Archive for September, 2007
The Daily News of Newburyport, MA - Aug 25, 2007
Words on Birds , Steve Grinley
Daily News of Newburyport
There are a couple of local spectacles happening in the bird world during these final weeks of summer. The egret and heron roost off Route 1 in Salisbury continues to attract crowds each evening as upward of 400 egrets, both great and snowy, descend upon the trees around a small pond just off the road. Small numbers of great blue, little blue, green, black-crowned and yellow-crowned night herons have also used this roost in recent weeks. The egrets and herons start arriving in early evening, and their numbers continue to build past sundown. Wood ducks, mergansers, kingfishers and other birds are adding to the show.
If you go to see this event, DO NOT park on Route 1! Parking on a state highway is prohibited, and $75 tickets are being issued. Pull in off the road and walk the small path to the edge of the pond.
This is also the time of year when the swallows congregate on Plum Island. Their numbers will continue to build as they gather and feed in preparation for their journey south. Clouds of swallows will fill the sky, and every cattail in the marsh will have a swallow perched on it as they roost for the night. Doug Chickering of Groveland describes this spectacle well:
“Even as I sat on our deck in Groveland, looking up into the endless blue sky above me, I could see tree swallows. Usually when I sit out in the evening I might see one or two tree swallows. Many times I see none. They used to be more common here on summer evenings but no more. Yet tonight there were tree swallows. Several tree swallows. They glided and fluttered in the wind, sometimes right above me, and sometimes near the horizon of trees. Some no more than a hundred feet and above that through layers almost out of sight. There were not really many of them; maybe a dozen or perhaps a score with a few barn swallows mixed in. I saw them mostly to the east and could not help but conclude that my tree swallows in Groveland were the outer wash of the huge gathering of tree swallows at Plum Island.
“August dwindles away, the greenheads vanish, the peep sandpipers numbers crest, the first smatterings of passerines emerge, and the tree swallows gather at Plum Island. There are many events in the movement and lives of birds that are truly spectacular. This is one of them.
“Earlier today (Saturday, Aug. 18) Lois Cooper and I were on the island. The winds were blustery and because it was low tide, the shore birds were few. Not much to look at; except for the tree swallows. From the gate to Hellcat the tree swallows were riding the winds in various numbers, sometimes scattered above the dunes, sometimes filling the air right above your head and sometimes punishing a bayberry or honeysuckle bush by the side of the road in a massive frantic feeding frenzy, that was almost frightening in its intensity.
“Rick Heil has already indicated the mass of birds in his report, but numbers alone fail to convey the startling, almost fearful sight of so many birds. I do not know when the height of the staging will come, and how intense it will be; but even in the comparatively sparse years it is something special to see.
“I remember one Labor Day, a long time ago, when the tree swallows gathered almost beyond counting. Down the entire length of the island, the tree swallows were always present and flying, sometimes in dense swirling flocks; and sometimes in huge feeding roosts, and sometimes spread in carpets across the road. They stopped traffic, and people simply stood in awe of what they are seeing. I remember Dick Forster, who was on the island the next day, saying that he had never seen so many birds in one place and that his estimate was that there may have been a million tree swallows there. I don’t expect ever to witness anything like that again but will be enormously grateful to the fates if I do. In any case, to see this staging any year is something that should mark the calendar.”
Steve Grinley is the owner of Bird Watcher’s Supply and Gift at the Route 1 traffic circle in Newburyport and the Nature Shop at Joppa Flats.
September 14th, 2007
Flushing Times Ledger, NY - Aug 23, 2007
By Alex Christodoulides
08/23/2007
Briarwood resident Jeffrey Kollbrunner has spent the past five years documenting the comings and goings of his neighbors, their little ones, their meals together.
His neighbors, who have lived in Briarwood for at least 13 years, are a pair of red-tailed hawks he has photographed since 2003 using techniques that do not interfere with the birds’ lives. A selection of the photos is on display in the Barham Rotunda at Queens College’s Rosenthal Library through September 28.
A fluffy white head with bright eyes peers over the edge of its nest in one photo in a cycle depicting the rapid growth of hawk hatchlings, and in the following week’s photo the bird is big enough to perch on the edge of the nest.
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“It’s getting harder and harder to get pictures of them,” Kollbrunner said by telephone. The babies are getting bigger and more independent as the weeks go by, he said.
Kollbrunner said he first learned of the hawks from his wife, who had cut behind Borough Hall one day in 1994 and noticed a large bird. “She rushed home to tell me, and I got my camera and we went back and took pictures. We found one of the babies,” he said, but they never found the nest or the parents that year. “Either it was our lack of experience tracking them that year, or we didn’t look too hard. We saw them the following year, so we knew they were in the area, and we started to learn their territorial boundaries and habits, and where their nests were.” The pair eventually settled on a fire escape for two years before changing homes again, but more often tend to move from one nest to another.
When they settled on an air conditioner at a Briarwood office building, Kollbrunner - who by then had a contact at the New York Audubon Society - arranged for a webcam to be installed and positioned so that he could observe the nest. “The webcam was ordered and sponsored through Audubon. We toured the building to find a good place to install it,” he said. “We were originally going to put the camera in a window, but the windows were never washed. So we installed it in an air conditioner sleeve on April 10, and April 11 they had their first hatch. We could tell because their behavior was different. They were clearly not just rearranging twigs in the nest.”
Manhattan’s famous Fifth Avenue resident hawks, Pale Male and Lola, are the same breed as the ones Kollbrunner has photographed. “Pale Male and Lola go back to the same nest every year, but these birds - except for 2 years they were on fire escape - build a different nest every year,” Kollbrunner said. “They rotate through the neighborhood, spending two or three nights on one. It’s part of maintaining their territory. They like fire escapes, large window air-conditioning units, and they prefer to be about six or seven stories up.”
Kollbrunner has documented all aspects of hawk life: feeding, hatching, hunting, learning to fly.
“Using diverse photographic techniques that do not interfere with these incredible raptors, I have been able to get closer into their world. None of my photographs have been retouched or modified in any way; they are presented as they were originally captured,” he wrote in his introduction to the exhibit.
Kollbrunner’s introduction also explains that he has been observing the hawk couple for more than a decade, and a 2006 article he wrote about them for the New York City Audubon Society describes the birds’ successes, behavior and hardships living in an urban area.
Red-tailed hawks’ preferred habitat includes forests and fields, both of which are in short supply in Queens, and they are carnivorous creatures that prefer small mammals, rodents and reptiles - which are available in the five boroughs. And they have expanded their diet to include pigeons, Kollbrunner said, and have begun using different hunting techniques.
“They usually eat rats, squirrels, mice, voles. When they started catching pigeons, people took notice,” he said. “The hawks fly high in the sky, and it’s almost like they have a map of their territory in their minds. They observe from a high vantage point, and pigeons are creatures of habit and tend to roost in same places. They raid the pigeon nests. The red-tails are aware where these nests are, fly in, come out with a pigeon in their talons.”
Another key difference is that the red-tailed hawks, typically solitary hunters, have begun going out in pairs, especially when the quarry is pigeons, Kollbrunner said.
“They’ve started to hunt in tandem. We see Papa hawk circling, and then he starts to dive and scatters them, then the mother hawk flies into the flock and plucks one,” he said. “This is more typical of Harris hawks, who communally hunt in groups of up to 6.”
Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
If You Go
The Urban Red-Tailed Hawk - Photographs by Jeffrey Kollbrunner
Date: Through Sept. 28
Location: Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, Barham Rotunda, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing
Cost: Free
For More: www.jknaturegallery.com, www.qc.cuny.edu/Library for hours and directions
September 13th, 2007
www.hindu.com
Text and pictures by RANJIT LAL
They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are simple, some beautiful. But they all serve the same purpose. The bird’s nest is but a home to raise its young.
Dogs live in kennels, horses in stables, cows in barns and birds in nests; that’s what most children are taught in kindergarten. Right? But actually that’s not quite right! Actually nests are really nothing but nurseries where eggs are laid and incubated and fledglings served 500 meals a day by their doting parents. And like parents everywhere, birds too make sure that their young have the most comfortable nurseries for their chicks — well most of them do
Let’s start from the ground up. There are those birds, like lapwings, peafowl and partridges that nest on the ground, some laying their eggs on the bare ground, others providing padding of some kind. A large number of bird families have realised the usefulness of holes, hollows and cavities — to bring up their families. Some, like the bee-eaters and kingfishers excavate horizontal tunnels in earth banks — and so must be done with nesting by the time the monsoon breaks or risk their homes and families being washed away. Barbets and woodpeckers are known for their ability to drill neat holes in tree trunks and branches, where they nest, though often mynas might muscle in and turf them out like the land-grabbing Mafiosi. Parakeets too nest in holes, as do owls. The hornbill seals up his mate in a hollow to ensure that she (and her eggs) are safe from the hollow-grabbing Mafiosi types. More artistic and sophisticated are those that build delicate “cup” usually in bushes and shrubs and trees, using grass, straw, stems and twigs woven together with immense skill. Some birds obviously seem to like swinging homes, and build “pendant” nests, and these may range from awful bags of rubbish look-alikes to the graceful vase-like nests of the weaverbirds.
The weaverbird is of course world famous as an architect and a bigamist, but is also very sensitive to criticism. He’ll start off building a nest and when a female comes along, home and husband hunting, will excitedly invite her over. She will inspect the construction and if she approves, will move in then and there with him. He’s delighted of course, and after seeing that she is comfortable (though she provides the soft furnishings) will promptly begin constructing a second home for a second wife and so on, the lousy two-timer! But if she does not approve, he’s likely to throw a right royal tantrum and will destroy his nest and start building afresh. The tailorbird is of course famous for “stitching” leaves together with pliable stalks to form a pouch in which it builds its nest.
Then there are those birds that use what we have used for home building through the ages: mud and straw. Swallows and swifts make homes out of mud and straw, using saliva as cement. They build these in the corners of buildings and houses, and a swallow building its nest in the cornice of your house is considered to be a good omen. The Edible-nest swiftlets use only saliva for their nests (dispensing with the straw and mud) and we — as though starving — have found these nests delicious in concoctions such as “bird’s nest soup”. So much so that the birds are now in danger of extinction because we’re slurping up all their homes. Disgusting, aren’t we?
Like us, many birds live in what you could call are mass housing colonies. Water birds like storks, herons, and egrets, and of course, seabirds, often live in teeming mixed group colonies, some as crowded as the old neighbourhoods of many cities. And of course, many species are learning to live with us, in cities and towns and homes: sparrows on the top of ceiling fans, doves (in one case) on the top of fridges and other such unsuitable locations, sunbirds in our balcony creepers, and mynas in lamp-posts and traffic lights — to mention just a few cases. And birds belonging to the notorious cuckoo family, don’t build nests at all — they sort of give up their chicks for adoption by plonking their eggs in the nests of other birds.
If you do find a nest that is occupied, stay away from it as much as possible. Even if you think that the parent birds do not mind your presence, by constantly peering into a nest or hanging about, you may tip off predators such as cats and crows of the nest’s location. And in some cases, the parent birds may just desert it and you’ll be saddled with the responsibility of incubating the eggs, and feeding the chicks with 500 hairy caterpillars apiece every day! And of course, like the little girl in the film “Fly Away Home”, you’ll have to teach them how to fly too — though that might be fun.
September 12th, 2007
links.jstor.org
M Marin - The Condor, 1997 - JSTOR
Abstract
The behavior of Black Swifts was studied in southern California from 1990 to 1992. Four types of aerial interactions were distinguished: (a) group chase, (b) pair chase, (c) pair contact, and (d) touch and grasp. The latter two interactions can be intraspecific or interspecific. Aerial copulation was not observed.
Nestlings, from age 18 days onward, and adults gave hostile or deterrence displays by wing-raising. Begging by nestlings was silent but aggressive toward the adult. Silent begging may be an antipredator strategy for a species that produces a single chick per season. Nestlings have a far more conspicuous white facial marking than adults; this may function as a target signal to guide food delivery in the dimly lit nesting conditions and as an aid for the adult to find the nest when arriving late at night. Adults roosted on the nest for the first half of the nestling period and then most roosted on the cave walls. During incubation and early brooding, an adult always remained at the nest, and food transfer between adults was observed during this period.
September 11th, 2007
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Sep 8, 2007
By Susan Bell in Paris, Sunday Telegraph
French gourmands are to be denied what one restaurant critic describes as the “barbaric pleasure” of feasting on tiny songbirds after their government announced that it intended finally to enforce laws that have been on the statute books for eight years.
Long considered the pinnacle of gastronomic delight by the French, the ortolan is a protected species after being hunted almost out of existence.
The prized birds can fetch up to €150 (£102) each if sold illegally to restaurants. Diners savour the ritual almost as much as the flavour.
François Mitterrand, the former French president, notoriously feasted upon a whole one at his “last supper” while terminally ill with prostate cancer, concealing his head beneath a napkin in the traditional manner.
Some say the napkin helps the diner savour the aroma, others that it is intended to conceal his greed from God.
The more pragmatic point out that eating ortolan, which is placed in the mouth whole and eaten bones and all, is a very messy business.
France’s League for the Protection of Birds claims ortolan numbers have plunged 30 per cent in the past 10 years, with as many as 1,500 poachers catching an estimated 30,000 live birds a year in the south-western Aquitaine region.
The maximum fine is €6,000 (£4,075), but two of the three poachers caught last year escaped with verbal warnings.
Last week Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the environment minister, declared that enough was enough.
In future, she said, laws passed in 1999 to protect the endangered species would be fully enforced.
Jean-Marc Michel, the head of the ministry’s nature and countryside department, said: “We have brought in reinforcements to increase surveillance on poachers and their traps, and to search suspects’ homes if necessary to catch them in flagrante delicto.”
The move brought predictable dismay. “I find it sad that we can no longer serve ortolan in France, or woodcock for that matter, while it is still possible to eat the latter in restaurants in Britain, Spain and Belgium,” said one leading chef, Michel Rostang.
Restaurateurs caught serving ortolans also face the €6,000 fine and risk jail if they reoffend.
“It is part of our culture which is disappearing,” one complained. “The ortolan isn’t in danger. That’s just a strategy by the ecologists to prevent hunting.”
Officially, ortolan is off the menu at all French restaurants.
But François Simon, the restaurant critic for Le Figaro newspaper, said some would still serve it discreetly – “if you are a close friend of the owner who trusts you to guard his secret with your life”.
Mr Simon, who considers himself fortunate to have savoured the delicacy on several occasions, was enthusiastic.
He said: “It’s absolutely delicious: rather crunchy, with the texture and flavour of hazelnuts.
“The bird is about the size of a young girl’s fist. Some people begin with the head, others start with the rear end – there are competing opinions on how best to enjoy them.”
He admitted, however that eating an ortolan whole was “quite monstrous” to watch. “Hence the napkins.”
How it tastes
Once it has been fattened on millet, the captured ortolan is drowned in armagnac, plucked, and stripped of its feet and a few other tiny parts.
After roasting in a ramekin for eight minutes, it is brought to the table while its pale yellow fat still sizzles, for the diner to take whole into his mouth.
It comes painfully hot, says one who has sampled the forbidden flesh - “but the first taste was delicious, salty and savoury, swiftly followed by the delicate, incomparable flavour of the fat.
“By now it had cooled sufficiently to allow me to get the whole thing into my mouth. It was awkward, but not the struggle I had imagined. I was aware of fine bones but resisted the urge to crunch them immediately.
“Still sucking fat, I was aware of the richer, gamier flavour of its innards. I had been dreading this but the flavour remained delicate. Crunching the bones was like munching sardines or hazelnuts. I chewed a long time. When I finally had to swallow, I regretted the end of a very sensual experience.”
Publishers wishing to reproduce photographs on this page should phone 44 (0) 207 931 2921 or email syndication@telegraph.co.uk
September 10th, 2007
sciencedirect.com
Linda C. Smitha, Samrrah A. Raoufb, 1, Mary Bomberger Brownc, John C. Wingfieldb and Charles R. Brownc, ,
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ 08240, United States
bDepartment of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
cDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, United States
Received 17 May 2004; revised 25 July 2004; accepted 18 August 2004. Available online 26 October 2004.
Abstract
The “challenge hypothesis” states that increases in testosterone levels of male animals during the breeding season are directly related to the extent of intrasexual competition for resources or mates that they experience. Although often tested in territorial species, the challenge hypothesis has not been evaluated for colonial animals that live in groups of different sizes and that thus experience different intensities of intrasexual competition. We measured circulating testosterone levels of male and female cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in southwestern Nebraska, where these birds nest in colonies of widely different sizes. Males had significantly higher testosterone levels than females, as expected. For males especially, there was a seasonal rise in testosterone levels early in the nesting cycle, corresponding to the period when birds were establishing nest ownership and egg laying, and then a fall as they switched to parental duties. Testosterone levels varied significantly with colony size; for both sexes, birds in larger colonies had higher levels of testosterone than those in smaller colonies when controlling for date. Age and body mass were not related to testosterone levels. Higher levels of testosterone for birds of both sexes in larger colonies probably reflect greater competition for matings, often extra pair, in the more social nesting situations. The results support the predictions of the challenge hypothesis.
Keywords: Coloniality; Ectoparasitism; Reproduction; Sexual selection; Social behavior
September 7th, 2007
sciencedirect.com
Chao-Tan Guoa, b, c, Tadanobu Takahashia, c, Wakoto Bukawad, Noriko Takahashic, e, Hirokazu Yagic, e, Koichi Katoc, e, Kazuya I.-P. Jwa Hidaria, c, Daisei Miyamotoa, c, Takashi Suzukia, c and Yasuo Suzukia, c,
aDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Shizuoka, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and COE Program in the 21st century, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
bInstitute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, 182 Tianmushan Road, Hangzhou 310013, PR China
cCREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
dCombi Corporation, Functional Foods Div. 5-2-39 Nishibori, Sakura-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama 338-0832, Japan
eFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan
Received 4 November 2005; accepted 7 February 2006. Available online 3 March 2006.
Abstract
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is the nest of the swift that is made from its saliva. Although EBN has been widely used for enhancing immunocompetence, its antiviral efficacy has not been studied in detail. We found that EBN extract could strongly inhibit infection with influenza viruses in a host range-independent manner when it was hydrolyzed with Pancreatin F. Western blotting assay showed that the EBN extract bound to influenza virus. Furthermore, EBN extract could neutralize the infection of MDCK cells with influenza viruses and inhibit hemagglutination of influenza viruses to erythrocytes, but it could not inhibit the activity of influenza virus sialidase. Fluorometric HPLC indicated that the major molecular species of sialic acid in EBN is N-acetylneuraminic acid. The results suggest that EBN is a safe and valid natural source for the prevention of influenza viruses.
Keywords: Influenza; Bird nest; Sialic acid
September 6th, 2007
The Daily News, Canada - 9 hours ago
CLARENCE STEVENS
The Daily News
This past week has been an exciting one for birders in Nova Scotia. There is no doubt that the fall migration is well on its way to working birders into a frenzy as a slew of unusual birds visit the province. Many will be happy to hear that two of the current Hot Spots in Nova Scotia are near Metro. These are the Prospect area and the provinces Eastern Shore.
On the Dartmouth side of the harbour birders heading up the Eastern Shore have had great luck at seeing a very cooperative Little Gull that has been frequenting the popular Conrads Beach, a large beach located just before the widely known Lawrencetown Beach.
This bird is creating a great opportunity for people to see just how tiny of gull it is. The Little Gull is hanging out with a flock of small size gulls called Bonaparte’s Gulls. Bonaparte’s Gulls are much daintier on the wing that other gulls and often remind birders more of terns in flight then gulls, especially when seen from any distance. In this group the Little Gull really stands out due to its small size. Once one sees this bird up close they can truly appreciate why it deserves the title of the smallest gull in the world.
As one is approaching the beach pay close attention to the sand flats and water on the left side of the road before the parking lot as the Little Gull has been sighted there repeatedly. The water areas around the parking lot are also a good place to look. If not in sight the bird may be feeding in the pond found behind the dunes at the far end of the beach to the right of the parking area.
This is a wonderful chance to study this primarily Palearctic species that breeds from time to time in small numbers in North America.
If one would like a greater taste of European species another 20 minute travel up the Eastern Shore past Conrads Beach is Three Fathom Harbour. There on Sara Willis’s property in a pond famous for rare birds are two European rarities a Eurasian Ruff and a Little Egret.
Both species have been regulars for over a week now in this barrier beach pond known to birders as Dottie’s Pond. Birders are welcomed to visit the pond but please keep in mind its on private property and great care should be taken not to cause any inconvenience to the property owners including the blocking of driveways. Several very good birding spots located on private properties in the Metro area and around the province are now closed to birders due to inconsiderate acts of those visiting the properties.
The rarest bird of the week is a Violet-green Swallow seen briefly on August 30 flying over Wagner’s Beach with is located at Shad Bay Head between Prospect & the bay of Shad Bay. Other rarities seen recently in the Prospect area include a Purple Martin and an immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.
September 5th, 2007
DM Tompkins - Wildlife Biology, 1999 - csa.com
Tompkins, DM
Wildlife Biology [Wildl. Biol.]. Vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 33-36. Mar 1999.
Malaysian populations of ‘edible-nest’ swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae) have declined markedly over the last century. These declines are attributed principally to deleterious effects of nest-harvesting on swiftlet reproduction.
The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of nest-harvesting on the reproductive success of the black-nest swiftlet Aerodramus maximus at Gomantong Caves (Sabah), and predict whether sufficient nestlings are allowed to fledge to maintain the population. Experimental nests were harvested at both the beginning and the end of one breeding season. The manipulation had a significant effect; although all harvested nests were subsequently rebuilt they fledged 17% less nestlings than unharvested controls during the breeding season. Also, the time period between eggs and nestlings appearing in nests, and the time period which nestlings spent in the nest, were both significantly longer at experimental nests than at unharvested controls. This implies that nest-harvesting increases the energetic stress of breeding adult swiftlets. Theoretically, however, enough nestlings do fledge from harvested nests at Gomantong Caves to maintain the population of black-nest swiftlets.
Descriptors: {Q1}; Nests; Human impact; Breeding success; Population decline; Reproductive failure; {Q2}; Aerodramus maximus
September 4th, 2007
Sunshine Coast Daily, Australia - 12 hours ago
12:00a.m. 3 September 2007
| By Sam Benger
Two hundred bird of paradise flowers and 40 square metres of palm fronds covered Noosa Bain Beach yesterday , and from the air it seemed a flock of swallows was about to land.
The artistic masterpiece – an installation using sacred geometry and indigenous mythology in the shape of swallows – was created by local artists Tom Kneische and Michael Richards on Saturday.
The pair toiled for nine hours over the massive artwork, which covered most of the beach, and yesterday their hard work paid off as they witnessed their creation from the air.
Michael said although swallows were not found in Noosa, the symbolic significance of the birds, which represent fertility, regeneration, purity and good fortune, made them the perfect choice to welcome spring.
“Many European and tribal cultures venerate the swallow as a symbol of springtime because of its annual return,” he said.
He said the ephemeral piece – which would be de-constructed today – had captured the attention of all who visited Noosa’s main beach on the weekend.
“The response has been really good and there has been a lot of interest in the significance of the design – some people think it’s for a wedding, but once we explain it to them they understand why we’ve created it,” he said.
Michael said they had created the artwork as a gift to Noosa and it was p important following the damage caused by the floods in the region.
“Because of the storm damage we had to relocate it, and initially it was going to be slightly bigger, but we’ve adjusted it to suit the location and allow people access on to the beach,” he said.
He said the council and lifeguards had helped ensure the installation would not be swept away overnight.
The pair’s next project will be creating a similar design at Bondi Beach, in Sydney.
September 3rd, 2007
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