The world is a mask that hides the real world.
Thatâs what everybody suspects, though the world we see wonât let us dwell on it long.
The world has ways - more masks - of getting our attention.
The suspicion sneaks in now and again, between the cracks of everyday existenceâ¦the bird song dips, rises, dips, trails off into blue sky silence before the note that would reveal the shape of a melody that, somehow, would tie everything together, on the verge of unmasking the hidden armature that frames this sky, this tree, this bird, this quivering green leaf, jewels in a crown.â¦
As the song dies, the secret withdraws.
The tree is a mask.
The sky is a mask.
The quivering green leaf is a mask.
The song is a mask.
The singing bird is a mask.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
rescued peregrine flies away, doesn't look back
Lisa Konie of Wildlife Rescue prepares to release a 15-year old peregrine falcon at Shoreline Park in Mountain View.
Posted on Fri, Jan. 06, 2006
Rescued peregrine falcon released into the wild
By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News
He was bruised and couldn't breathe very well. Less than two months ago, someone found him hopping around, too injured too fly, on Palo Alto High School's athletic field.
But today, the 1.5-pound rare bird -- a peregrine falcon -- was released into the wild, flying high into the clouds above the Mountain View shoreline.
``He's been vigorously flying around in my backyard cage, and he's been going nuts,'' said Lisa Konie, 33, of Saratoga, an attorney and ``raptor team'' volunteer with Wildlife Rescue Inc. ``He's ready to go.''
Most people, including the wildlife rescue team, have never seen a peregrine falcon up close. The small but powerful birds, which can kill a duck in mid-air with their talons and dive at speeds of 200 mph, were removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999 but are still considered endangered in California.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates there are between 1,650 and 3,000 breeding pairs in North America. They love coastal and mountain areas, choosing spots such as Morro Bay and Big Sur to live.
This particular black-headed, yellow-toed falcon, however, made his home for a while on top of Sun Microsystems in Santa Clara. The bird was hatched in a lab at the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and tagged before being released into the wild as a chick. Scientists at the research group have followed his movements for 15 years, hoping he'd mate.
To their knowledge, he didn't, and no one knows how and why he ended up at the high school Nov. 22 with a chest injury and fluid in his lungs, said Lauren Hasenhuttl, another wildlife rescue volunteer. The falcon released today doesn't have a name but goes by ``2/3'' because of the tags on his right talon.
Not only were wildlife rescue volunteers thrilled to send the falcon back into nature, but the event gave them an opportunity to highlight their cause. The non-profit group on Middlefield Road in Palo Alto annually sends about 2,100 rescued animals into the wild, with a paid staff of three employees, 200 volunteers and an operating budget of less than $30,000, Hasenhuttl said.
The group relies on grants, dues, fundraisers and small amounts of funding from the cities of Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills, she said. The group is looking for funds and volunteers. Anyone interested can call (650) 494-SAVE.
While the group routinely rehabilitates hawks, mourning doves and gopher snakes and sends them back into nature, the rescue volunteers said the peregrine falcon is definitely the most unusual and exciting animal they've nursed back to health.
Patric Kearns of Los Altos, who secured the falcon's daily diet of smaller birds from a friend who owns a quail farm in Sacramento, came to the shoreline today to watch the recovered bird fly into the wild.
``The point is not to be sad,'' she said. ``It's to set them free.''
For more information on Wildlife Rescue Inc., click on http://wildliferescue.ws
Mercury News researcher Leigh Poitinger contributed to this report. Contact Lisa Fernandez at lfernandez@mercurynews.com or (510) 790-7313.
© 2006 MercuryNews.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.mercurynews.com
raptor squad into the fray!
Mexico City airport tries to scare off bird species
El Universal
Sábado 07 de enero de 2006
Miami Herald, página 1
Mexico City´s international airport has been using falcons and other birds of prey to scare off the large numbers of migratory birds that seek food and refuge at the facility and its surrounding area.
Four Harris hawks, two peregrine falcons, a European goshawk, as well as two dogs belonging to the pest-control company Fumiplag are being used at this airport, Mexico´s largest, to prevent hundreds of migratory birds from endangering flight operations.
The falconry manager of Fumiplag, Rafael Sánchez, told EFE in an interview that these "guardians" of the airspace are needed at all times to scare away birds that fly through the area year-round, posing a risk for pilots landing at or departing from the airport.
"Over the past three years, when we began this work, 60 different species of birds, mostly migratory, have been spotted, observed and scared off by our team," Sánchez said.
He added that the falcons and hawks also keep the rat and mouse population of the area under control, since, he said, "they are the main food source for the migratory birds." Two dogs especially trained to pursue rodents also help with that task.
Sánchez said the birds of prey do not tend to kill the various species of birds that migrate to the airport, but rather just frighten them off. He added that his team keeps the birds well fed so they do not need to hunt for food.
The Mexico City International Airport, where there are 870 daily arrivals and departures, is located in the northwestern part of the city near Lake Texcoco, a popular stopping-off point for the migratory birds that pass through the area.
© 2005 Copyright El Universal-El Universal Online
Sunday, January 01, 2006
sad start for the new year: whale mercy killings
