Bornheim Storks nest 1 OTD

The Famous Bornheim Storks are actually white storks, and the photos are from three nests near Bornheim, Germany, that are part of the "Aktion PfalzStorch" "...Campaign for conservation of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) in Rhineland-Palatinate (southwest Germany)..." project. There are two man-made stork nests in Bornheim, and a third several miles away in Zeiskamer Mühle. The white stork winters in Northern Africa and migrates back and forth into Germany each spring to nest, lay eggs, and hatch baby storks.

Bornheim Storks nest 2 OTD

This year the parents arrived back in Germany about February 17, 2006, laid eggs by late March (four eggs each in each nest), and had the first chicks hatch about April 27, 2006. The chicks were banded (in Bornheim nest 1 here, and here) about May 31. There was some *very* unseasonably cold weather in southwestern Germany in very early June (temperatures down to freezing) and two of the three chicks in Bornheim nest 1 died shortly thereafter. By the time school was out, all the remaining chicks were very close to flying, with "Felix" in Bornheim nest 1 the farthest along. The chicks will have black bills through their childhood but their legs start to turn orange just before they start to learn to fly. The adults have orange bills and legs. Most of the adults have been banded; all the chicks are banded with black bands that have identifying numbers on them.

Have you hugged your lagomorph today?

Cutest Bunny OTD

The Famous Pancake Bunny (or, The Cutest Bunny in the Universe, as I call her) is, in fact, famous. There are actually two bunnies, Bunny Oolong which died on January 7th, 2003, and Bunny Yuebing which as far as I know is still alive. I say "as far as I know" because the two web sites are written almost entirely in Japanese. The two bunnies are kept by a Japanese photographer who specializes in taking photographs of -- his bunnies! They became known as "Pancake Bunnies" because of the "head performance" that these bunnies can do: they balance things on their heads very patiently while the photographer takes photographs of them.

Bunny Oolong

Bunny Yuebing

Editor's note: at April 20, 2014, all the links at the Bunny Oolong page *above* "シャオピン（2001.6.2）" are broken. So only the links older than 06/02/2001 still work.

Gentoo Penguins OTD

The Famous Gentoo Penguins have their penguin rookery located at the very northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, almost due south of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America, at the German Antarctic Receiving Station (GARS) O'Higgins, where there is also a Chilean military base. The German scientists staff the station through the Antarctic summer, from early September through April (remember this is in the Southern Hemisphere where the seasons are opposite ours). There are four webcams, two which show the area generally, and two which zoom in on some nests. The penguins arrive back at their rookery in mid-October; courtship and nest-building extends into mid-November; eggs are laid in late November; the chicks hatch close to New Years and are up and about by mid-January; by late February all the penguins are pretty much at sea feeding; they return and the adults molt in March and the entire colony leaves before the Antarctic winter (really, the sea ice) sets in by the end of March/early April. (Although this year (2006) the sea ice is only starting to fill in by late June...).

The Gentoos will not be back until October

Snow Monkeys OTD

The Famous Japanese Snow Monkeys are actually Japanese macaques. The Snow Monkeys live in the "Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park" near the Shiga Kogen volcano. It is the volcano that helps heat the water that the Snow Monkeys love: they winter over in a man-made pool filled with hot water from a natural hot spring.

Zeiskam Storks OTD

The Famous Zeiskam storks are a third nest, several miles away from the two other stork nests in Borheim, Germany.

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Last modified: Sun 20 Apr 2014 10:17:16 AM PDT