Joe, Well written account. I was really drawn in. I couldn't wait to open the pics to see the chick. Could this be HDNT from Calhoun County and it's mismatched mate from the Kansas zoo? Had they finally mated and had a little one? And then I opened the picture..... Joe, you're a bad seed. And call me gullible. But thanks for the much needed levity. Bob Friedrichs Houston Sent from my iPad > On Apr 1, 2014, at 6:55 AM, "gil.eckrich" <gil.eckrich@xxxxxxx> wrote: > > Yep, those spring breakers, oil spills and tides peruse this forum all the > time, looking for nests to .... ;) > > -----Original Message----- > From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] > On Behalf Of Joseph Kennedy > Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 5:12 AM > To: 4 Texbirds Maillist > Subject: [texbirds] Flamingo chick fledged last week on Bolivar Peninsula in > 3rd year of trying: illustrated and documented > > The recent discussion of not publicizing nesting birds is very pertinent > inasmuch as a pair of flamingos finally were able to fledge a single chick > last week on Bolivar Peninsula. > There is quite a history about the effort. Two years ago I was buying a > beach permit at the giant store when the lady next to me in line mentioned > that pink flamingoes were nesting near her cabin back near an offshoot of > the intracoastal just west of Crystal Beach. We went there together and > there was a single bird next to a damaged nest scrape and a couple of other > rude nest piles/scrapes. Apparently high tides and a fast boat had resulted > in the loss of the egg? > > Last year, things went better. Until a group of spring breakers got lost and > partied with fireworks at the end of the road thinking they were on the > beach. They were removed but the nest was abandoned. Things had gone well as > we built several dummy nests before the birds arrived copying pictures in a > national geographic magazine and one of them had been used with just a > little modification. > > This year we did the nest building thing again and arranged for the road to > be barricaded at night and when the watchers at the nest were not at home. > The colder weather was very worrisome but it also kept the tides low > creating places to feed and not threatening the nest mounds which we had > moved a little further from the water. An egg was laid and then a chick > hatched and was fed. It was standing some and all looked well and then came > the oil spill not very far away. > > Sort of panic as to what to do but any effort to protect the area would have > possibly alarmed the parents more than the oil would do damage and all came > out well thanks again to the north winds. And then the chick started walking > around and at the end of last week left the nest site and started wandering > a little. > > Here are a couple of pictures celebrating the blessed event. We did not take > many as that would have required closer approaches to the birds than was > thought helpful. As can be seen, the chick is about half the size of the > parent. > > http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/155052863 > > http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/155052862 > > The above will be the documention for some time to avoid publicizing the > location of the birds. The area is still blocked off and entry would not be > allowed but it is best not to tempt people with birds so near yet so far. > Thanks to all that made this event possible. This note will provide all the > written information needed by the TOS as well as the photographic > documentation. > > > -- > Joseph C. Kennedy > on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston > Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx > > > Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at > //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds > > Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission > from the List Owner > > > > --- > This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus > protection is active. > http://www.avast.com > > Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at > //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds > > Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission > from the List Owner > > Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner