Keeping Up with the Birds

Okay, I have to have one of these! Read “Twigitecture: Building
Human Nests” in the NYT. Click here.

Jayson Fann, a nest maker, artist and musician, has built
some 30-odd nests. Three are in Big Sur, including a
meditation nest at the Post Ranch Inn. Photo by
Drew Kelly for The New York Times

Another Season of the WSP Hawk Cam Is Over

NYU has dismantled the cam for the season. Id3Ego2 has a rerun playing and will work to show videos or a slideshow instead of the dreaded rainbow bars.

In the meantime, please sign a "virtual thank-you card" that I created. http://bit.ly/13KUYrg

Animal Sex: The Cloacal Kiss — and the Snapping Turtle

In “The Sex Life of Birds, and Why It’s Important,” appearing in The New York Times Science section on 6/6/13, Carl Zimmer says research on the vanishing bird penis is important. Click here to read.

Meanwhile, at GhentArt’s “wildlife preserve,” another interesting animal reproductive event is taking place. A snapping turtle has decided that my gardens are a good place to lay her eggs. I discovered that these turtles will venture over a mile to find a suitable spot to lay; my garden is about 150 yards from a pond across the street and 300 yards from a pond behind my property. I also learned that female snapping turtles have a special duct that can keep sperm alive for up to three years, which allows them  to fertilize their eggs at any time, with or without mating. They lay up to 80 eggs at a time! Perhaps I'll have a bale of turtles heading to one of the ponds in nine to 18 weeks.

All Three Kids Have Left the Nest at Bobst

Rosie & Bobby's kids all made the leap from the ledge last weekend. Keep up with reports from the ground (and find videos and photos) on the google docs page at http://bit.ly/11pafiO

Kiku left Friday morning, 5/31/13 st 10:34 a.m. Video is here and here (more vids on the google doc page, too). 

Judson left before first full light on Sunday morning, 6/2/13 at 5:23 a.m. It seemed no cameras were rolling at the time. But a chatter stepped forward and said she was trying out her recording software for the first time that morning, set it up to record, and then left on a walk. Annalia relates that she “kept waiting for another video to surface, never imagining that hers would be the only documentation of Jud's big moment.”
Her recording can be found here.  

Archie was the last to go on Sunday afternoon, 6/2/13 at 6:03 p.m. Watch it here