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Velma Mae Small, daughter of Oren Alonzo and Anna Elizabeth (Blick) Small, was born 7 May 1902 in Wabash, Indiana and died 7 Mar 1962 in South Bend, Indiana. On 3 Sep 1925, in South Bend, Indiana, she married James Harper Gilmour (1898-1953). They are buried in Highland Cemetery, South Bend, Indiana. They had a son, James David (1930-2008).
detail from 'old new'. I like this detail better than the larger photo it was cropped from. I think I'll try and get a higher res version of this.
These were out in force on Sunday, I saw over 50 - and probably photographed most of them. Pity, but these were not seen at the site I am monitoring - none seen there yet. Must keep looking! These are so pretty in flight, a deep shade of blue. However at rest, they don't look blue at all.
A Small Bee Eater on a twig watching its partner flying and catching bees and other flying insects. They are very beautiful little creatures when at rest, but their real beauty comes out when in flight.
Circus cyaneus
Cromán na gearc
[order] Falconiformes | [family] Accipitridae | [latin] Circus cyaneus | [UK] Northern Harrier / Hen Harrier | [FR] Busard Saint-Martin | [DE] Kornweihe | [ES] Aguilucho Pálido | [IT] Albanella reale | [NL] Blauwe Kiekendief
spanwidth min.: 97 cm
spanwidth max.: 118 cm
size min.: 45 cm
size max.: 55 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 29 days
incubation max.: 39 days
fledging min.: 32 days
fledging max.: 42 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 3
eggs max.: 6
Status: Breeds in the uplands and bogs of Ireland; spends winter in more coastal and lowland areas throughout Ireland.
Conservation Concern: Amber-listed due to a decline in the breeding population. The European population has been evaluated as Depleted due to a large historical decline.
Identification: A medium sized raptor with long wings and tail and like all raptors (birds of prey) a hooked bill suitable for eating meat. Usually flies close to the ground with its wings held in a shallow V above its back. Male and female adult plumages are very different. Males are smaller than females, with adult males blue-grey above and on the head and breast, white below; they have broad black wing tips to both upper and lower wings and show white upperwing coverts like female birds. Female birds are largely brown with fine markings and have white upperwing coverts; the tail is banded with dark bands and the body is streaked brown on a whitish background, especially on the breast. Juvenile birds resemble females but have darker secondaries, a rusty colour to the breast and less barring.
Similar Species: Marsh Harrier
Call: Usually only heard in the breeding season near the nest site. Quick, chattering calls in alarm and display and whistling calls from female to male, when receiving food.
Diet: Small birds and mammals, which are caught by surprise. Will sometimes use cover, such as woodland edges and bushes, to surprise prey.
Breeding: Breeding birds are confined largely to heather moorland and young forestry plantations, where they nest on the ground. Hen Harriers are found mainly in Counties Laois, Tipperary, Cork, Clare, Limerick, Galway, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Donegal and Kerry. The species has declined, probably due to the loss of quality moorland habitat due to agricultural changes, and maturing forest plantations. Hen Harriers mainly hunt over moorland whilst breeding where they take small ground nesting birds and mammals.
Wintering: Widespread in the winter, found in open low-lying countryside and along the coast.
Where to See: Most easily seen on the coast in the winter months. Good sites include the North Slob Nature Reserve and Tacumshin Lake in County Wexford, as well as the East Coast Nature Reserve in Co. Wicklow.
Physical characteristics
Larger and broader winged than races C. pygargus and C. macrourus. with white rump and dark grey band along trailing edge or secondaries, lacks black bar on upperwing of C. pygargus. Female averages larger, dark brown above, pale below with dark streaks, from below, dark bands on primaries, secondaries and rectrices. Juvenile very similar to female, but slightly darker above and ore rufous below. Race hudsonius has rusty markings on underparts.
Habitat
The Hen Harrier is most commonly associated with open wetlands, including marshy meadows; wet, lightly grazed pastures; old fields; freshwater and brackish marshes; also dry uplands, including upland prairies, grasslands, drained marshlands, croplands, cold desert shrub-steppe, and riparian woodland. Tends to avoid areas of continuous forest.Densest populations typically associated with large tracts of undisturbed habitats dominated by thick vegetation growth.
Other details
This harrier inhabits a great diversity of open habitats in North America, South America and a large part of Eurasia, from the British Isles to Kamchatka. Its southern populations are sedentary. Those of the north-east of the continent are wintering in the south-west. The total population of the European Union amounts to about 4400 breeding pairs (EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds). In some areas it is slightly increasing, but overall it is decreasing.
Feeding
Northern Harriers search for prey in open habitats, typically while flying close to the ground in buoyant gliding and flapping flight. The species prefers to hunt in open areas with mixed vegetative cover and tends to avoid areas with only short vegetation. Harriers rarely hunt while perched. In winter, individuals sometimes rob prey from each other. The harrier's owl-like facial ruff and tendency to fly close to the ground allows the species to hear, as well as see, potential prey, and the species often locates its prey by sound. Adult males tend to be the most successful hunters, followed by adult females.
Juveniles are decidedly less proficient hunters than adults. In summer, harriers feed on small- to medium-sized mammals (particularly rodents), as well as on birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Mammals and birds comprise the majority of the species' diet in winter, but the diets of individuals vary depending upon their location. In the northern portion of their range, voles comprise the majority of the Northern Harrier's diet. Large prey are usually torn apart before being eaten. Small prey, including mice and insects, sometimes are swallowed whole. Harriers sometimes hide, or cache, surplus food, particularly during the breeding season
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 1,300,000 individuals (Rich et al. 2003). Global population trends have not been quantified; there is evidence of a population decline (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001), but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Hen Harriers are both monogamous and polygamous. Polygamous males usually have two or three mates, although one individual is known to have attended seven females simultaneously. In polygamous situations, each female has her own nest, and the male tends to each female individually.
Aerial displays and courtship-feeding rates appear to be the principal factors in a female's selection of a mate. Females sometimes abandon their mates during nestbuilding or courtship if the male fails to display enough or does not provide sufficient food. Males and females do not mate for life. Males usually return to the breeding grounds before females and begin aerial displays when the females arrive. "Sky-Dancing" is intense and more frequent in years when food is abundant, and males that display the most typically attract the largest number of females. Sky-Dancing involves a series of U-shaped, undulating flights at heights that range from 10 meters to 300 meters above the surrounding countryside, and that sometimes cover distances up to a kilometer or more. Males fly to potential nest sites at the end of their display, and interested females follow them. Although they often return to and nest in the same general area, Hen Harriers do not reuse the same nest site year after year.
Harriers build their nests on the ground, almost always in open habitats. Either the male or the female selects the site and both help build the nest. Most nests are placed in areas of dense grassy or shrubby vegetation, and frequently in wet areas, to reduce the risk of predation. Nest construction takes from several days to several weeks. Pairs continue to add nesting material during incubation and, sometimes, until the nestlings are three to four weeks old.
Harriers lay one clutch of four to six eggs annually. Replacement clutches are sometimes laid if the first clutch is destroyed. Incubation begins after the first egg is laid, and the nestlings hatch asynchronously. During the 30- to 32-day incubation period, the female tends the nest continually, leaving only to receive prey deliveries from the male, collect additional nesting material, and take short "exercise" flights. Nestlings are brooded continually for the first 12 to 14 days. Thereafter, the female spends less time at the nest during the day, but continues to brood the young at night for another two weeks. The male provides food to the female when she is at the nest. Males call as they approach the nest with prey and then pass the prey to the female in an aerial transfer. When the female is not at the nest, males sometimes drop food onto the nest, but they do not directly feed the young. Females mated to polygamous males typically receive less food from their mates than their monogamous counterparts, and such females often begin hunting earlier in the nestling period. As a result, nestlings in "polygamous" nests are more susceptible to predation.
By the time the nestlings are two weeks old, they begin to walk and hop up to 15 meters from the nest. Young harriers take their first, short flights when they are four to five weeks of age. After fledging, the young typically roost near each other at night and spend most of their day on perches waiting for their parents to return with food. Siblings often fly together and chase each other, particularly when the adults return to the nest with prey. Parents transfer prey to their young in the air, and the first fledgling to intercept the returning parent usually receives the food. Parents continue to provide the fledglings with food for two to four weeks after fledging. Fledglings spend less than an hour each day hunting, and they seldom catch prey on their own before becoming independent.
Migration
Completely migratory in N of range, in N & NE Europe, Asia, N North America; partially migratory and dispersive in rest of breeding range. Winters from Scotland and S Sweden southwards, with very few birds reaching N Africa; in Asia, winters in area well separated from breeding range, from Turkey to E China and Japan; in America, from British Columbia and New Brunswick (Canada) through Central America to Panama and S to N Colombia, Venezuela and irregularly in Greater Antilles. Leaves for winter quarters from Aug-Oct, or even Nov; arrives in breeding range Mar-May, varying with latitude; migrates on wide fronts.
2x4 inches
I cut up an unappealing larger piece and did some glazing with tinted gesso. Then I added some more images and text to improve the design. It doesn't show well here, but thre is a bit of gold leaf. This will be a bookmark. The back has part of an old dictionary page. Later I'll add some brown twine.
Name: "Ubelle du jardin des merveilles"
Father: "Tommy de djerambar
Mother: "Nina du jardin des merveilles "