Friday, February 26, 2016

Loose Feathers #534

Trumpeter Swans / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS
Birds and birding news
Science and nature blogging
Environment and biodiversity

Friday, February 19, 2016

Loose Feathers #533

Horned Lark / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS
Birds and birding news
Science and nature blogging
Environment and biodiversity

Friday, February 12, 2016

Loose Feathers #532

Wild Turkey / Photo by Joanna Gilkeson/USFWS
Birds and birding news
Science and nature blogging
Environment and biodiversity
  • Obama will designate three new national monuments in California to protect desert landscapes with unique habitats and archaeological features. In addition, the new monuments will connect existing protected areas to preserve wildlife corridors and allow species to adapt to climate change.
  • A new paper links the breakdown of empires in the fifth and sixth centuries to a cooling climate
  • The Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the EPA's Clean Power Plan while the regulations are challenged in the court system. This could end up stalling the plan until Obama is out of office.
  • Some EPA officials knew that a toxic spill was possible at the Gold King mine site.
  • Most schoolchildren in the US are not getting accurate information about climate change.
  • The Porter Ranch gas leak reveals a lack of oversight for oil and gas drilling operations in the Los Angeles area.
  • The USDA's Wildlife Services agency continues to kill carnivores in sometimes horrible ways. 
  • Up to half of the Amazonian tree species are endangered if deforestation trends continue.
  • The deer tick genome has finally been sequenced.
  • The Western Bumble Bee, Bombus occidentalis, is recovering from severe population declines in some areas.

Friday, February 05, 2016

Loose Feathers #531

Northern Harrier / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS
Birds and birding news
Science and nature blogging
Environment and biodiversity