New study on how pigeons navigate and who is who in the flock

A very interesting study to understand more about pigeons.
Thanks Dennis for sending this along.
Take a moment and read the results.

Saving the Grand Canyon

"Sandbars and beaches have dwindled since the government finished Glen Canyon Dam in 1963."

Another issue about the damn dam...we are loosing native fish populations and habitat in the Grand Canyon. Without the natural flow of the river and the spring flooding, the sandbars are missing, and the debris remains.

"Experimental floods from Glen Canyon Dam have proved effective at rebuilding environmentally critical Grand Canyon sandbars when timed properly, but could kill endangered fish when they’re not, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report."

The last of three experimental flood occurred in 2008, the report suggests that timing is critical to the survival of endangered native fish species. The report suggests that the best time to flood "The Canyon" may be fall, since Paria Canyon which is the primary source of sand accumulates this sand during autumn monsoons.

 "What is so frustrating is they can fix this, but they won't," said John Weisheit, conservation director for the Moab, Utah-based conservation group Living Rivers. "Glen Canyon Dam is a cash-register dam, and they want it to make money. They're going to have to make a choice. The Grand Canyon or some kilowatt hours?"

The hydroelectric power generated by the damn dam now affects six states, and despite the known effect on the environment, the filling behind the damn dam of sediment, restriction of the flowing river that helped create the Grand Canyon and the beauty that was destroyed when the damn dam was built...there are still those who see this as only a money/energy issue.
But, there is hope...

"I’m hearing the USGS saying we should test that," Ostler said, "which means we’re kind of running a test on endangered fish."

Grand Canyon National Park officials hope for more flushes, assuming river managers also control trout.

"It’s our feeling," said acting Park Superintendent Jane Lyder, "that if we can have a high flow whenever there’s a sedimentation trigger, then we will be much better off than we have been in the last 15 years."

Money/Energy drives this country, its minimalistic view of wilderness and the environment has caused more than one division between friends and relatives. Another example of this is the issue of off-road and ATV use in the red rock area.
Just last month, $35,000 in fines were levied against two men responsible for "creating" an ATV trail to some of my favorite ruins. Now the government is considering making it a legitimate "trail".

“Why on earth would BLM legitimize what was a criminal act to begin with?” asked Rose Chilcoat, associate director of the Great Old Broads. “It’s a little like giving the bank robbers the money they stole from the bank.”

I have friends on both sides of the issue, but the real issue for me, is what will be left for my children and grandchildren to enjoy in the same fashion I have? Once the road is there, once the tracks cut into the cryptobiotic soil (or whatever we are calling it these days) the area is changed forever. In areas, you can still see the wagon tracks that are over a century old.

I for one would like to find an answer, one that would appease everyone, but I don't think you can when there is a group that figures it is there inalienable right to drive where ever they want to go...after all, they spends tens of thousands of even hundred of thousands creating their off-road monster machines, just for this pursuit.
I would love to hear proposals to the question...how do we please both sides? Is there a middle ground?

Birds: With Old Bird season just around the corner, I am watching for the day when the starlings quit flocking, in my neck of the woods, this is the indicator that the migratory hawks and falcons have past through, and I can start flying the birds again.

Honey: Time to rack the wine again, I will have to add pictures again soon, the color of the Mead is a beautiful mahogany, can't wait until it clears and reveals the final color it will take on.

I'm back...watch out world.

I know some of you groaned when you read it.

I think I heard at least one small cheer way in the back there.

It has been a hectic and depressing month for me. Deaths, fatal illnesses and being forced to go back into my darkest days, have all left me feeling out of sorts and questioning the future. I took a little time, and did some inner-reflection and soul searching. It took a while, but I realized that the forces that would hold me down and force me to be less than I am or have the potential to be are all things that are truly insignificant in the long run.

I will never understand suicide...I don't think we are supposed to understand it, just do all we can to prevent it, help where needed and make sure that we tell those around us how much they mean to us. In the past month, I have had two friends attempt this unthinkable act, one was successful. I am certain that he would never have done it if he could have seen what the outcome would be. This friend was always the joker, the one with all the one liners and he never left the room without leaving you with a smile or a groan at his joke. He had a lot of pressures in his life, and attempted to relieve it with humor. There are wonderful things being said about him now that he is gone, and there are some who don't understand that the very things creating stress and issues in his life are the things that will haunt us all. He was so opposed to controversy, avoiding conflict with family and friends forced him to hide behind the humor. These are the same issues that brought my other friend to attempt the same type of act. She too had the pressure of a family that did not understand her or her wishes, but that wanted her to be what they thought she should be, not what she is. Religious and Societal norms make people pretend to be someone they are not, to try and do things that they themselves oppose. Somewhere, somehow, we need to quit being so quick to judge and just accept people for who they are, even if we don't agree with what they are or the choices they make.
During the past month, I have had to confront death in other ways too, not death now, here, today, but the mortality of those that I love and care about. Maybe it was that last birthday, and reaching the half century mark, but it seems the people around me are sick...not sick in the way the kids these days use the word, but sick as in dieing. Most of this, I feel is from environmental issues, where they have been and things they have done that have shortened their lives. For these friends, it wasn't always avoidable, these environmental issues may have been from childhood and choices that their parents or grandparents made. Ultimately, the blame will fall back on society, government or corporations that know what they are doing is harmful, but who find the cost acceptable, considering the profit of the moment.

Other controversy over environmental issues has risen in the past month. The use of wild areas and their designation have created undesired and unwanted gaps in friendships. The "Elitist" attitude of using it now and not worrying about the future is alarming to me. The idea that we should do it because we can, or that if I don't do it someone else might beat me to it are concepts that I don't adhere to. Wilderness, places where machines are not allowed to go make sense to me on many levels. Biggest and foremost is the concept of wilderness for wildlife. Large carnivorous predators need space, they need hunting ground, they need tracts of undisturbed land to breed, raise their young and train them to be apex predators. We as humans need wilderness, we need a place where more than our imagination or random thoughts can escape to. We need the ability to explore, to feel that we are the first of our kind to have been there...or at least to have been there in a very long time.

The abuse of power and authority by a chosen few have set me upon this current "rant", the desire to have a world that is non-judgmental with clear lines of moral and ethical consideration for others. Again, there is the "Elitist" idea of doing it because I want to and I can come into play. My philosophy of the circle of life does not allow me to approach things in such a manner. My darkest hours are not the hours spent in combat, or detailed by the military to perform tasks and functions for which I saw a need. No, my darkest hours came from being punished and psychologically abused for doing those things that the law provides for me. For following the directions of medical doctors and for demanding my rights. I was forced to re-live every moment of the 11 months I endured this treatment, in testifying to that abuse. I can only hope that others will realize that they would not want to be in the same position, that for someone to abuse their authority and power in such a manner is morally and ethically wrong.

Birds: 5 babies have been banded, I lost one the day after it hatched, and have had several eggs that never made it to the stage of hatching. I am working towards another season of young bird racing this fall, it may be my last if I pull up stakes and move to a warmer climate.

Honey: The next batch of mead is in the carboy, five gallons of splendor spiced with the juice of blackberries. I'm still hopeful that the bees will recover, from disease, or from the hand of man.

Happy New Year--do something green

Happy New Year to all the folks kind enough to take a gander at my blog...even if you are here just snooping into my life and what is in my future.

If your city has legalized beekeeping like the 5 boroughs of New York, let them know over at The BeeKeeper blog. This is a positive aspect from 2010.

Smith Electric Vehicles is British no more...the majority of ownership has come to America. This is great green news. This is a 90-year-old British company that produces Britain's "milk floats," the primary delivery system for dairy products in the UK. Here in the US, things are headed towards using these non-fossil fuel vehicles with orders for the vehicles being placed by some heavyweight US companies.

The company has developed a special niche – medium-duty electric box trucks – and it has orders for more than 200, including 176 for Frito-Lay and 41 for Staples. Other launch partners include Coca-Cola, AT&T and PG&E. They've all bought trucks, too, but CEO Bryan Hansel won't say how many.

2011 for us looks like a bright new beginning. My lovely wife is feeling much better and improving daily. New developments in her writing and books are soon to be announced. The Ties That Bind should reach publication this year, with any luck. She has also got her graphic arts website up and is working on book and Website trailers.

I am currently uncovering historical relics in our attic as I make some needed home improvements.

The best discovery so far, is a copy of the "Juvenile Instructor" dated December 1, 1891. Check out N-D girl's blog for more info.

This was the first illustrated children's magazine published west of the Mississippi.

Hoping for more as I clean out a section of the attic that seems to have been shut off since 1944.  I plan to seal and re-insulate this section, with the possibility of extending an existing room here as a writing studio for my wife.

Birds: Eggs in 7 nests right now, so I should start having babies any day. Still need to order bands for the old German owls and go pick up racing club bands from the club secretary. I am really excited about the old German owls, since I raised no babies from this breed last year. I have a pair of yellow lace that I am hoping will produce well, and a dun hen with the strawberry red cock to the right that should make some exciting genetic variables.

On another note, I had something occur this morning that I have never experienced before. I have a feather-footed Van Loon hen that I got from my friend Don White; he claims the trait comes from the famous 083 hen; Ken Christopher claims the feather-footed ones make the best breeders. I have been concerned the last couple of days that she may have become egg-bound as she had not laid after two weeks of being paired up. This morning, there were two eggs in the pen. Sadly, one had fallen out of the nest bowl and frozen, but she is sitting on the other. If anyone has had such an experience, share it with me, please.



Honey: If you are involved in beekeeping, make sure you follow the link above and share what your city is doing about legalizing beekeeping. And if you have a special honey, let me know...I would like to get some exotic honey to make into mead. Maybe cactus honey or orange blossom honey.

Do the laws stop criminals?

A year and a half after the infamous raids in Blanding, are the artifact laws reducing theft? In a great article that covers a wider view of the facts than most, The Salt Lake Tribune takes a look at Blanding and the artifact trade 18 months after BLM agents descended on the town and arrested many of the upstanding citizens. Decide for yourself, and leave a comment to let others know what your view is on this. Although I do my best to leave things as I find them, I will admit to having stuck an arrowhead in my pocket while hiking, and once while fishing on the banks of the Tennessee River. Does that make me a federal felon?

“It’s like drug laws,” Spangler said ( Jerry Spangler is executive director of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance). “The minimum mandatory [drug sentences] are on the books, but it sure hasn’t stopped people from selling drugs.”

Check out the view of my European friends on "Pigeons as Pets"--a blog that always has something I find of interest...and I tend to be able answer some of the questions they put out to the public with my knowledge of 30 years around pigeons. The subject today was an interesting one on pigeon's feet and the feet of other birds. BTW, did you know pigeons and doves are the only birds that can drink with their head down?

Birds: I'm excited for the few eggs I have in the nest to hatch...experimental pairings that should be great racers...but, who can tell. My friend and fellow flyer, Tom Barnhart, in Ohio, is dealing with freezing high temperatures, reminding me why I added a heater (40 degrees) to my breeder loft. Of course, my breeder loft has no free flying birds, only individual breeding pens. I'll post pictures as soon as I have baby birds in the nest.

Honey: My favorite mead drinker broke her ankle over the holidays...official story is she was attacked by a Himalayan Yeti who heard I would pay out in mead as a ransom. Wishing a speedy recovery to her. I have the must in the bucket for the next batch, I added a quart of Blackberry concentrate from the backyard to this one.

And a very Merry Christmas

Unbelievably, I may have gotten a Christmas gift I have been asking for, for years.

Yesterday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar changed a policy from the Bush era that would allow the protection of "wild areas" without congressional status! That's 245 million acres of public land they now have the authority to temporarily protect: Particularly the pristine areas of the West. The "Bush policy" came from an out-of-court settlement.

"Salazar's directive casts aside a Bush policy that was adopted after an out-of-court settlement between then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton and the state of Utah. Under that agreement, the bureau lost its ability to manage pristine areas in order to preserve their wilderness qualities, pending congressional action. The move potentially opened the lands to energy development and mining."

Since 2003, the department has had to exclude wilderness as a criterion it was able to apply in managing federal lands for the public benefit. Now, once again, wilderness has been given value over development!

"The agency’s mission is guarding the public’s interest, but the view on what that constitutes has varied. From 1976 to 2003, the bureau looked at factors like the effects of oil and gas exploration and off-road vehicle use, timber felling, wildlife conservation and wilderness protection."

Merry Christmas to one and all!!! Today, Christmas Eve, marks the 20th anniversary of my departure to take part in the Gulf War. Please take a moment and think positive thoughts, send prayers, and remember our servicemen overseas and away from their loved ones this Christmas.

Birds: Eggs in the nest, should have babies by the new year!

Honey: Shared some of my wine with friends for Christmas...so far, have found one that was "corked" or contaminated in the bottling process...another learning experience about homemade wine.

Wine by the Gallon

Someone asked me for my Backyard Blonde recipe after sampling it.

I thought I would share a good recipe for those that want to try making their first batch of wine. I would strongly suggest that if you don't have a mentor, you at least read a good book on winemaking. With the concentrates and products at your local winemaking supplier, you don't even have to get your feet dirty...unless you want to.

Before you run down to the supply store, read the book: you will save money by not buying what you don't need, and you won't appear to be totally clueless.

Some simple rules to remember before we get you started:

1. Keep things clean...the slightest contamination can ruin your wine.

2. Keep your fermenting wine in a place that it won't be jarred or disturbed...a warmer part of the house is best to keep the yeast doing it's thing.

3. You may have some run-over, so place your carboy on newspaper or old towels.

Remember, this is only a gallon, and it is going to take six months to mature. Don't promise ALL of your friends a bottle. You will probably only get four wine bottles in the end.


a one gallon carboy



For this starter recipe, you will need some basic equipment:

1 gallon glass (or food grade plastic) jug (a carboy)

1 air lock and rubber stopper that fits your jug (you can get by on this first one with a piece of cling wrap and a rubber band...but, you have to check it morning and night and release the CO2)

A funnel to transfer from the pan to the jug.

Something to stir your must...make sure it fits in the mouth of the carboy.



You need a lot of patience as it takes six months of time to let it age properly. You will be totally frustrated and turned off by homemade wine if you don't.

You will need to pick up a racking tube while you are at the supply store, too.

Ingredients:

1 quart grape concentrate (your own or store bought 12 oz frozen. I wouldn't suggest concord)

4 1/2 cups sugar

3 T lemon juice

6 oz frozen apple juice (make sure it is real juice)

3/4 gallon of water (boiled or distilled)



The other ingredients, you will have to get from a wine making supplier:

1 tsp pectic enzyme

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1 tsp tannin (you need this since you didn't use whole grapes)
3 crushed campden tablets (add after cooling)
1 packet wine yeast (I have my favorite, Red Star Pasteur Champagne, *don't add until 24 hours after mixing ingredients or you will kill the yeast*)



Add the sugar to one quart of water and bring to a boil. This allows saturation of the sugar, creating a syrup. Allow to cool and transfer to gallon jug. Add all other ingredients, saving the remaining water to top off up to the neck of the jug. Seal with an air-lock or cling wrap and a rubber band. This mixture is your "must" and is the basis for your wine. If you have a hydrometer, take a reading (you really don't need one this time around).

After your must has set for 24 hours, add the packet of yeast...you shouldn't see an immediate reaction, but watch it carefully over the next 12-24 hours if you are using the plastic and rubber band. Soon this will start to foam and you will know that your yeast is active. Stir the must daily for the first week. This is when you have the greatest threat of run-over.

One week after you have started your wine, it will be time for the first racking. This is accomplished by placing the racking tube all the way to the bottom of your carboy and creating a syphon to move the must to a different container, leaving the sediment in the bottom 1/4 inch. If you don't have a second carboy, you can temporarily put it in a gallon glass jar or in a bucket, then clean your carboy and transfer it back to the clean carboy. Top off with water up to the neck.

Rack your wine weekly for the first month, and then monthly until the final product at six months. We will talk about bottling and corking as the time gets closer.

Taste your wine (just enough to put on your tongue) to learn the stages of fermentation.



I hope this was some help for those that want to try this fascinating hobby.

Birds: Eggs are in the nest, 18 days from the time the second one is laid, you will have pipping on the eggs and squabs in the nest. At this time, you need to have your permanent club bands ready, because the babies have to be banded at 7-10 days.

Honey: Started two batches of wine this week, I will try and keep you updated with what I am doing to my wine and mead, so you can follow along with this new recipe.