Cornell Red Tailed Hawk cam 2016
 

The cam is running again this year and 3 chicks have just
hatched. This is a very interesting time to watch.


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We had a red tailed juvenile in our yard watching our birds feed all winter.

Thanks mrsD - I especially enjoyed watching the G1 and G2 chicks :).

There is also an Albatross cam at Cornell! This one is located in
Hawaii.


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They are quite interesting too. Very big feet on those chicks!;)

There is an interesting and stunning artist following the albatrosses, and doing art from them.
Here is one example:

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You can find Elizabeth R. Smith on her website and twitter too:
https://twitter.com/rownsmith/status/724255106955243520/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

That is great mrsD - I always enjoy Albatrosses.

It prompted me to see if there is an equivalent Webcam for the breeding colony of Northern Royal Albatross at Taiaroa Head (just out of Dunedin).

There is;
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It is fairly quiet at the moment (autumn here) but there are some good archived video clips.

Thanks, Kiwi. I guess I am rather struck by the loneliness of the
chick for much of its development. They only have the one chick?

On the Hawaii cam, he wanders around looking at things, and
other birds. The drawing I put up in the previous post, shows a chick leaning against a parent, demonstrating quite a bond. What must a chick think and feel for long periods alone?

good question...
 

I often wonder the same thing but feel I'm guilty of transposing my human feelings onto the birds. I felt such anguish when the Bush stone curlew was abandoned by the parents in the scorching hot car park here earlier in the year. I wondered what it was feeling and if it was hungry and if it was lonely.

Just yesterday in my apartment there was a huge bang and I raced outside thinking a palm frond had fallen on something, but it was 2 little black birds (not sure yet what type - I need to look it up) that had flown into the glass railing that surrounds the patio above. They both fell stunned onto my patio. :( One couldn't move at all. The other kept trying to fly but kept flying into my glass doors and back into the glass surround of the patio.

Once I realized they were in dire trouble and trapped in a small area between glass, I calmly and gently picked the stronger one up and cupped in my hands and after a little while I placed it gently on a railing and off it flew.

I hesitantly picked up the 2nd one that I thought was really damaged. I didn't want to put that one on the railing in case it fell off and down to the unit below, so I put it in the pebbled garden that is just off my balcony beyond the glass panelling. He took a while but finally flew off into the rainforest beyond.

It was an amazing feeling. I could feel their little heart beats and they were looking at me with their beady little bird eyes lol but it was as if they "knew" I was helping and they didn't struggle at all. I kept so calm that I think it helped.

I remember learning on the Cornell site about anthropomorphism. I guess it is more about instinct than "feeling".

That is a wonderful story,, Lara. I've held birds too, including a hummingbird. It is a unique feeling for sure.

This morning I awoke to a honking Canadian Goose.

It was on the roof nextdoor...as it has a mansard flat part.
Another was on our chimney.
The honking was long, and escalated to Goose "screaming", which sounded like a warning of sorts.

Our renting neighbors were moving this morning and these geese were agitated about that. It really seemed that they were communicating with each other, and eventually they flew off. I do think birds have feelings. The parrots that are attached to their owners, for so many years,and mated pairs who live that way for life (like swans etc), seem to have some kind of feelings. ;)

I tend to think that all animals have some sort of potential for some type of feelings depending on their biology and brains.

Hubby took photos but they are in his phone. When he sends them to me I'll send you some, thru my Yahoo mail.

The last time that I visited Taiaroa Head the single chick in each nest was minded by one of its parents and didn't pay much attention to what was happening in other nests.

When the other parent returned from a fishing expedition (food for the chick) there was a greeting ceremony between it, the chick and the other parent - pair-bonding I guess.

Lara, that is a lovely story about the black birds :). I think that as long as we are calm and gentle with wildlife that we try to help, they can somehow sense this in a way which I can not explain.

Here is a Twitter link with the albatross chicks and other birds:


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And the official Twitter albatross cam link:

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The grounds where this nesting is located are just lovely.

Bumping this up for those interested in albatross.

The chick at the Taiaroa Head sanctuary (NZ) that hatched Jan 21 has been named: Moana (Maori for ocean - also the Hawaiian word for ocean).

The rangers are 95% certain it is a female (apparently difficult to tell at a young age).

Moana is currently at the stage of 'wing flexing' - that is growing, stretching and exercising her wings in preparation for future long ocean flights. She is expected to fledge (ie: leave the nest) sometime in September.