New Review Up!

My review of Spider-Man 3 is up at Blood, Blade, and Thruster!

EDIT: comments to this lj post contain spoilers.

3:00 snapshot, #103.

This is a craptastic photo of the inside of our American Kestrel exhibit. A better photo is here. This pair is an interesting case for us. Usually my workplace exhibits non-releasable animals, but these kestrels will eventually be released. Each one suffered feather damage from having perched on a chimney or smokestack: hot gases or smoke scorched their flight feathers to the point where both birds cannot fly. But feathers grow back. And when these birds regrow their flight feathers, they will be released. Timing is important, however. American kestrels are migratory birds (following their insect prey south), and we hope that their feathers will regrow before the fall migration is finished--unfortunately, we haven't found any information indication when this species molts. Most likely it is in the late summer. We shall see.

American kestrels are urban birds: they do fairly well around civilization, eating grasshoppers in farm country and exchanging that diet for sparrows and mice in the city. North American kestrel populations seem to be declining, in part (it is thought) due to the success of another urban raptor. The Cooper's hawk, which does extremely well as a suburban predator that strikes around bird feeders, will also feed on kestrels when they have a chance. Cooper's hawks are about the size of a crow; the American kestrel is North America's smallest raptor--scarcely the size of a robin.

On this day in 365 urban species: Black-and-white warbler. This small woodland bird passes through Boston on its migration, feeding in the bark of trees like a nuthatch. Some of them stay in our large city parks for the summer months, while most spread to more forested places.

Disgusting substance of the day: the moisture inside a previously worn latex glove.