Wimpund & Physis (Detektivbüro)

Jenny Bloomfield is an incredible artist

Among all the cute and funny Ajax videos I wanted to make a more serious post about his care since I’ve had quite a few concerned or critical comments. 👇 He fell from the nest before he could survive. Many birds spend time on the ground hopping around and being fed by the parents before they learn to fly. In this case you should not interfere. This was not the case for Ajax. He was not mobile enough to evade predators and his health was poor. It was not possible to put him back up in the nest. In most cases, if you find an immobile baby bird, the best thing you can do is take it to a wildlife rehabilitation shelter. However, I am able to provide the proper care and have good contacts with a number of experts whose advice I can follow. I also work from home when not on fieldwork so have the flexibility to offer the intensive care necessary. By staying by with me, Ajax gets constant personalised one-on-one care. It also allows him to remain in the area where he was found and where his relatives are. I am feeding him the highest quality possible diet and monitoring his health carefully which includes regular weighing and checks for parasites. The care is not easy. It involves feeding him at least every hour throughout daylight which in practice is around 5am to 9pm. Usually feeding means manually pushing the food down his throat with my finger because he is not old enough to eat for himself. He also requires a diverse and specialised diet including live and wild-caught insects and calcium supplement. There are many ways that incorrectly caring for a chick can be fatal. For example, if you attempt to give them water or do not give them the environment necessary to properly develop their bones and muscles. The clips of Ajax watching videos may seem silly but they have serious purpose. By playing him videos of wild birds when he is inside, I ensure he continues to be exposed to their sight and sounds. By watching clips of adult birds foraging, he is able to learn these behaviours for himself. I also play him videos of predators with corvid alarm call so that he learns to associate them with danger. This comes in addition to the practical enrichment and training I am giving him. He spends hours in the garden each day, free roaming (now that he can hop) but carefully supervised. There he is exposed to the calls of wild birds including his own relatives in the trees. The wild corvids have seen me with him and communicate with him vocally. They can see me feeding him and helping him teaching him insect-catching skills. Corvids are extremely social and intelligent, often compared to chimpanzees. If they saw me with Ajax as a threat or something distressing, they would be making alarm calls. They don’t. Ajax is not caged and will not be kept in captivity. He is being very carefully rehabilitated and will have the option of flying freely as soon as he is able to and if it is safe to do so. Magpies usually stay with their parents for several months after learning to fly so that they can be taught essential life skills like how to find food and evade predators. I am aware of this and fully prepared to give him personal tuition. It is literally my job to conduct ecological surveys and find and identify insects. It is also something I do all the time for interest anyway. I taught entomological field skills to humans for years. I can teach them to a magpie too. If he decides that he wants to stay with me then he is very welcome to and I will care for him in whatever way he wants or needs for as long as necessary. This could be at best 10 - 20 years, though average wild lifespan is more like 3 years and only around 20% of magpie fledglings survive their first year. For those from rehabilitation centres, the survival rates are likely even lower. Anyway, I will do the best that I can and appreciate all the concern. Yesterday, I had Ajax checked over and professionally ringed so that he will be monitored and protected for life.

This is one of the most terrifying things I've ever read.

STONE AGE SOURDOUGH PIZZA. The earliest forms of baking would not have taken place in ovens. Dough would have been buried under hot ashes, either on a stone or in a pit. The same principle can be used to make surprisingly good pizza. Bury the dough for 10-15 minutes for a deliciously smoky pizza.