Tiny Tim's second day incaptivity

(preview of the full story still being edited)

4-12-2011
Before I go further, I need to confess that I am not sure if the chick is a Tim or a Timothy.

Tiny Tim had a bit of a stressful day today.

At first I overslept and the birds were already chirping outside when I realized that the chick is still inside; so I put him out very quickly. He was again fast asleep and I did not know if he was dead or alive. My concern was that Mary would notice that the cage was missing and abandon her chick.

I did not have to wait long for her to arrive with breakfast.

It was a very hot and windless today. The heat was just hanging in the air with no wind to fan it.
The poor chick’s, mostly plastic, mouse cage must have been sweltering hot. The deep plastic bakkie (bowl), which I rigged out to be his temporary nest, must have made everything ten times worst.

At one stage I thought he was going to die from heat. He was sitting on the side of the nest with his mouth open and his head hanging, panting.
I went for the syringe and squirted a bit of water down his neck, which stressed him to the extent that he did not make the right chick sounds when Mary approached with food so she left, thinking he was full.

I exchanged the plastic bakkie with a little utility basket about cup size but when he sat on the side of it, it collapsed. Mary was hesitant to get near the cage, so I removed the basket and put a shallow cat food bowl in the cage at which time Mary attacked my head but, although she attempted to enter the cage about 20 times afterward, she seemed to be scared to get near it.

After much observation, I realized that the cat food bowl is blue and perhaps it is a color she did not like, so I had to disturb the poor chick once again to remove all bowls and replaced it with a simple fluffy white carpet made from some woolly cloth.
The chick managed to jump out of my hand, during the re-furnishing of his cage, and landed on the cement floor then scurried under the fridge.

By the time I managed to get him out from under the fridge it was already 5pm.

I stuck him back in the cage and decided that I was his worst enemy and if Mary still does not feed him it will be back to pro-nutro tonight.

Mary tried to entice Tiny Tim to leave that unsafe place by flying towards the cage then out to the bushes at first. He tried to follow his mother, but he is still too weak to get to the top of the cage.
To our delight Mary decided to recommence feeding again, she seemed to be content with the new nest arrangement.

I covered the cage with a towel and put it in a quiet room for the night. I hope that I do not oversleep, like this morning, again.

We are killing the earth

Africa can no longer sustain the human tide that devours everything in its path, while like locusts or parasites it plunders all natural resources in its path.
The majority of Africans take from the earth without giving anything back in return
It is no good to just to reduce pollution and waste.  We need to heal the earth.

Every living thing needs healthy food, clean oxygen rich air and clean healthy water to survive.
It is no longer good enough to stop waste and to recycle; we need to actively heal the land, water and air we breathe.
Humanity is sick.  Humanity dies from infections like aids, TB and the various flue viruses.
Even our food (swine flu, mad cow disease) is infected.

Infected people deposits polluted waste products into the soil and water.   When they die their infected bodies are buried into the ground.

The ground itself is contaminated.  People die from cancer and do not know where they get it from.  We eat food that grows on decaying diseased pollution.

Toxic wastes are deposited into the air, or are buried into the ground, and because we can not see it we think it causes no harm.

Have you ever considered that the earth itself needs to be fed and needs to breathe and needs a clean water supply to sustain life?

The byproducts of nature heals the earth, while the byproducts of human occupation poisons it.

For the earth to heal and for people to grow healthy immune systems again we need to correct the balance of nature to human occupation.
We need to actively heal the earth.
Humanity is physically dying in front of our eyes.
How long will antibiotics have any effects against viruses?
How much stronger can we mix antibiotics to fight viruses before the antibiotics start killing the people it is supposed to cure?  It is already happening right now!

We need to heal the earth so that the earth can sustain human life.  So that the food we eat strengthens our immune systems.

We need to clean our air so that it contains the amount of oxygen again that will destroy germs.
A decrease of oxygen in the air means an increase of harmful organisms.
Poisonous particles in the air replace oxygen.  This is serious; humanity is poisoning the very land we need for the survival of the specie.

It is no longer good enough to just recycle and hide toxic waste.

We need to drastic reduce the birthrate in areas where humans are overpopulated.
One baby per every two humans will gradually reduce the imbalance and decrease toxic waste.

We need to feed the earth, clean the waters and purify the air and remove the buried toxic waste; 
Before nature enforces its own protective mechanisms against the human invasion.
We need to spend money to introduce earth healing strategies.
We must stop the burying of toxic wastes and diseased human carcasses.
We need to stop pouring human and chemical waste into our waterways, sea and air.

Before the earth dies, it will kill humanity.
Be warned!

I

Information about the photographs:

• First photograph: - rubbish deposited into stormwater drains running into the sea.
• Second photograph: - One can see the layer of pollution in which er live and breathe.
• Third photograph: - waste being cleaned from the beach.  Much of it has been dumped by ships in our waters.
• Squatters occupying every bit of spare land.  Every bush hides illegal residents.   Their waste remains long after they stripped the area from wildlife and moved on.

Global warming hits my Cape Town garden

It is official.  Global warming is here.   If there is any doubts, put it aside and do what the scientists of the day advise us to do to reduce greenhouse gasses; because we do not know how warm it will get before things change back to normal.

The shortest day is on 21 June.  I remember that date because it is my mother's birthday.     My mother has her birthday in the middle of the winter.

Today, 5 June, not yet mid winter, my birds are doing the spring thing.
They are breaking last year's nests down, building new ones and are in mating plume.

It is time conservationists put their old conservation thoughts on the subject into archives and start to work our how to preserve species during the global warming phase of the earth.

It is stupid to keep local species local if conditions are not suitable for the survival of the specie.

This is a challenge for humanity, but we have the intelligence to counteract these earth changes with drastic measures.

Nations must stop fighting against each other because now it is a time for co-operation; in the wake of the expected global natural catastrophes awaiting earth dwellers.

A Global Warming Post 27-11-2009

When we cast our eyes above to the vast expanse of the night sky we seem to look into eternity.

When we consider the depths of the earth we see the remnants of the earth’s past, in the molten rock formed during fires of destruction and recreation.

The precious stones and metals that delight humanity today, is the purest remnants of life long past.

What sort of crystals and metals will this generation leave to be discovered by the earth dwellers of the future?

Do we even consider the poisons we think we hide beneath the see and under ground?

If the poles are to shift and parts of the sea uncover an underwater world that was once the dumping site of nuclear waste; what effect will it have on the life of the earth?

How many unnecessary dormant years will have to pass before life on earth will be able to regenerate again? What inherent weaknesses will remain in DNA of earth dwellers in the distant future?

Will we follow in the footsteps of the Atlanteans, which according to legend destroyed the earth, because they used advanced crystal technology to gain supremacy?

Will we do the same with nuclear power?

What will happen when an earthquake uncovers buried radioactive material and leaks it into the water table or the atmosphere?

What precious metals will this generation of humanity push to the surface millions of years from now?

Will we once again be known as a race of people who destroyed the earth?

Do we even care?

Written by Ex Unitate Vires 27 November 2009

About the photograph:

If you look closely you may see see images of faces or little people in the picture.
it is as if the old tree is home to nature spirits.

The daisies are early

The field behind the house is full of daisies.
I remember, in previous years, how I was amazed that the daisies knew when it was September 1, when they opened up for the season.
At this rate they will have finished their flowering by September this year.

Conditions that threaten the survival of tortoises in the wild

Keeping a tortoise as a pet

In South Africa a license is required to keep a tortoise on a domestic property. Tortoises are classified as wildlife, and will fall under the same laws.
In my opinion considering the state and treatment of our natural open spaces and the changing weather patterns, the survival of the species my very well in the future depend on backyard tortoise breeders.

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Although a tortoise is very hardy, they are very defenseless against unnatural conditions.

Situations that threaten tortoises in the wild:

• Changing weather patterns.
• Increasing incidences of field fires.
• Roads bordering conservation areas.
• Plans to develop open spaces in the future.
• 4x4 vehicles and bikes
• Floods

Maintenance of open spaces or conservation land like:

• Lawn mowing
• Artificial irrigation
• The use of industrial lawnmowers.
• Back burning and field fires.
• maintenance vehicles
• The use of insecticides, weed- and grass killers on conservation land.
• The total ignorance or disinterest of some conservation workers and managers.
• Absence or lack of wildlife awareness training of conservation workers and staff.
  

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If a survey is done one may find that the training of conservation workers consists of nearly entirely on how to use machinery and implements for maintaining conservation land without considering the life of the creatures on it.

The conservation training of staff may often be the responsibility of reserve managers who may lack in their duties or knowledge and require supervision themselves.

Good beach weather - Stress for breeding Oystercatchers

XXXXbaai, Cape, 06 December 2008

It is a lovely sunny hot day in Cape Town today.

We spotted two pairs of Oystercatchers and three pairs of White-fronted Plovers on one of the beaches between Blouberg- and Melkbos Strand.

The oystrcatchers are endangered but not protected in our area. We saw a man with two large dogs on a lead, but they were let loose once they reached the beach. I do not have a problem with a dog roaming free, but many people do not realize the potential harm these dogs cause when they chase endangered animals, either breeding or with vulnerable chicks. Crows and other predators are often nearby waiting for an opportunity to swoop down on unprotected nestlings.

I have, on more than one occasion, watched a predator bird circling around someone walking through a protected nature area. The birds have learned that people disturb birds so that they leave their nests and hatchlings unprotected.

My Cape Garden 2-9 2008

Today the sun is shining but it is still cold. More rain has been forecasted and there is snow on the mountains.

Yesterday in spite of the cold wet weather conditions, a cape weaver also started building his nest among the many nests of the Masked Weaver. It is amazing that they tolerate each other. I thought “Boytjie” would be more territorial.

They build their nests differently.

This morning I do not see any activity from his half built nest.

Last year our Cape Weaver got killed.

This morning our cat came from the yard licking her chops. I hope she did not develop a taste for bush-meat again.

My garden, 31-8-2008

My garden, 31-8-2008

After an early spring with the daisies appearing early and the birds breeding out of season, it seems that winter decided to complete its cycle. Spring stood back again and we just had three days of the worst winter weather we can have with rain, wind and hail. It is said that there is snow on the mountains again. In my garden I see the evidence of the cold snap.

One of the early bird nests blew out of the tree, with chicks, one week away from leaving the nest. The parents decided to peck them to death, before ripping the nest apart.

My husband climbed up the ladder to strengthen the other nest containing chicks.

It is a miracle they survived the cold spell so long.

In the back garden I see evidence of eggs that fell from nests. There are no chicks to be seen, because a stray cat visits that part of the garden.