Posts
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| Swans on Lake Mattamuskeet / Photo by Allie Stewart (USFWS) |
- New York is considering a plan to exterminate Mute Swans within the state by 2025. The linked article explains the state's reasoning and offers arguments for and against the proposal.
- A wetland complex that had been used by 65 species of birds was buried under 2 meters of gravel to build part of the Sochi Olympics complex. An "ornithological park" has been built to replace it, but it is nothing like the original.
- According to one expert, US enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act lacks transparency and seems to come down harder on some industries than others.
- Project SNOWstorm is collecting data on whether Snowy Owls are diurnal or nocturnal when both are an option.
- Bushfires in Australia this summer threaten some rare bird species.
- Three genes that control the color of a pigeon's feathers have a similar function in humans.
- This graphic provides information on Snowy Owls.
- Here is a series of photos of Snowy Owls.
- This article lays out why Snowy Owls (like the one hit by a bus in DC) are ill-suited for big cities. (For updates on that bird's condition, follow @DCCityWildlife and @DCSnowyOwl.) This article discusses the scale of this winter's irruption and some reasons for it.
- Pink-footed Geese turned up in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Travelers were caught in South America as they were smuggling birds for finch fighting.
- Nepal is losing its bird populations.
- mocosocoBirds: Trumpeter Swans in Morris and Somerset Counties
- Wild New Jersey: Nature's Focus: Trumpeter Swan
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: Meet The Predator That Becomes Blind When It Runs After Prey
- The Rattling Crow: Jackdaws inspecting potential nest site
- Hidden New Jersey: O, Wilderness: Untrammeled nature 26 miles from Times Square
- Birding Is Fun!: Painted Buntings in demand and decline
- 10,000 Birds: Swallows. Swallowed
- Birding Frontiers: Wild Artist, February 2014
- Birding New Jersey and the World: The Pictures in the Birdie Books
- "Natural World" Through My Camera: Red-tailed Hawk with Lunch To Go
- Bird Ecology Study Group: Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus chrysippus) eclosions
- Extinction Countdown: Sunday Species Snapshot: Did the Axolotl Just Go Extinct?
- The Corvid Blog: Winter Crow Invasion!
- The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Snowy Owl Pellet — Up Close
- The Raptor Center: Raptor Watching Ethics
- Analysis of sediments from the last Ice Age show that wooly mammoths and other large mammals were wiped out by changes in vegetation triggered by climate change.
- Last year was the second-hottest non-El Niño year.
- Alaska has been unseasonably warm this winter. In fact, the entire Arctic has been abnormally warm.
- Last week, the State Department issued an EIS for the Keystone XL pipeline that minimized the environmental problems that the pipeline could cause. In the wake of that document, environmental activists are calling on John Kerry to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline.
- Meanwhile a report on a previous spill involving the same pipeline company came to light this week.
- Even as it reduces domestic reliance on fossil fuels, the US government is pushing to export more and dirtier fuels to the rest of the world.
- The recent mess in Atlanta is indicative of how unprepared US cities are for even small climate disruptions. This is something that needs to change, and soon.
- Climate change is a contributing factor to the spread of the mountain pine beetle.
- The current governor of Pennsylvania wants to open state parks and forests to fracking. These areas had been placed under a fracking moratorium by the previous governor.
- In addition to all the other problems at the Sochi Olympic Games, there was a plan to put two wild-caught orcas on display in an aquarium at the Olympic site. Fortunately this plan was cancelled, but the orcas are still in captivity.
- The California fish and wildlife agency is formally recommending not to add the Gray Wolf to the state's endangered list but hinted that the state might want to list it anyway.
- In other news, California banned fishing in many watersheds because the severe drought threatens Coho salmon and other fishes.
- The California wintering population of Monarchs appears to be holding steady, unlike the eastern population.
- Duke Energy spilled tons of coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina.
- Since this year's Super Bowl was held MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands, a number of articles have highlighted the environmental improvements in the region over the past several decades. This article describes overall improvements. This urges visitors to check out the wildlife refuges around the stadium.
