Loose Feathers #463

Tundra Swan at Yukon Delta NWR / USFWS

Birds and birding

• With warmer temperatures and less sea ice in the Arctic, polar bears are forced to spend more time on land, where they are now hunting Snow Geese in greater numbers. Researchers are trying to figure out how this affects the geese and other aspects of Arctic ecosystems.
• Studies of common birds can be beneficial for protecting rare species.
• Plans for an Ivanpah-like solar development in California have been stopped for now because of concerns about the toll Ivanpah is taking on migratory birds. 
• The western population of Yellow-billed Cuckoo will be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. While cuckoos in the east are common, western cuckoos face threats to their breeding habitat from agriculture, changing hydrology, and climate change.
• Steamer ducks are notoriously aggressive.

Science and nature blogging

• The Birdist: Changes to the ABA's Recording Rules 
• 10,000 Birds: What Exactly is a Pardalote?
• The Prairie Ecologist: Continuing Wildfire Recovery at the Niobrara Valley Preserve
• mocosocoBirds: A Golden Eagle passes through Morris on Sep. 18, 2014
• Laelaps: How Dinosaurs Set Up an Avian Explosion
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Cheetahs Prosper: New Study Debunks More Old Myths
• The Loom: The Central Park Zoo Hidden From View

Environment and biodiversity

• The Forest Service wants to go ahead with a timber auction in Tongass National Forest even though not much old growth temperate rainforest is left there.
• Using sheepdogs to guard livestock from wolves and coyotes protects the predators as well as the livestock. 
• The effects of climate change are especially harsh on barrier islands like Fire Island in New York.
• A gathering of 35,000 walruses on an Alaska beach has scientists concerned about whether the unusually large group was drawn there by the lack of sea ice in the Chukchi Sea.
• Scientists keep finding new contaminants in our waterways.
• Climate change is likely to blame for the blocking pattern causing the California drought.
• The second phase of the EPA's Great Lakes recovery program will focus on cleaning up 10 contaminated rivers that flow into the lakes.
• Suburban development causes some wildlife to flourish while driving others away.
• Asian Long-horned Beetles have reappeared in Long Island even though they were thought to be eradicated.
• North Jersey had one of its driest Septembers on record. Oddly, it mainly affects North Jersey, but not Central or especially South Jersey.