All posts by JulieWaters

A break: hummingbird nest from start to finish

(Because Julie….. they’re too darn beauty-ful!   – promoted by Christian Avard)

I’ve told most of this story before over on ‘Kos, but I have a follow-up at the end with more photos

I will note once again that these photos are all smaller versions of the photos.  Clicking on them gets you to my web site, which gives you details about the camera (all of these were taken with a Pentax K20d), the lens (a Sigma 50-500mm zoom lens, but some used a 1.4x teleconverter) and other settings (film speed, aperture, etc.).  

These photos started on July 9th, with this photo of the mother hummingbird on her nest:

On July 29th, I went back to check the nest again:

Then, a week later, on August 4th, I found out that the babies had hatched, so I checked in again.  I got these photos:

Notice how small the babies are.  Tiny little beaks, rest of face and body not even visible.  The next photos I have of them are only eight days later.  We’ll get to those in a moment.  

Fast forward to August 12th.  I knew the babies would be bigger, but I didn’t realized they’d be this much bigger.  These ones are nearly adult sized, in only eight days.  Here are the babies by themselves:

Baby hummingbirds on nest, almost ready to fledge.

Baby hummingbirds on nest, almost ready to fledge.

Baby hummingbirds on nest.

Notice the spotted necks on these birds.  That’s one of the markers of a juvenile.  Full adult ruby-throated hummingbirds either have a bare neck (females) or bright red (males).  Juveniles can have these spotted necks.  

Here are two more photos, these of the momma feeding her baby:

Momma hummingbird feeding her young.

Momma hummingbird with babies on nest.

On August 13th, I returned again to discover that one of the babies had fledged.  That left the one lone hummingbird, still being fed by its mom:

I didn’t make it over on the 14th, but I did manage to swing by on the 15th.  

I missed the last baby leaving the nest by about an hour.  

But they were still hanging out.  I managed to get these photos (and the one in the intro) of them feeding near the house.  I think the first three are of the mother and the last is of one of the babies.  It’s possible that I’m mistaking the mother for one of the babies, but I think that’s a full adult there.







So that’s it.  A nest from laying to hatching to flying off into the distance.  

I will close with a few more photos of a hummingbird from my own yard.  I’m sure this is a ruby-throated hummingbird, but I’m still not used to seeing one with such a dark neck, so it throws me off a bit.  This one popped up while I moving the lawn mower and just landed above me, so I grabbed what I could:





As usual, feel free to treat this as an open photography and/or birding thread and, most of all, enjoy the photos.

If you want weekly (or daily) e-mail alerts when I’ve put new photos on my web site, you can do so via this link.  

Other relevant Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Links:

ACTION ALERT: More Budget Cuts to Come; August 19th Budget Meeting in Montpelier

Voices for Vermont’s Children has the following report:

As economic news gets worse, the state is dealing with a 24 million dollar shortfall of revenues over spending. The response of policy makers has been to take off the table measures such as use of rainy day funds until later in the fiscal year or consideration of additional revenue-raising measures and to make cuts in the existing budget.

Most state agencies (except Public Safety, Education and Corrections) have been asked to submit proposals for distributing a 5 percent reduction. When these kinds of budget issues occur outside the legislative session, the administration submits its recommendations to the Joint Fiscal Committee of the Legislature. This committee has 21 days to respond with alternative strategies or the Governor’s recommendations go into effect. By law, any reduction in funding is supposed to include an impact analysis.

The action alert notes that the budget committee meeting is on Tuesday, August 19th, @9:30 a.m. in Room 10 of the State House in Montpelier.

I won’t be able to make it, but I’m hoping some of us can be there.

Police use taser to subdue man experiencing seizures

Okay, I’m going to make this simple:

Per The Rutland Herald:

What started as a medical call to assist a man having an asthma attack on Prospect Street last week ended with police using a Taser and physical restraints to subdue the patient.

The whole story is a bit complicated and I will not go into the full details here, because there is one simple fact at work: the man in question had suffered multiple seizures in the presence of the police before they chose to taser him.

Seizures can be caused by a disruption in the electric activity in the brain.  

So yeah, including a large external electric charge?  That’s a great idea!

The man in question was extremely drunk, had suffered an asthma attack, and had been talked into going to the hospital.  After a seizure, he changed his mind, and tried to go back to his house.  

The police tasered him as part of the process to subdue him while trying to force him to go to the hospital against his wishes.

I am so far beyond angry over this.  Doesn’t anyone train these officers?

The Conventions: a preview

As a public service, I’d like to provide a preview of the speeches and some of the floor activity that will occur at the upcoming conventions.

First, let me note that I won’t be focusing much on the Obama and McCain speeches; those are already going to get plenty of attention.  Obama will give a stirring, inspiring speech, and John McCain will fall asleep at the podium.  Instead, I’m going to focus on some of what you can expect from the other speeches.

I will begin this story by noting that I have never been to a convention, Democratic or Republican, though I have watched both on multiple occasions, and have, believe it or not, sat through entire convention speeches more than once, so I am a bit familiar with their style and approach, and have some passing familiarity with the cult-like mindset of those who attend.

So, I present to you, a brief summary of what you can expect at the conventions.

Hillary Clinton

I think Clinton will give a great speech.  My one concern is that of who gets to introduce her.  If Terry McAuliffe gets the task, we may have a problem, as he’s been thoroughly conditioned to say the words “the next president of the united states” every time he mentions her name.  Unless we can deprogram him in time, this could be awkward.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney, I’m certain, will do a fine job with his speech. But the most important thing will be to investigate what his hair tells you.  If it’s his usual perfect coif, it imparts a sign of calm assurance.  If even a single hair is misplaced, it could mean any number of bad portents, from him having forgotten to pack enough magic underwear to a sudden crisis of conscience or, as the GOP puts it, realization that he’s not getting paid for his speech.

Elliot Spitzer

Elliot Spitzer has a prior commitment and will be unable to attend the convention.

Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson’s speech will be repeatedly interrupted by awkward pauses, followed by him looking offstage and shouting “line?”

Joe Biden

Biden is in his strongest element talking about himself.  His speech will go twenty minutes over and will, in fact, be lifted wholesale from a New York Times review of his bestselling autobiography, “Biden on Biden”

Jesse Jackson

See Elliot Spitzer

Tom Tancredo & Duncan Hunter

Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter will give a joint speech in which they illustrate the various ways people can tell them apart.  

It will not work.

Mike Gravel

Mike Gravel will do a performance art piece in which he shoves Denis Kucinich, who is dressed as a mime, into an imaginary pool.

Jim Gilmore

Jim Gilmore’s invitation was lost in the mail

Bill Richardson

Richardson will be body-slammed by Bill Clinton on the convention floor.  He will remain in traction for the rest of the week.

John Edwards

See Elliot Spitzer

Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani’s speech at the convention will be interrupted by a call form his bookie.

Al Gore

Al Gore will arrive on horseback, wearing a suit of carbon-neutral armor.  He will refer to his mode of transportation as being “biofueled.”  His boots will leave no carbon footprint and his helmet will be solar-powered.  

He will make no references to a lockbox.

Larry Craig

Expect Larry Craig’s speech to be replaced at the last minute by a Gilbert and Sullivan Medley.

Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman’s primary role at the Republican convention will be to stand beneath John McCain and catch him whenever he falls, and serve as his personal masculinity assurance agent and food taster.  He is unlikely to perform the full Zell, as Lieberman does not understand the concept of a duel.  

Denis Kucinich

Kucinich, still dressed as a mime, will attempt to promote his resolution mandating that house elves get equal rights.

George H. W. Bush

Bush will appear side by side with McCain in order to make McCain look younger.  

It will not work.

William Jefferson Clinton

President Clinton will “accidentally” call Barack Obama “boy.”

He will blame the media.

George W. Bush

Bush will, not necessarily in this order:

Promote a cogent comprehensive plan to cut greenhouse gases by 80% over the next five years, but threaten to veto its funding.

He will also crack at least five different jokes, insulting at least seven ethnic groups, women, gays and the mentally disadvantaged.  He will not get the irony.

Dick Cheney

Of course, the most anticipated speech of either convention will be that of Dick Cheney.  Not because of what he might say, but instead, what he might do.  There are several theories about Cheney:


  • that he is a Cyborg;

  • that he is the antichrist (false: the antichrist is supposed to be popular);

  • that he is a minion of Satan (false: he is a minion of Haiburton, which is a subsidiary of Satan);

  • that he is a homunculus;

  • that he is simply evil;

But the most important thing to remember is not that Cheney shot a guy in the face, but that the man apologized to Cheney for the incident.

So, in short, whatever Cheney does at the convention will either very tragic, very funny, or both.  Me, I’m hoping he “accidentally” swallows a congressional page.

John Kerry

John Kerry… will give… a speech.  It will… be… a good speech… it will… contain… facts… that… might… be… interesting.  It… will… contain… half… the words… of most… other speeches… and take… three times… as long.

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich will threaten to shut down the convention if he’s not nominated Vice President.

Chris Dodd

Chris Dodd, having gnawed his own leg off to survive Kerry’s speech, will be unavailable for the remainder of the convention.

Ron Paul

Ron Paul will meet with an unfortunate “accident” that prevents him from giving his speech.  His supporters will be beaten back with tear gas.

Bloggers

All bloggers in attendance will be restricted to a special “free speech” zone.   It will not have wifi access.

Doesn’t this sound like a scam? [UPDATED: it is]

I just got the following e-mail:


From: “VERMONT STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION” [customers@vsecu.com]

Subject: Important VSECU Notice

Dear Customer,

This communication was sent to safeguard your account against any unauthorized activity.

Vermont State Employees Credit Union is aware of new phishing e-mails that are circulating. These e-mails request consumers to click a link due to a compromise of a credit card account.

You should not respond to this message.

For your security we have deactivate your card.

How to activate your card

Call (802) 304-1922 .

Our automated system allows you to quickly activate your card

What to expect when activating online.

Card activation will take approximately one minute to complete.

If this is legit, why didn’t anyone proof-read it?  If it’s not legit, it’s actually kind of a clever scam, and something I’m seeing a lot more of: scam someone by preying on their behavior when they think they’ve been hit by a scam.

Some days I hate the internet.

UPDATE: it’s a scam

Jim Douglas: the big money candidate

From a Douglas Campaign e-mail that I received today:

Campaign finance reports are the yeast of the political season ˆ dull to behold, but remarkable as to what they may ultimately yield. The first of those reports ˆ filed Thursday ˆ does not disappoint.

The governor, as expected, out-raised his opponents. It would have been stunning, had it been otherwise. But the margin was a surprise. He raised $736,596, Gaye Symington, his Democratic opponent raised $205,309, and Independent Anthony Pollina raised $166,200. He more than doubled their amounts combined.

That’s what Douglas is touting in his campaign e-mail: the fact that he’s got money.  Way to go!

Sidenote: the above quote from the e-mail is from a Vermont Tiger column.  The Tiger Column is a full reprint of an editorial from the St. Albans Messenger (August 1, 2008) by Emerson Lynn.  Nowhere is there any indication that anyone sought permission from Mr. Lynn before reprinting his column in full.  Not the campaign; not Vermont Tiger.

Symington on VY Panel: They’ve Been Shut Out of the Process

Yesterday’s Brattleboro Reformer has a Gaye Symington Editorial on the Public Oversight Panel and how it’s been shut out of the process by the Douglas administration.  Emphasis mine:

Earlier this year, the Legislature created a special group of nuclear power experts to be the “eyes and ears” of Vermonters in determining whether the power plant is reliable enough to keep operating past 2012.. The… Panel is charged with examining all available information on the operation of the plant to make its determination.

Gov. Douglas recently stated that he doesn’t think a public oversight panel is really necessary. And his actions show it. The… administration has repeatedly done all it can to keep the Public Oversight Panel in the dark.

Earlier this month, one of the panel members requested that the department allow him to accompany the NRC during a recent inspection of Vermont Yankee. The department falsely claimed to panel members that the NRC had denied this request. However, the NRC has since made it clear that the department never made this request of them.

To make matters worse, the department is denying any panel member the opportunity to join inspections for the remainder of the inspection process. On July 21, Senate President Peter Shumlin and I sent a letter to DPS Commissioner David O’Brien urging him to reconsider and allow Panel members to accompany the NRC in future inspections. We have received no response to this letter.

Blocking oversight?  Preventing government appointees from doing their jobs?  Stonewalling attempts to gain information?

Jim’s learned well from his D.C. overlords.

Is 30% really 30%? (UPDATED: it’s not)

With prior references to Vermont Yankee having 30% more fence line radiation, how much of a change is that really?

I wrote about this in a prior comment, but I think it needs to be addressed in a little more detail.  This post will be partially a repeat of an issue I raised in the comments and some more depth about what that concern is.

Everything I’ve read suggests that the calculation method has changed.  Today they multiply the output level by 71% in order to reduce the measured amount.  So the 18 millirems (i.e., the 30% increase amount) listed are definitely used to include that fudge factor, but is that 30% increase based on a change from a number calculated using the old calculation method or the new one?

I.e., if the radiation level was 14 millirems under the OLD method of calculation and then the NEW method of calculation indicates 18 millirems (after multiplying the old calculation method by .71), well, that’s not really in the area of a 30% increase.  It’s more in the area of an 80% increase.  

The problem is, the stories we’ve seen about this so far do mention the change in computation method, but don’t mention when the variation was applied.

But I can guarantee you this much:  if it were reversed, this would be made clear.  Vermont Yankee would make certain that if the calculation method changed in order to make the numbers artificially higher, and we reported an 80% increase based on a low reading under one method of assessment and a high reading under a different method, they would be all over that story.

So why am I the only one asking questions about whether or not it might be 80% when it’s being reported as 30?

Is anyone able to shed light on this?  I’ve been researching it, but I need more sources to be certain about the answer.

UPDATE I may have found my additional source.  I’ve got a very knowledgeable source who requested anonymity who’s informed me that last year’s dose was calculated under the old method, and this year’s under the new method.  That means that I was right: the actual increase is around 80% not, as has been reported, 30%.  

This source also informs me that this is not a result of a 20% power increase.  When last year’s measurements were taken, there had already been a 12% increase.  So this 80% difference is based on less than half of that 20% increase in power output.

Wow.

Douglas on Douglas

Today’s Burlington Free Press reports that Jim Douglas stopped by to say a few words about various issues.  Notably among them are the following, linked from Mike Townshend’s Blog.

On the budget:

“There will a further decline in the revenue forecast. We are prepared to tighten up.” Where I asked? “I have to figure that out. I do not know the cuts. I am not ready to say.” The numbers will be available next week.

What do you think the odds are that any of that tightening up will actually involve cuts to Douglas’ PR staff?

On Vermont Yankee and other energy:

Last week the governor again expressed concern about safety issues in a Free Press storying [sic]. Friday he said,  “They left me no choice.” It’s like “Homer Simpson is running the place.” Yet, he noted, “with the exception of missing rods, all safety issues have not related to radiation concerns. This is a management issue   … .   W e are past the point of telling Entergy, ‘You’re not doing yourself any favors’ ” with the continuation of public blunders. ”

The safety issues present an ironic possibility for Vermont, Gov . Douglas pointed out. “If we close Vermont Yankee ,   we will buy coal-fueled electricity from Midwest energy sources that we are suing to reduce pollution costs in Vermont.”

[…]

The governor also said, “We need to move away form oil and provide access to wood on state land.”  The state has legal and distribution issues to deal with. “We will decide in the  next  week or so.”

Hey, I have an idea:

Invest in renewable resources that don’t produce greenhouse gases.  Invest in wind and solar technologies.  Invest in moo power.  Invest in job programs which bring people who produce these things to our state.

Invest in Vermont rather than engage in practices likely to damage our forests, our wildlife and our economy.