Posts
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| Eared Grebe / Photo by Steve Dawes (USFWS) |
- The Great Backyard Bird Count is happening this weekend, February 15-18, 2013. This year, data entry will be integrated into the eBird interface and volunteers will be able to enter data worldwide.
- Birds exposed to urban nighttime light levels mature faster and reproduce sooner than rural birds, according to a study of blackbirds.
- Also in blackbird news, a huge die-off around Vienna in 2001 was caused by a mystery virus, now identified as Usutu virus.
- Ponds where beavers are active thaw more quickly and allow Canada Geese to breed earlier in the season.
- The Purple Sandpiper population in the U.K. is in decline.
- The ability to see ultraviolet light evolved at least eight times among birds.
- Song Sparrows have a series of escalating threats — from song to body language — to warn off intruders before attacking them.
- Scientists found a new owl species in Indonesia by listening to its call.
- Someone found an odd-looking Blue Jay, with unusually dark upperparts and a yellowish belly.
- Molecular research suggests that birds have a similar genetic basis for singing as humans do for speaking.
- Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.: Sea Otters Like It Rough
- Bug Eric: True Bug Tuesday: Candystriped Leafhopper
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: Every tooth is correct. Every whisker is correct.
- The Featured Creature: The Most Incredible Transformation EVER! From Glass Jewel to Fuzzy Flier.
- Tetrapod Zoology: Tubenosed seabirds that shear the waves: of Calonectris , Lugensa , and Puffinus (petrels part VII)
- Extinction Countdown: Giant Pandas at Risk from New Chinese Forestry Policies
- The Smaller Majority: Ice-crawlers
- Outside My Window: Pepper On The Snow
- One of the difficulties in planning for climate change mitigation is that the effects will not be the same in all places. In particular, sea level rise will be much greater in some places (like the northeastern U.S.) than others.
- The northeastern U.S. faces an increased storm surge and storm tide threat as the climate warms.
- Not all products labelled as "compostable" will compost quickly. The link mentions a few ways to tell if the claim is legitimate.
- This week NASA launched Landsat-8, which will help to monitor aspects of the earth's climate, along with land use and other aspects of the environment.
- A fracking operation in Ohio dumped at least 20,000 gallons of untreated fracking wastewater into a storm drain.
- Part of the environmental review for the alterations to the Bayonne Bridge is centered on whether increasing the size of ships coming into Port Elizabeth would also increase the amount of trucking, with a corresponding increase in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
