In November, 700 Intercontinental Weapons Were Launched Against the USA?

It's just hard to pass up a chance to say turducken.

 

I did wonder about this from the start. There are some really big raptors and anatidae that fly very high.

 

We have a whole town named after crows. Or not, depending on who you ask. In Wiradjuri, Wagga Wagga means either "Lots of crows" or "Lots of celebratory dances". Either way, it's a very pleasant town South-West of Canberra.

 

He wrote Anatidae! Science-word alert! Which actually reveals the true weirdness of turducken, as it is

Phasianidae within Anatidae within Phasianidae.

As to crows (waggas), I still can't accept them at 600 grams. We get misled perhaps by seeing chickens in defeathered condition. Birds are small with lots of fluff.

Not to say I'd eat crow if you found a bulky one. H5N1 stalks the land ...

 

It sometimes takes me a bit to decide if our local black birds are crows or ravens. It should be easy, as we don't have ravens down here.

A range of sources:

American Crow Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology


Common Raven and American Crow Identification - NatureMapping
"The raven weighs around 40 oz while the crow is 20 oz - half the weight of a raven."

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-crow
- mass not listed

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Corvus_brachyrhynchos


American Crow


American Crow


American Crow |



https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/FishCrow.htm

How do you tell a


Fish Crow Corvus ossifragus
from an American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos?

 

Is the media frenzy over?

 

We have kept our hens in their run lately.

I fashioned a clean water system for them. I don't want them drinking rain or run-off because that can have (infected) wild bird poo in it.

We've lost birds to all odd causes but thankfully no flu.

And oh those eggs!!



I was just experimenting in the kitchen... gotta learn the new range, right? I started with an idea for a khachapuri egg bread but then I put a giant load of dill in with the eggs and it's wound up more like a turkish cilbir on a flatbread. Hybrid, ok?

4 eggs, a man-handful of fresh dill, few globs of ricotta cheese, shredded mozz, the tomato slices nobody ate from burger night. Homemade crust, about 180g "00" flour, fat pinch of salt and about enough water. 8 minute bake (on a stone) at 550°F

 

on the radar:
Why We’re Suddenly Noticing So Many Balloons in the Sky

 

Called it in post 171.

 

This looks delicious.

 

It would seem so. It seems that the people who were shouting about how all these balloons were massive threats from China have gone all quiet now that they've realised that they weren't.

 

After all those discussions about why oh why the US government spent so long not shooting down that first balloon, the BBC this weekend came up with the best answer I've heard. It was because it was white.

 

In light of much evidence presented in crow weights, I am prepared to say that I've only seen small ones.

Close contact with only one Raven ever. He was caged and trained to fly in a wind tunnel for metabolic experiments. Big fella.

 

I was hoping for a ufo

 

Even though Wagga Wagga is less than 500km from us, crows are not the most common corvidae in Sydney. We have Australian magpies.

They are huge. And bad-tempered.

From Wikipedia: The adult magpie ranges from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length with a 65–85 cm (25.5–33.5 in) wingspan, and weighing 220–350 g (7.8–12.3 oz).

They make a sound like a sarcastic baby.

They are known for aggressively swooping pedestrians and cyclists. They'll take an irrational dislike to specific people. They cause a lot of accidents.

A lot of Australian cyclists attach brushes or wires or straps or something to their helmets - anything that stops magpies from getting too close to you.







https://theconversation.com/from-cable-ties-to-losing-eyes-how-to-survive-magpie-season-17579

 

Every flying object is a UFO until you identify it.

There is a UFO near my house now.

Now it is not a UFO. It is an IFO. It turns out that it was a LatAm 787.

 

Better Magpies than Cassowaries.
Even mild-mannered borrowing owls will scrape biker's helmets if the road is too close to the nest.

 

Cassowaries are really very scary. I've only ever seen them in wildlife parks, but running into one in the FNQ rainforest would be terrifying.

You can really see their dinosaur origins. That front claw can rip you open.



World's Most Dangerous Birds Were Raised by People 18,000 Years Ago - The New York Times