This week in birds - #580

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

The female Red-winged Blackbird looks nothing like her flashy mate. One could even take her for a large sparrow until one sees her striding across the yard. That strut definitely gives her away.
*~*~*~*
One might think that climate change denialism has run its course but not with 15% of Americans it seems.
*~*~*~*
A warm Atlantic could be foretelling an active hurricane season.
*~*~*~*
Thriving plant life on the Greenland ice sheet where it really shouldn't be is causing climate scientists to be concerned.
*~*~*~*
The side of a frog may seem a strange place for a mushroom to grow, but Nature will find a way.
*~*~*~*
Parthenogenesis is yet another solution that Nature has found but it is one that isn't available to us mammals.
*~*~*~*
Paraquat, a toxic herbicide linked to Parkinson's Disease, has again been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for use in this country. That seems like a serious contradiction of the agency's name.
*~*~*~*
How was Earth sent into its longest winter? Scientists have a new theory.
*~*~*~*
Can we set up needed solar power projects without harming Nature?
*~*~*~*
Planting trees can be a good thing but they have to be the right kind of trees.
*~*~*~*
The North Atlantic right whale is already critically endangered but after two have been found dead recently there may be reason to believe their situation is even more serious than previously thought.
*~*~*~*
A defunct golf course in California has been turned into an ecological life raft.
*~*~*~*
The Amazon rainforest could be near to reaching the tipping point of its destruction.
*~*~*~*
This is Gaia, a black-footed cat living at the Hogle Zoo in Utah. Black-footed cats are a small, cute, and vulnerable species. They also hold the title of the deadliest cat on Earth.
*~*~*~*
*~*~*~*
Did the same asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs actually provide a boost to birds?
*~*~*~*
A new report from the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals says that more than a fifth of species under international protection are threatened with extinction. 
*~*~*~*
Could a Stone Age wall found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea be Europe's oldest megastructure?
*~*~*~*
Alligator snapping turtles may start out as pets and then be released into the wild when the owners tire of them or can no longer care for them. Fluffy got lucky.
*~*~*~*
Raw sewage in the Tijuana River along the U.S.-Mexico border is creating a public health crisis.
*~*~*~*
Cave art recently discovered in Patagonia is over 8,000 years old.
*~*~*~*
A 23-year-old platypus found in a creek in Australia may be able to teach scientists things that will help its species survive.
*~*~*~*
*~*~*~*
These two Chilean Flamingo chicks, along with their four siblings, owe their lives to the creative thinking of an Alaskan Airlines flight attendant. 
*~*~*~*
Coral bleaching has now exceeded the parameters of the alert scale that had been in place for more than a decade.
*~*~*~*
Collaring polar bears can teach scientists a lot about those animals and their environment and how climate change is affecting them.
*~*~*~*
Here's a report about Flaco the escaped Eurasian Eagle-owl's year of freedom in the wilds of New York City.
*~*~*~*
Who invented kissing? The Sumerians, maybe?
*~*~*~*
I'll leave you with a picture of Jackie, the Bald Eagle, protecting her three precious eggs after a recent snowstorm.

Comments

  1. It makes no sense that the EPA would approve use of that toxic pesticide, does it? And I've read that there was such a hue and cry over restoring that Egyptian pyramid that they've scrapped the plans and aren't going to do it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The link that I provided takes you to the article about that "hue and cry."

      Delete
  2. It's worrisome to me that the tree-planting initiatives in Africa are perhaps planting non-native trees. I'm also very worried about the end of the Amazon rainforest.

    Both of these things seem to be things outside my control. I do hope that those folks who may have some control over these actions are concerned and thinking about how to do things differently.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You would think that the tree planters would be careful to make sure they are planting native trees but apparently not.

      Delete
  3. Hooray for Jackie. I was interested in the Gaia cat story (she doesn't look deadly right?) and the golf courses being turned into nature preserves. That's pretty amazing for California.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I love the idea of golf courses being turned into Nature preserves!

      Delete
  4. The climate deniers are not surprising, but remain infuriating. That tiny at looks so freaking cute though, I can't believe it is so deadly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree that the deniers are infuriating. There seems to be no reasoning with them.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overboard by Sara Paretsky: A review

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review