Rufus the hawk stolen from Wimbledon

Rufus the hawk overlooks the tennis courts at Wimbledon. Photograph: Ian Walton/Getty Images

Police appeal for help finding bird of prey who keeps pigeons away from All England Club during tennis tournament

The bird of prey that patrols the skies of Wimbledon has been stolen.

Rufus, a Harris hawk who keeps pigeons away from the All England Club, was stolen along with his cage overnight between Thursday and Friday.

Detectives are investigating the theft and have appealed for help from members of the public to find the missing bird.

A police spokesman said Rufus was taken from a car parked on a private drive in Dunstall Road, Wimbledon, with the rear window open for ventilation.

The hawk, which deters pigeons purely by his presence, is also a family pet, he said.

"The family has become very attached to the bird, who is now four and a half years old.

"They are distressed over the theft and are appealing for help to recover the bird."

Rufus has become a well-known fixture at the south-west London club, with visitors often stopping to ask for photos with the hawk. He even has his own Twitter account.

His owner, Imogen Davis, 25, said: "It's really, really sad. He was taken in his travelling box, which is where he sleeps because it's nice and dark and cool and he can fall asleep in there."

She said a falconry glove and hood were stolen at the same time.

Hawking was first introduced to the All England Club in 1999. Hawks are trained not to attack but to circle the courts to scare pigeons.

Rufus was flown each morning and evening of the tournament, but not during play so as to avoid any distraction.

News by Guardian


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Hot Wheels Set Record With Double Loop Dare In Los Angeles

Double Loop Dare In Los Angeles

 A rally car driver and a stuntman set a new record by driving through a 66ft high double loop at the X Games in Los Angeles.

Tanner Foust and stuntman Greg Tracy completed the feat at the X Games in Los Angeles on a track the length of two football fields and modelled on Mattel's Hot Wheels Double Dare Snare toy racetrack set.

After finishing first through the loop in the Team Green car and making the jump into the finish ahead of Foust, Tracy said: "That was unbelievable. I tell you what, I'm at a loss for words. That was absolutely the coolest thing I've ever done.

"It was a handful trying to land it and get it slowed down. I knew Tanner was right behind me and I was just hoping we weren't going to tangle before we got to the end."

Foust and Tracy smashed the previous record for the largest loop in a car, set at 42ft in September last year by Chinese driver Li Yatao in Shanghai.

"The moment when it's go time, the heart rate slows down, the adrenaline goes away and it's a matter of letting it happen," Foust said.

Foust and Tracy hit 52mph in the track and experienced approximately seven Gs of force as they went through the loop.

"That was pretty hardcore: the seven Gs … I almost felt my chin hit my lap, I think, in the loop," Foust said after finishing the stunt in the Team Yellow car. "I felt like I was in a toy."

To avoid passing out from the force of seven times gravity, Foust's strategy was to "grunt, tighten your core and try to make your eyeballs and veins pop out".

He added: "It's a matter of following the black line and not passing out."

Tracy said: "It doesn't just happen on the day. It's something we've been working on for a year. When I heard the countdown, I was ready to go."

News by News.sky


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Jordyn Wieber- USA Gymnast Pictures

EPA Crucifier Gets Enviornmental Gig

EPA official who quit over 'crucify' remarks hired by green group

A former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official who resigned earlier this year for comparing his work to crucifixion has found new employment with a leading green group. The Sierra Club on Friday announced that Al Armendariz would be joining the group’s “Beyond Coal” campaign next month as a senior representative.

I covered this story back in April.  It just doesn't seem that long ago.  I guess he was out visiting Disney World.  I was thinking at the time that he was probably headed into the environmental NGO realm at the time, rather than back to mundane academe.

Some reacted strongly to this news:

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who released the video of the meeting, mockingly offered his congratulations to Armendariz on Friday.

“Dr. Armendariz follows numerous Obama administration officials who have come from or moved to radical left and green groups,” Inhofe said in a statement. “It's as if there is a revolving door between the White House and organizations such as the Sierra Club.”

"At least at the Sierra Club he won't get into so much trouble for telling the truth that their true agenda is to kill oil, gas and coal,” he added.

 A lot of people move between industry and government too, so it's not exactly shocking for an ex-admin bigwig to go to an NGO.  However, it strongly suggests that he never intended to enforce the laws fairly.

Richards Ross Track and Field Pictures

A Spin Around the Garden

I went out a little after lunch today to pick up some of the debris the "Super Derecho" (yes, it's new word for me too; I wonder how it's pronounced?)  left on our lawn, and brought the camera.  I was pleasantly surprised to find another Great Spangled Fritillary on the Purple Cone flowers.  They seem to attract a remarkable number of pollinators and nectar sippers.

I find it hard to get a good shot of the top of the wings; they seem to spend most of their time with their wings folded up, just to frustrate me.  But I did get this shot of it leaving the flower, that's sort of in focus, and shows most of the upper pattern.

These are Cleomes from the seeds I won in Laurence Meade's contest to identify the seed capsule over at the Althouse blog.  We have Cleomes that we allow to reseed from year to year (in fact, you would have to be ruthless to root them out entirely), but we were hoping these might be a little different.

And in fact, they are.  Our original Cleomes (on the right) are much farther along at this point, and much taller.  I guess in Wisconsin you want to be sure spring has really sprung before you put much effort into growing.  Meade's Cleomes are also a darker shade of purple than ours.

Another butterfly, the Red Admiral, on our deck.  Top view...

... and the undersides of the wings.  A very cooperative butterfly.

New Faces in Olympic Womens Swim

There are going to be a lot of new faces in the USA swimteam this year.  Many of the older guard, the well known names of women swim are having trouble making the US swim team, opening up spots for many talented younger swimmers.  Here are a few faces you may not recognize, but chances are you will come to know if you are a fan of swim.

Poem

Wardlow

Once

Our lives were built like these limestone walls

Stone by stone

Hewn from the earth.

Fiddlers in “The Bull’s Head”

Bowed for lead man and shepherd alike

Jigs reeling across

Our sweet green  pastures

Where  lambs grew fat

And other places

Seemed so

Faraway.

But now

Our lives are like the vehicles on the turnpike road

Flashing by

To satnav destinations.

Strangers in barn conversions

Chase magazine dreams and eat

Fajita ready meals.

Even “The Bull” has gone -

Like the school -

And what we had

Seems so very

Faraway.

Beach Volleyball Pictures

Another Morning After

As you may know, if you have power, the mid-Atlantic states including Maryland and Washington DC were hit by powerful thunderstorms last night.  Winds of up to 80 mph were reported, there was widespread damage, at least four deaths, and a millions of people without electric power this morning. 

My own experience was that at about 11:00 PM, I walked Skye.  The night was hot and muggy, but air was totally still, but we could hear and see lightening in the distance.

Within 5 minutes, the winds went from zero to astonishing.  You can see it in the wind data from Cove Point (just down the beach a few miles).  Sustained winds on the water jumped from about 10 to 35 knots sustained, with 55 knot gusts. 

 It was a very impressive thunderstorm, with lots of lightening, but I didn't see or hear any very close.  We also received about a half inch of much needed rain.

Things are much calmer this morning.  On our way to and from the beach we saw lots of downed twigs, and a few major branches, but no trees down on houses.  As of now, SMECO reports approximately 5,000 homes out of power.  We are among the fortunate to have it.  Joel isn't.  But we met him anyway at 8:00 AM, in an effort to beat the heat.

 We were pretty successful; we managed the usual walk, north about 1.5 miles, and back, and only got a little sweat in the old eyeballs...

As post storm days usually are, it was gorgeously clear, and a bit breezy, enough to offset the gathering heat.  It was already 92 F at 9:30 AM this morning.

The dogs found this male Box Turtle being washed around by the surf.  Since Boxers aren't aquatic, I suspect he got washed into the Bay in a gully washer last night, and was trying to figure his way out.  After taking his picture, I put him back up by the Kudzu.  Now it's all up to him.

Joel found this nice Mako Shark's tooth literally in my footsteps; I must have been concentrating on something else.

I found this large Snaggletooth lower tooth a few minutes later.

Welp, the Sea Nettle probability is 100%, and I didn't even need a million dollar oceanographic buoy to tell you that.  All I had to do was look at the beach.