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Golden Eagle / Photo by Dave Menke (USFWS)
Bird and birding news
- Golden Eagles have also been filmed hunting reindeer in Finland. A film crew followed a reindeer herd during its winter movements and recorded several attempts. It seems that hunting reindeer is mainly attempted by immature eagles.
- Audubon Minnesota tagged a Golden Eagle with a satellite transmitter last spring and has been tracking the eagle's migration routes between Nunavut and the Great Lakes region. Here is the latest map. (Via Birdchick)
- The Sierra Club recommends shutting down the lights at night to make skyscrapers safer for migrating birds.
- The Dominican Republic designated a new wildlife refuge for migratory and resident birds.
- Seabirds and other marine animals are getting killed by exposure to the toxic oil spill in the East Timor Sea. Oil has been leaking from a drilling rig since August 21, and attempts to patch the leak have failed.
- The EPA registered the rodenticide Rozol to kill prairie dogs even though it could cause secondary poisonings if birds of prey eat poisoned prairie dogs.
- The current issue of National Geographic has some great photographs of kingfishers, including one shot underwater.
- Chris Jordan has photographs of a young albatross that died from eating too much plastic.
- After a decade of drought, the woodland bird population in Victoria (Australia) is collapsing.
- This writer praises dogwood trees for attracting birds.
- A gull walked behind an Australian news anchor reading a serious report, illustrating the perils of live traffic cams.
- WolfeNotes: DEP Will Delist Threatened Cooper’s Hawk to Promote Development
- Today in NJ Birding History: Bird Documentation in the Digital Age: What Is a Bird Record?
- Tales of Birding: Cackling Goose
- Sibley Guides Notebook: Ageing Canada Geese
- Brownstone Birding Blog: 6 Ways I Made The Most Of My Fall Birding
- Earbirding: That's No Starling
- The Interior Department plans to designate 200,000 square miles as critical habitat for the 3,500 polar bears in Alaska. Polar bears are threatened primarily by the disappearance of sea ice due to global warming.
- Meanwhile the state of Alaska is still trying to get polar bears delisted.
- Many of the 120 reported frog extinctions since 1980 were caused by a fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) that kills frogs by preventing the flow of electrolytes across the frog's skin, leading to heart attacks.
- A lake on Baffin Island is undergoing changes in chemistry due to climate change.
- The D.C. Council is considering legislation to regulate the removal of wild "nuisance" animals. The council wants to property owners to use relocation rather than lethal control where possible.
- Bowdoin NWR in Montana is trying to reduce the salt levels in the refuge, which have been increasing due to drought and excess irrigation.
- The Center for Biological Diversity has a website profiling 350 species threatened by climate change.
- The US Army Corps of Engineers plans to restore 35 acres of salt marsh in Jamaica Bay.
- The Senate approved Marcia McNutt as USGS Director and science adviser for the Interior Secretary.
- PSFC Environmental Committee: The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb: Landfill and Biodegradation
