to our feeders, the Nuthatch is one of the toughest to catch on camera.  They are fast eaters ... Grab a quick sunflower seed, and off they go.  We first spotted this Nuthatch's mate during a blizzard in late February.  He/she has a gimpy left leg.  We didn't think it would make it through the night .. but it did .. and 9 months later, it still returns to our feeder.

(Click on image to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

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Veterans Day at Intrepid

The Intrepid has a long history of honoring the veterans who served aboard her during World War II and in Vietnam.  Many of them returned today for special events including the landing and take-off of a U.S. Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter and the raising of funds to support the Fisher Foundation Fallen Heroes Fund.

Intrepid Executive Director Susan Marenoff recognizing Intrepid Former Crew Members.

Dave Cummings, above, a huge fan of basketball, raised funds for the Fallen Heroes Fund in his quest to shoot one million foul shots.  With a basketball hoop on deck, he reached the half-way mark, 500,000 baskets, in front of an appreciative audience of veterans and their families.  To learn more or to make a contribution, click here for the Hoops for Heroes website.

 

(Click on image to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

More photos and narrative about the day are on the Intrepid's website .. Click here.       

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Happy ending .. Pigeon has a new home

Update:  It turns out that the white racing pigeon's band was purchased from PA and he is only a year old. Since we could now read the entire band, we traced him to his owner on the south shore of Long Island, NY.  He was happy to hear that his lost bird was found after his 50-mile flight to our yard 40 days ago ... but he was not interested in having him back.  (When a racing pigeon gets lost, they are of no value to the owner).

By way of the lost/found ad I placed on Craigslist several weeks ago, I met a woman in Middletown, NY who offered to take him in.  She has many other pigeons in her indoor-outdoor aviary as well as exotic smaller caged birds.

This morning, I drove the bird up to meet her in Central Valley, NY, about halfway from each of our homes. The pigeon's racing days are over, but Eric and I are resting easy, knowing that this beautiful, mellow bird has been welcomed into a new, safe home. Thank you, Sheree!

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Wayward pigeon captured

(Update to October 8th blog entry)
Success!  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and so this one says a lot. This lovely racing pigeon has been at our bird feeder for the past 40 days and 40 nights (how biblical!).  To see him in this cage is a major relief because now that we've rescued him, we may be able to reunite him with his flock and his owner and keep him out of the inclement weather.

We had tried once before to capture him, but without success. The bird was watching us from our rooftop today as we put away our patio furniture for the season.  Eric set out my old Cockatiel cage, door open, long string attached, seed in the bottom .. and from the window, I saw the pigeon hop in, so I called Eric .. he pulled the string and got him!

We were finally able to read his leg band and found that he may be from Beaver Falls, PA, which is 410 miles away.  If that's the case, and the owner doesn't want him back, we have another pigeon fancier lined up to take him in. The temps may go down to 33 degrees tonight, but for now, he has a warm house in which to rest, as well as plenty of seed and water. We'll make a few phone calls tom'w and will post an update.

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Hawk just passing through

We're not sure if this is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp Shinned, but he showed up in a tree beside our garage this afternoon.  Eric has a very good eye for sighting birds and he called to me to get my camera.  I had plenty of time.  This guy was a fearless predator and having two people watching him didn't faze him in the least.  (Click to enlarge photo, use back arrow to return). Shot with my Nikon D300S and my 70-200mm VRII zoom lens.

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.