Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Tasmanian Connection

News from two Tasmanians in 'exile' ! The accompanying photo of an owl--I believe it's a Powerful Owl, but my knowledge of Mainland owls is scant--was sent to the blog by Murray Lord.
He comments: Took this photo in my lunch hour today (Monday). The bird was roosting right alongside one of the busiest roads in central Sydney. [ My apologies if I've misidentified 'your' owl, Murray]

The image of birds in flight was taken by Matthew Fletcher in NE Illinois today. It depicts the rare, Whooping Cranes. These birds are on their first return migration, all fitted with transmitters and followed by wildlife officers. There are less than 500 birds left and their presence sent a buzz of excitement through the ranks of birders in the area after Matthew reported them. He was fortunate enough to see them as they arrived. If you would like to know more, go to his blog--Illinoisbirds--which has a link on the right hand side of this blog.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Alan,
Yes, this first bird is a Powerful Owl, and we are very jealous! We lived on the mainland for a number of years (I'm from there) and tried for many years to find a Powerful Owl, and I see from the Birding-Aus list of the last couple of days that this one has been roosting just outside the Muesum in central Sydney!!!