The Life of the Skies
The News Review:
- The Life of the Skies
- Gulf Times ‘” Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper – First Page
- Court bans spring hunting for this year
- Falconer coaches birds to be the best
The Life of the Skies
Washington Post – Apr 25, 2008
” As it turns out living in a city and watching birds is hardly a contradiction. Modern birdwatching is virtually an urban invention. Institutions of higher learning where bird skins were available not to mention collection curators who brought their indoor learning outdoors were virtual prerequisites as birdwatching came of age. To be bored with London is to be bored with life said Dr. I live in New York City a metropolis greater than Johnson’s London and I feel the same way about my city-but I feel this way partly because it was in New York City that I discovered birds. More and more I realize that to be bored with birds is to be bored with life… Most birds have some binocular vision-we may have evolved ours leaping from tree to tree and catching food up in the branches and birds needed their eyes even more-but birds especially vulnerable ones have other needs like seeing what’s swooping down or sneaking up on them and so they sacrifice a large area of overlapping vision for astonishing peripheral vision. The eyes of woodcocks are spaced so far apart they see behind them better than in front and can look up with their bills stuck in the mud. A pigeon can see 300 degrees but needs to bob its head to get a sense of depth. Predators tend to have better binocular vision than prey; owls have eyes on the same plane like us which makes them master hunters. We needless to say have binocular vision even without binoculars but I often think of the phrase in a metaphorical way to mean the sort of double vision that birding requires. ne of the best descriptions of this double vision was provided by the writer Harold Brodkey in his memoir about dying of AIDS: At one time I was interested in bird-watching and I noticed that when I saw a bird for the first time I couldn’t really see it because I had no formal arrangement no sense of pattern for it. I couldn’t remember it clearly either.
Gulf Times ‘” Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper – First Page
Gulf Times – Apr 24, 2008
The dawn-to-dusk gathering of the feathered friends to feast on an abundant supply of grains from bird lovers has been a a major attraction for several years. The first warning sign that the pigeons would have to move from their original haunt came some weeks ago when the parking lot of the old mosque was cordoned off in preparation for building work. Bird lovers were quick to shift the pigeons? feeding ground to the adjacent open area which is larger than the parking lot. This open area behind a row of buildings that were demolished some months ago as part of the ongoing development plans is barricaded from three sides now. Though vehicle traffic across the ground has been blocked pedestrian movement is allowed for now allowing people to deliver grain for the pigeons. An expatriate who was seen emptying a bag of grain on the ground at noon yesterday said he used to do so whenever he came to the Souq area on business. ?Before leaving this area I would buy some grain from a shop over there and give it to the pigeons.
Court bans spring hunting for this year
Times of Malta – Apr 25, 2008
BirdLife applauded the decision yesterday insisting that hunting during the sensitive breeding and spring migration period runs against the Birds Directive and is outlawed in all member states. BirdLife President Joseph Mangion said: "The overwhelming majority of the Maltese are against spring hunting and they want to see the government protect our common European natural heritage. "It is now time for law enforcement against illegal bird shooting and trapping to be stepped up so that this ban will be effective. "The Hunters’ Federation which was unaware of the decision did not have a reaction to make to the sentence last night. The group’s PR Joe Perici Calascione said when contacted: "All we know so far is what we’ve been seeing in the media. It’s useless for us to make emotional comments even though this is obviously a devastating blow for us which yet again indicates the organised injustice being perpetrated in our regard… However you will not be welcome to uproot trees kill birds in nature reserves blast road signs deface national monuments intimidate ramblers or birdwatchers fire your weapons close to public places and dwellings shoot birds of prey and other protected species and above all not shoot turtle doves which are on the Red List of endangered species in this country. There are numerous game birds and wildfowl wood pigeons members of the crow family (which are regarded as pests) to be hunted legitimately. You will of course have to have some knowledge of wildlife and bird recognition if you are not to fall foul of the law. Not so long ago a farmer was fined £13500 for killing red kites. Get the books out before you catch the plane!Pheasants are numerous. They are not native to this country and do not migrate so shooting them does not affect any neighbouring country?s bird population.
Falconer coaches birds to be the best
Deseret News – Apr 24, 2008
He said he enjoys raising and training falcons on many levels. “There’s something absolutely therapeutic about going to Rush Valley and letting the falcon loose and letting it command the sky” Shane said. “You’re one with nature and you’re watching this amazing bird. I train athletes and I also train falcons. And the coach in me wants to train these birds to do their best. Shane said he also enjoys putting on the Utah Sky Trials every year a competition in which the competitors’ falcons pursue a racing homing pigeon and are judged in five categories… I train athletes and I also train falcons. And the coach in me wants to train these birds to do their best. Shane said he also enjoys putting on the Utah Sky Trials every year a competition in which the competitors’ falcons pursue a racing homing pigeon and are judged in five categories. He said that fellow falconer Gerald Richards used to put on the trials until he suffered a heart attack in 1994 when he was out with a red-tailed hawk that he was training. The sky trials continued for awhile but a year eventually passed without them so Shane decided that he would continue the event. “I thought it was a tragedy because there was a chance that it would disappear” he said. “I talked to his wife and she said that I had her blessing to do it and that she wanted me to do it.
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