This week in birds - #539
A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:
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There is an abundance of wind and solar energy projects set to go in the United States and yet they are running into serious delays as a result of antiquated systems.
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Incidents involving the accidental release of chemicals happen in the United States on an average of every two days.
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Climate change is real and, as a result, parts of this country are seeing the earliest spring conditions on record.
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The future of the great Okefenokee Swamp is being threatened by a plan to mine for titanium dioxide in the area.
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Winter in northern climes brings drastic changes to the landscape. These pictures bear witness to those changes.
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One benefit of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden in 2021 is that it helps to reconnect habitats for freshwater and terrestrial animals.
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A giant lacewing discovered at an Arkansas Walmart in 2012 turned out to be the first of its kind seen in eastern North America in more than fifty years.
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Sadly, a female Bald Eagle from the Mystic River Watershed has died after being brought to a wildlife center for treatment when she was discovered to be ill. She likely succumbed to rat poison found in the bodies of her prey.
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Raider ants, a parasitic variety, are freeloaders that seem to mimic queens.
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A fatal fungus has been attacking the world's amphibians for a number of years now. A species of frog is now on the brink of extinction. Can science save it?
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Fossils of the oldest known potential pollinator have been discovered in Russia near the village of Chekarda.
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Twenty-three dead whales have washed up on the continent's east coast since December. What is causing these deaths?
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In other news of whales, an unusual feeding technique used by them was documented in ancient texts as early as two thousand years ago.
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This has been a week of continent-wide late winter storms.
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How do you successfully film wildlife? David Attenborough's camera wizards are the experts!
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Logging in the Williamson's Sapsucker's old-growth forest home is further endangering an already endangered species.
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One detrimental effect of the climate crisis facing the planet is an increase in human-wildlife conflicts.
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What is vocal fry and why do whales and dolphins use it in their communications?
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Sir David Attenborough's camera wizards have brought me many hours of knowledge and pleasure, and I can attest to some of our late winter storms, since the winds seem intent on blowing down major portions of my house and landscaping. Enough already!
ReplyDeleteOh, my. Well, stay safe and I hope the storms pass soon.
DeleteI wish (here in New York) spring would make up its mind. It's like a weather roller coaster. No hummingbirds until early May for us here, and they will only be ruby throated hummers. Because I lived in Northwest Arkansas for five years, that story about the insect in the Wal-Mart got my immediate attention. It's a fascinating story.
ReplyDeleteI agree it is fascinating. I have seen lacewings here in Southeast Texas although at the moment I can't recall the last one I saw here.
DeleteI've never seen a Rufous Hummingbird here at my house. It's lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly seems like we are having a very early spring this year. I hear there is cold weather coming this week, though.
In recent years, we've had at least one overwintering Rufous in our yard most years.
DeleteSpring advances and retreats, advances and retreats. She's a tease.
Good morning, Dorothy. Thanks you as always for the roundup. It is really quite inexcusable that despite the mountain of evidence produced in recent years about the irreplaceable qualities of old growth forests that we continue to destroy them for short-term gain. I would gladly travel to explore the wonders of an old growth forest - and have done so - spending my money in the community, but a clear cut, or even a selective cut would remove that incentive. The protection of ecological integrity is so vital, yet is routinely ignored, science be damned. The other night when watching Venus and Jupiter, and contemplating the vast distances of space, I couldn't help but be reminded that this is the only home we will ever have, yet we keep on trashing it and killing each other. It is unfathomable.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome at any time, David, early or late! And I can only second everything you've said.
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