[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n schedule, “our” Eastern Bluebird eggs hatched on Sunday, March 12. Bluebirds hatch about as ugly as it gets. Almost naked and blind, in just over two weeks they’ll be fully-feathered, jumping up and down, ready to fly out into the world near the end of March.
Just last week I read of a chick hatched by the world’s oldest known bird. Guess how old? … Wisdom, a Laysan Albatross is thought to be at least 66 years old. She nests at a wildlife refuge at the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii. For her, it takes nearly seven months to incubate an egg and raise a chick to fledge.
Death hit one of Mountain City’s secretive “ringtails” on Cedar at Pin Oak on Sunday night. Sally Kachoris snapped a photo. Many years ago, we occasionally saw one in our backyard live oaks. It’s sometimes called a “ringtail cat”. A cat it is not. It’s shaped like a mink, with a ringed-tail about as long as its body.
