Stories (not only) from the wildlife

[macdoum]

Dimbi a Lemurian aux yeux Turquoise was born in Mulhouse Zoo.

http://www.lalsace.fr/haut-rhin/2013/04 ... -turquoise

Rejected by his young inexperienced mother he is being raised by a zoo staff member.

I hope you can see the diaporama published by L'Alsace,our local newspaper.

http://www.lalsace.fr/actualite/2013/04 ... e-mulhouse

[Raziel]

Terrible news from Denmark. A young WTE has been killed be a windmill in northern Denmark

Warning! Not a nice picture :( http://lokalavisen.dk/se-billederne-hav ... 09461/1265

[ame]

The eaglet of Linda and Sulev was ringed today on May 31st 2013. It was a male and he was named Illimar. Here’s some background information about this name.

Illimar is the name character in a novel "Väike Illimar" (Little Illimar, 1937) by a famous and beloved Estonian writer Friedebert Tuglas (see e.g. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedebert_Tuglas ). The novel belongs to the genre of psychological realism and actually mirrors the childhood memories of the author himself. It is considered to be one of his best works.

The novel describes the people and their lives in an Estonian manor in the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as seen through child’s eyes. The novel is considered to be both a rich description of the bygone form of life and society in rural Estonia, as well as a discerning study of a child’s way of seeing and perceiving life.

Illimar is 5-6 years old but mature for his age, son of the manor’s gardener who has no friends of his own age. His life is followed from summer to autumn as he wanders in the surroundings of the manor and among the adults there. He observes natural phenomena and people around him with touching but at the same time comical seriousness. Animals and people are equal in his eyes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References

• - Book review by Kerttu Manninen in Kirjasampo 6 / 1967, http://www.kirjasampo.fi/fi/kulsa/saha3 ... d1d0f497ed (read on May 23 2013, in Finnish)
  - Publisher’s back cover text of the Finnish edition “Pikku Illimar lapsuuteni romaani”, Tammi, 1967 (in Finnish)
  - Wikipedia (read on May 23 2013, English, Finnish, and Estonian versions)

[ame]

The eaglet of Linda and Sulev was ringed today on May 31st 2013. It was a male and was named Illimar. Mutikluti had also chosen a name for a female eaglet, because we naturally had no idea which the eaglet was. If it had been a female she would have been named Ilmatar. Here’s some background information about this name.

The name Ilmatar is derived from the Finnish word ilma meaning air, with the suffix –tar which denotes female (in English the corresponding suffix is –ess, like in actor – actress). Ilmatar was the name of the godly maiden who lived in the sky (in air) in the beginning of time in Finnish epic folk poetry. Kalevala is the compilation of Finnish epic folk’s oral poetry which were collected and edited by Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century. It is one of the most significant works in Finnish literature. In Finnish folk poetry and in Kalevala Ilmatar is linked to the origin of the Earth.
The myth of Ilmatar can be summarized as follows:

In the beginning of time there was only air in the sky above the vast, open sea. The spirit of nature Ilmatar lived in the air. Eventually she got bored living alone as a maiden in the sky. She stepped down and lay on the sea which was all there was. While she was swimming in the sea she got impregnated by the wind and after seven years she went into hard labour. As Ilmatar was praying help from Ukko, the main god, a water bird, a teal flew above the open seas, looking for a place where to build its nest. The teal noticed the knee of Ilmatar which she had lifted above water. The bird landed on the knee and built her nest on it. The teal lay six golden eggs in the nest and the seventh egg of iron, and began to brood. As time went by Ilmatar felt that her knee became hotter and hotter… Finally she felt that her veins were melting and she jerked her knee. The nest fell down in water, all the eggs broke and the pieces were scattered around. The pieces were not wasted though: the lower fragments of the eggshells turned into solid ground and the upper parts turned into heavens above. From the yolk of the eggs the Sun was created and the white of the eggs became the Moon. The mottled spots on the eggshells turned into stars and the dark spots became clouds in the sky.

After ten more years Ilmatar began creation: she swam around in the sea and formed depths and shallows, headlands and bays, islands and shores, lands and continents… but she still did not give birth to whom she was carrying. It was the old wise man Väinämöinen, the seer, who spent 30 years in the darkness and tightness in the womb of Ilmatar before he got bored living there and broke his way out into the sea and then to the ground.
–This was the story about Ilmatar and how the Earth came into being.


This myth brings to my mind how the Baltic sea area must have looked like and how it must have developed after the ice melted after the last ice age. In the beginning there was only water, a vast sea when there was an open connection to the Atlantic Ocean through the place where the Danish Sound lies now. In two phases the connection to ocean was closed and the Baltic formed a giant ice lake. The Earth’s crust rose gradually after the heavy burden of the 2 km thick layer of ice was gone. Even at present time land is still rising… Then land was gradually revealed and islands and coastlines were formed over decades and centuries. Then also water birds could find places where they could build their nests. I guess that the sceneries must have been quite similar to what we see at the seal island today.

[macdoum]

An extremely rare bird has been killed by a wind turbine

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/enviro ... rbine.html

Very sad.

[macdoum]

Very Determined Swallows.;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-23179026

Norfolk:

4 July 2013 Last updated at 14:42 GMT

.Norfolk Broads boat nest for swallow familySwallow chicks on Ross Warrell's boat on Horsey Mere, Norfolk The swallows have been trying to nest on the Lady Ann for five years
A family of swallows have become the unexpected star attraction on a Norfolk Broads wildlife boat tour after nesting in the craft's lifejacket locker.

Five chicks hatched at the weekend on their floating home, which carries passengers on tours along Horsey Mere

Skipper Ross Warrell, 43, said: "The adults now clearly recognise the boat as they are now chasing flies around the dyke and bring them back as feed."

The chicks are likely to remain on the boat for three weeks before fledging.


More about swallows;
Swallows (stock image)
(Swallows are migratory and flock in large numbers in September ready to fly to Africa, south of the Sahara
In early April, they return to the UK often roosting communally in reed beds
Agile in flight, they are insectivorous, plucking insects from the air
To rehydrate while flying they skim the surface of a body of water
They have been designated an amber status after a decline in numbers in the UK over the last 25 years.
Source: BBC Nature)
Mr Warrell, from Sea Palling, in Norfolk, said the adult swallows had proved the ideal bug deterrent.

"The adults will now quite happily leave the boat to hunt and ferry food to the chicks - they follow the boat on whatever route I take," he said.

Floating family

"They provide a great bit of protection from anything that flies and bites. We don't get too many gnats up this way, but the parents snap them up as we travel up the dyke in order to feed their young."

Mr Warrell, a marine biologist who has been studying wildlife professionally for 17 years, said the species had been trying to nest on the Lady Ann for a number of years.

"They've been trying to nest on top of my fire extinguishers for the last five years, but I never thought this was a good place for them," he said.

"I moved it up to the ceiling so they couldn't nest on it and thought 'Aha, got you' - they thought 'Aha, we'll nest on the lifejacket locker port hole instead' - they were very determined.

"They are nesting just above the hinge on the port side - in affect it's like a very small cabin in the centre of the boat and they've made themselves at home under the eaves."

Mr Warrell said his passengers look upon the floating family "with disbelief".

He added having the "little beauties nesting aboard takes the meaning of a wildlife trip boat to another level".

...

[macdoum]

FB Employees Rally round foxes- and earn a Certified Wildlife Habitat award.

http://blog.nwf.org/2013/06/facebook-em ... e-habitat/
Good news.

[Kukelke]

A good news story from last week with a happy ending about two fishing buddies who rescued an exhausted osprey fledgling from drowning.

Link: Our osprey odyssey to save Oscar

From the story:

No matter what the cause, this young bird was caught in a life and death battle with the elements. Barring the Divine variety, human intervention was clearly its one chance for survival. This essentially made Stoney and I the only thing standing between the osprey and a feathery date with a watery grave. For kind-hearted, upstanding citizens like us, allowing this pathetically exhausted bird to drown was not an option, but there were extenuating circumstances that would complicate any rescue attempt.

[macdoum]

A good news story from last week with a happy ending about two fishing buddies who rescued an exhausted osprey fledgling from drowning.

Link: Our osprey odyssey to save Oscar

From the story:
]No matter what the cause, this young bird was caught in a life and death battle with the elements. Barring the Divine variety, human intervention was clearly its one chance for survival. This essentially made Stoney and I the only thing standing between the osprey and a feathery date with a watery grave. For kind-hearted, upstanding citizens like us, allowing this pathetically exhausted bird to drown was not an option, but there were extenuating circumstances that would complicate any rescue attempt.

Thank you Kukelke,great story of a rescue.

[macdoum]

Caring people come to the rescue;

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08 ... d%3D201382

Published by Huffington Post today in WVF thanks to cas.

[joey]

Alaska, eagle with its beak reconstructed:

video:

[macdoum]

Rescue of Baby Hummingbirds

http://raptoreducationgroup.blogspot.co ... being.html

Such teeny-weenie birds,I never realised just how small....and the nest
Beautiful footage.

[Katinka]

Last week a small news from Northern Germany, near Bremen, was spread via the regional TV station (but via satellite transmission, to watch all over Germany):
a rare owl guest from Scandinavia, the Hawk-owl, surnia ulula, could be observed. It was resting high up in a tree, and for it behaved quite unspectacular, was discovered only by chance.
It is one of the few owls who are active by day and in the dawn.
I found out that it sometimes moves to our Northern federal countries when a cold and snow-rich winter is expected.

If EU-wide admitted, you can watch the TV report here:
http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/h ... 18743.html

[macdoum]

Rescued Blind otter is doing fine.

http://travel.aol.co.uk/2013/11/25/vide ... d%3D225555

From Cas WVF

[Brit]

Music-VIDEO: Eternal Flame for the strays

Piet Bandiet
(Kontakt via Facebook: Piet Bandiet)

[Katinka]

German wolf-man Werner Freund is dead. He was a name since my childhood days, had a love for and lived with wolves from the 1950's. Later, he established a special area for them in the Eifel mountains.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013 ... man/100448

[Katinka]

On Sunday I met some hikers coming from above the valley - they had a nice story to tell.
In their home village the sheperd usually is accompanied by some (wild European) mouflons, since years.
I know that we have 1 or 2 free-living herds of them here in the valley, belonging to the subfamily of "Caprinae" called mammals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat-antelope). One late afternoon in autumn I "came across" some of them in the woods near my hike path.

[macdoum]

Ney York Port authorities are very trigger-happy.

http://nypost.com/2014/03/02/pa-killed- ... two-years/

[Brit]

An Elephant in India:

Wildlife SOS 05.07.2014

Raju's Journey to Freedom- A Photo Journal

VIDEO – Rescue of Raju

[Brit]

A newspaper article about shooting of Black Storks in Belgium, sorry only in German language, saying, that some unknown people shot two Black Storks in the Eifel and that it is unlikely, that they were shot by mistake, they were hit by up to 8 bullets!

One bird was already dead, the other one so heavily injured, that it had to be euthanised!

Aachener Zeitung 31. 07.2014

Erschossene Störche: Forstamt hofft auf Hinweise

CROMBACH/BELGIEN. In der vergangenen Woche haben ein oder mehrere Unbekannte zwei Schwarzstörche in der Eifel erschossen. Dass es sich um ein Versehen gehandelt hat, ist unwahrscheinlich.

Die zwei Exemplare der seltenen Vogelart wurden im Braunbachtal nahe Crombach angeschossen.

Ein Tier wurde tot aufgefunden, das zweite mit schweren Verletzungen. Der Vogel musste eingeschläfert werden. Wer für die Schüsse verantwortlich ist, ist gänzlich unbekannt. Um ein Versehen scheint es sich nicht gehandelt zu haben - die Tiere wurden von bis zu acht Geschossen getroffen.

Das Forstamt hofft auf Hinweise aus der Bevölkerung.