It's not funny, but it kind of is!
Mar 9th 2004, 1:23 pm
#1
Lost in BE Cyberspace
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Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Avon Lake, OH
Posts: 5,270
It's not funny, but it kind of is!
It also has a very unfortunate scientific name (second to last paragraph)
From BBC news
Twitchers watch robin served rare
Sparrow hawks hunt insects, mammals, birds and reptiles
Birdwatchers from all over Britain who gathered in Grimsby to catch sight of a rare American robin were horrified to see her eaten by a passing sparrowhawk.
They were still setting up their cameras when the predator swooped down from a row of drab factories and warehouses on an industrial estate.
The young bird, from the southern US, "didn't really live to enjoy her moment of fame," a twitcher told the Guardian.
The robin's vivid red breast made her an obvious candidate for a lunch date.
"It was a terrible moment," Graham Appleton, of the British Trust for Ornithology, which had spread news of the bird's arrival, told the newspaper.
Long-distance travels
But the trust's migration watch organiser Dawn Balmer was more philosophical.
The robin, whose scientific name Turdus migratorius derives from its long-distance travels within America was probably blown across the Atlantic after being "caught up in a jetstream", Mr Appleton added.
A member of the thrush family, with oily-black wings and tail, American robin are as big as British blackbirds.
From BBC news
Twitchers watch robin served rare
Sparrow hawks hunt insects, mammals, birds and reptiles
Birdwatchers from all over Britain who gathered in Grimsby to catch sight of a rare American robin were horrified to see her eaten by a passing sparrowhawk.
They were still setting up their cameras when the predator swooped down from a row of drab factories and warehouses on an industrial estate.
The young bird, from the southern US, "didn't really live to enjoy her moment of fame," a twitcher told the Guardian.
The robin's vivid red breast made her an obvious candidate for a lunch date.
"It was a terrible moment," Graham Appleton, of the British Trust for Ornithology, which had spread news of the bird's arrival, told the newspaper.
Long-distance travels
But the trust's migration watch organiser Dawn Balmer was more philosophical.
The robin, whose scientific name Turdus migratorius derives from its long-distance travels within America was probably blown across the Atlantic after being "caught up in a jetstream", Mr Appleton added.
A member of the thrush family, with oily-black wings and tail, American robin are as big as British blackbirds.
Mar 9th 2004, 1:33 pm
#2
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Joined: Feb 2003
Location: We're here!
Posts: 768
Re: It's not funny, but it kind of is!
Originally posted by Duncan Roberts
Birdwatchers from all over Britain who gathered in Grimsby to catch sight of a rare American robin were horrified to see her eaten by a passing sparrowhawk.
The robin, whose scientific name Turdus migratorius.....
Birdwatchers from all over Britain who gathered in Grimsby to catch sight of a rare American robin were horrified to see her eaten by a passing sparrowhawk.
The robin, whose scientific name Turdus migratorius.....
I must admit I did have a little titter at this - all be it a guilty one... poor lil' birdy.
Mar 9th 2004, 1:51 pm
#3
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,082
We saw our first Robin of the year yesterday.
So it is unofficially spring in Connecticut! (Ummmm as soon as the snow stops that is.) ô¿~
Locked and loaded for passing sparrowhawks.
So it is unofficially spring in Connecticut! (Ummmm as soon as the snow stops that is.) ô¿~
Locked and loaded for passing sparrowhawks.
