Poisoning eagles in Australia...

Photo: DELWP 

Man jailed for 14 days for killing 406 eagles

A 59-year-old man from New Zealand has received 14 days in jail and a fine of $2,500 for poisoning 406 Wedge-tailed Eagles in Victoria, Australia.   The farmhand claimed to have obeyed orders from another man to destroy the birds.   He poisoned over 400 of the birds of prey and buried their carcasses over a two-year period.   The eagles had been preying on lambs.   The maximum penalty for such a crime under the Victorian Wildlife Act is six months in jail and an $8,000 fine, plus an $800 fine for each animal killed, which in this case could have amounted to $330,000.  The guilty man's sentence was reduced because he had notified police of his actions himself, pleaded guilty immediately, and helped authorities investigate the killing.     

Photo: fir0002 / flagstaffotos

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BarrytheBirder

Last Red-throated Hummingbird left September 26

Photo by BarrytheBirder

The last Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the summer departed our backyard on Wednesday, September 26.  The last one usually departs the day before, or day after, September 22 each year.

In 2013, 2014 and 2015 it was the 22nd of September each of those years.   September in this part of the world is the peak migration month in the fall, and most birds migrate at night.   The last several nights have been quite cool and wet so their departure is no surprise.   Was it just a behavioural anomaly or a portent of migration shifts due to global warming.   Only time will tell, I suppose.
 Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the charming photo below of Anna's Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) caught my eye online this week and I felt compelled to share it here.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Photo: Charles Melton / Alamy / Audubon

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BarrytheBirder

Hurricane Florence...

Photo: Carlo Allegri / Reuters

Royal Terns (Thalasseus maximus) and Sandwich Terns (Thalasseus sandvicensis) huddle together last week after Hurricane Florence struck on Carolina Beach, North Carolina, US.

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BarrytheBirder

Extraction of palm oil destroying Indonesia's rain forests...

Photo: Ahmed Yusni / EPA

A volunteer walks in front of a mural of endangered bird species o Papua, titled Wings of Paradise', on a street in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.   The mural is part of a Greenpeace worldwide campaign to stop destruction of Indonesia's rain forests for palm oil.

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BarrytheBirder

Great flexibility can be an asset...

Photo: Alamy Stock Photo

A young Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adelberti), a.k.a. Adelbert's Eagle, is seen having a seemingly awkward encounter with a nearby smaller bird.

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BarrytheBirder

Hairy Woodpecker has figured out birdfeeder...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

This young Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) has already learned how to get sunflower seeds from this feeder.   If he does not stand on the perches (meant for smaller birds) he will not trip the mechanism that closes the feeding ports. 

Success

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BarrytheBirder

Swans on a golden river...

Photo: Joe Klamar / AFP / Getty Images

Very large Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) search for food in an arm of the Danube River, covered with water plants in Vienna, Austria.   Mute Swans are native to Eurasia and were introduced to North America in the mid-1800s through the early 1900s.   Mute Swans in North American are usually found in controlled captive environments, but some do exist in the wild also.

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BarrytheBirder    

Another photo award in Germany...

Photo: Mateusz Piesiak / GDT / EWPY 2018

The 2018 Junior Fritz Polking photography prize has been awarded to Mateusz Piesiak of Poland for this photo of great egrets and gulls that were spooked by the sudden appearance of a White-tailed Eagle.

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BarrytheBirder

Feeding time...

Photo: Toby Melville / Reuters

Thousands of wading birds fly onto dry sandbanks during September's highest tides at the Wash Estuary, near Snettisham, in Norfolk, Britain.

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BarrytheBirder

Fritz Polking Prize winner...

                                                                                          Photo: Johannes Wassermann

A Hazel Grouse (Tetrastes bonasia) is seen in the mountain forest of South Tyrol, Italy.   A documentary about the birds by Johannes Wassermann has won the 2018 Fritz Polking Prize given by the Society of German Nature Photographers.

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BarrytheBirder

2018 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards...

These four photos of birds were among the finalists in the 2018 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, sponsored by the Born Free Foundation and designed to raise awareness of the natural world.

Photo: Shane Keena / Barcroft Images

An owl peeks up from the ground 

Photo: Kallol Mukherjee / Barcroft Images

A rhinoceros in a tutu? 

 Photo: Ke Qiang Ruan / Barcroft Images

Spot the difference: Black Skimmers stand in formation

 Photo: Danielle D'Ermo / Barcroft Images

"Stop me if I'm boring you"

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BarrytheBirder

National Geographic 50 greatest wildlife photographs...

  These two photographs are part of an exhibition entitled

  Air, Land & Sea premiering in Australia this summer.

 Photo: Christian Ziegler for National Geographic

Cassowary

North-east Queensland, Australia. 2012

Photo: Paul Nicklen / National Geographic

Albatross Colony

Steeple Jason Island, Falkland Islands, 2015

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BarrytheBirder

How long is your head, mate?

Photo: Jennifer Guyton / 2018 Wildscreen Panda Awards

Keeping track of the health of vultures in Gorongosa, Mozambique, requires taking accurate measurements of every captured individual.   Above, Ayla Kaltenecker, aspiring young scientist, measures the head of an endangered White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus).   The 'White-backed' is Africa's most common vulture, but is rapidly declining.
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BarrytheBirder

Feeder perches designed to sit upon ... or hang from

                                                                             Photo by BarrytheBirder

The adaptable American Goldfinch

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BarrytheBirder

Hummingbird Hawk-moth is not a bird...

Photo: Getty Images

This interesting creature (above) can fool people seeing it for the first time in nature, or in a photograph or video.  While resembling a bird, it is actually a Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum Stellatarum).   In the photo below, it stretches its proboscis (sucking tube) for food into a flower.   This moth is found in the northern 'Old World' from Portugal to japan.   Four other species of hawk moths also occur throughout North America   It is another brilliant example of the natural world's remarkable creations.

Photo: Iron Chris / Wikipedia

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BarrytheBirder 

Destined to look better...

Photo above: Andrew Milligan / PA      Photo below: British Wildlife Centre / Wikipedia

This four-week old Barn Owl chick was born at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling in central Scotland.  The adult's face is distinctly and attractively heart-shaped.

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BarrytheBirder

Stork at dawn...

                                                                 Photo:Thomas Warnack / AFP / Getty Images

A stork is photographed flying over a meadow at sunrise, in Riedlingen, near Munich in Germany.

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BarrytheBirder

Birds newly declared extinct...

SPIX'S MACAW
(Cyanopsitta spixii)

Spix's Macaw, a brilliant blue species of Brazilian parrot has become extinct this century, according to an assessment of endangered birds in a new statistical analysis by Birdlife International.   It was last sighted in the wild in 2000.  Five other birds have also be declared extinct, including...

   

Poo-uli (Black-faced Honey creeper)

Cryptic Treehunter

Alagoas Foliage Gleaner

Pernambuco Pygmy Owl

Glaucous Macaw

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BarrytheBirder

Eagle huntress receiving...

Photo: Rosamund MacFarlane / 2018 Earth Photo

This photograph was entered, and made the 'Short List of 50 Exceptional Photos' in the 2018 Earth Photo Competition.

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BarrytheBirder

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 competition...

Photo: Luke Massey / UK. / Natural History Museum

Pool Party is the title of this photo by Luke Massey, which was the People's Choice Selection in the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in London, England.   The photo shows Lilian's Lovebirds gathering to drink and bathe at a drought-reduced waterhole at Zambia's South Luangwa National Park.

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BarrytheBirder