Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County’s Renai Township has temporarily closed its doors to visitors to conform with the government’s nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert. With nesting season currently underway, a family of collared scops owls — a protected species in Taiwan — has taken up residence in one of the park’s Taiwan incense cedar trees.
Although the recreation area is temporarily closed to the public, the epidemic prevention measures have not stopped its birds and bees from procreating. The months of May and June are nesting season, and things really come to life after dark. Within the recreation area it is possible to observe owls brooding, hear chicks chirping and see adult owls shuttling to and fro from their nests with morsels of food to help their little darlings grow up quickly.
Workers from the recreation area and research specialists from the Endemic Species Research Institute in the county’s Jiji Township were checking breeding boxes when they discovered a family of protected collared scops owls resting in a Taiwan incense cedar tree. The team believes there are at least four collared scops owls nesting in the tree. They have spotted them resting side-by-side in pairs or perching independently. The owls all had their heads tucked down and their eyes closed, sound asleep.
Photo courtesy of Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area 照片：奧萬大森林遊樂區提供
The team quickly grabbed the opportunity to photograph the charming scene, taking as many photos as possible of the owls. While the photographers were snapping away, one fledging owl discreetly opened its big, bright eyes and inclined its head to peek at the people below, which was captured on film to produce a surprisingly soporific photograph of the owlet’s adorably goofy expression.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
南投縣仁愛鄉奧萬大森林遊樂區因配合防疫三級警戒而休園，正值鳥類育雛期，園區的台灣肖楠樹上則有保育鳥類「領角鶚」家族現蹤。
Photo courtesy of Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area 照片：奧萬大森林遊樂區提供
奧萬大森林遊樂區因防疫而休園，生物的繁衍並不因此停歇，五、六月是鳥類育雛的季節，此時入夜時分，園區也能適時觀察到貓頭鷹的育雛畫面，幼鳥會發出「企、企、企」的叫聲，親鳥則會不停來回餵食，希望鳥寶寶快快長大。
園區工作人員與集集特有生物研究保育中心研究人員，日前在調查園區鳥巢箱的繁殖狀況時，就在台灣肖楠樹上發現正在休息的保育鳥類領角鶚家族，樹上至少有四隻領角鶚，有的兩兩相依，或是各據枝頭，每隻都是縮頭、閉眼，睡得香甜。
樹下的人們則是抓緊時機，拿起相機對著可愛的領角鶚家族猛拍，領角鶚幼鳥還會謹慎的睜眼查看，一雙水汪汪、圓滾滾的大眼睛，歪著頭看著樹下的人，呆萌的模樣讓人看了超療癒。
(自由時報佟振國)
A n invasion of Southeast Asian dwarf honey bees, suspected to have entered the country via cargo or passenger ship, and initially detected not far from Kaohsiung Harbor, is causing problems in the city. Since the bees prefer to build their hives on branches, poles or other long cylindrical objects found on balconies, their presence often causes a big shock to residents. In the first half of this year alone, Kaohsiung public health officials have removed more than 500 beehives — a clear indication that the bee population is gradually expanding through the city. In an effort to deal with
A: We still haven’t decided what to do with all these free mangoes. I keep coming up with ideas, and you just shoot them all down. B: I think the fairest thing to do is just divide the boxes between the staff. A: There are 25 boxes and only 20 people working here today. What do we do with the other five boxes? B: Go home and get your blender and the milk and ice. I could do with a smoothie after all this back and forth. A: 我們還沒決定到底要怎麼處理這些免費的芒果。我不停想到一些做法，可是都一直被你打槍。 B: 我覺得最公平的做法，就是把這幾箱平均分配給同事。 A: 這裡有二十五箱，可是今天只有二十個人來上班。那剩下的五箱要怎麼辦？ B: 回去把你的果汁機、牛奶和冰帶來啦！我們討論那麼久，我真的需要喝點冰沙了。 (Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯)
What are we going to do with them all? (4/5) 這麼多芒果要怎麼辦？（四） A: OK, I have one more idea about the free mangoes. Just hear me out. I have a blender at home. I’ll be back in a while with some milk and ice, and we’ll make smoothies for the office. We could charge NT$25 a pop, just to cover my costs and labor. B: Instead of thinking about schemes to make money from the management’s generosity, why don’t you do some actual work? Also, do you have any idea how many smoothies 25 boxes of mangoes will make? A: You can’t have too many mango smoothies. It’s the elixir of the gods. People
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