pelf-ism is contagious

I have seen turtles being tagged, but until a few weeks ago, I have never seen a bird being banded.

So on a nice sunny afternoon, an officer from the New Jersey State Fish and Wildlife Department (I hope I got this correctly) came to the Wetlands Institute and banded the 3 osprey chicks in the salt march just behind the institute.

The osprey (Pandion haliaetus), also known colloquially as sea-hawk, fish hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching 60 cm in length with a 1.8 m wingspan. The osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. As its other common names suggest, the osprey’s diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It has evolved specialized physical characteristics and exhibits some unique behaviours to assist in hunting and catching prey. Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not a sea-eagle.

- Source: Osprey @ Wikipedia

First, the officer climbs a ladder and reaches for one of the 3 chicks in the osprey nest. He then banded it and then passed the chick around so that we could go “Awww…” over it, while he gets the second chick, and then the third.

The chick looks fierce, huh?

And this is how the band looks like on the osprey chick’s leg. It was a pretty quick, harmless and painless way to band the birds, and the officer banded the 3 chicks in less than 15 minutes.

We were allowed to hold a chick and take pictures with it, and no doubt, that was what we did! The chick was extremely soft and fuzzy. And, no, it’s NOT dead

More pictures taken during the banding here.

So, somewhere in June, Dr. Roger Wood, the Director of Research at the Wetlands Institute took a few of us interns went to New York to attend an Annual Turtle and Tortoise Show hosted by the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society (NYTTS).

The NYTTS Turtle Show was similar to the CTTC-Valley Turtle Show in a sense that both were turtle shows organized by turtle lovers, for turtle lovers

The Turtle Show was held at a school in Greenwich Village, lower Manhattan in New York City. Turtle keepers (is that even the correct term to use?) arrived in the morning and started putting up tables and chairs to display their turtles (or collection of turtles). There were also turtle lovers who did not display turtles, but turtle-products for sale.

One of the differences between the CTTC-Valley Turtle Show and the NYTTS Turtle Show was that turtle keepers at the NYTTS Turtle Show were awarded coloured ribbons as a means of recognizing their efforts. So, halfway through the show, a few judges visited all the turtles and offer advice (if needed) and then judge the turtles based on a few criteria such as the duration the keeper has been taking care of the turtles, whether the turtle is a common or rare species, etc. A best-in-show trophy was also given to the best-in-show turtle..

And this year’s trophy winners were brother-and-sister Christopher and Lauren Cho, who brought a breeding pair of juvenile Japanese leaf turtles (Geoemyda japonica), a rare species.

But guess what happen when the announcer announced Christopher as the best-in-show winner? Lauren was expecting her name to be called too, but when she didn’t hear her name, she just ran towards her Mum and started crying. Very loudly. And we all thought that she was so adorable. But of course, the announcer quickly added, “Christopher and Lauren Cho..” and she wiped her tears, and walked up to receive the trophy. And in less than 15 seconds, she was smiling away for the cameras!

More pictures take during the NYTTS Annual Turtle and Tortoise Show here.

I just got news that my co-Advisor, Prof. L, had just passed away. Prof. L was a man of knowledge and wisdom. He was a great professor. He was very generous with his ideas and suggestions, yet he never failed to get his students to “think”.

Rest in peace, Prof. L. You will forever be in our thoughts.