This week in birds - #544

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

 Cactus Wren photographed on a trip to New Mexico.

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The Biden administration rather inexplicably approved an $8 billion project to drill for oil in the National Petroleum Preserve in Alaska, the nation's single largest expanse of untouched wilderness, and ConocoPhillips is moving full steam ahead on the plan.  

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A mass hunt of bison on the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park has killed 1150 animals. The hunt was intended to help keep brucellosis from spreading to nearby livestock. 

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Here's a commentary on planting native plants in your garden.

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Is the Tasmanian tiger truly extinct or is it just very, very good at hiding itself from human eyes?

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This is a snailfish that was filmed five miles underwater off the south coast of Japan. That is the deepest fish that has ever been recorded.

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Tulare Lake in central California has been resurrected from a parched expanse of thirty square miles by recent storms in the area. Here are some pictures that show how reservoirs have been filled by the storms.

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Conservationists and concerned citizens are opposing a plan to mine near the pristine Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia.

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Mature forests are vital to the fight against global warming so why would you allow them to be logged? 

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One of the better ideas to come along in recent years is the building of wildlife corridors alongside busy roads and now $350 million in infrastructure funds can be tapped for that purpose.

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As a child, I first knew this late summer afternoon flier as the "Bullbat," but its proper name is Common Nighthawk and it is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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President Biden recently established the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada preserving some of the most biologically diverse and visually stunning parts of the Mojave Desert. 

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Certain animals show a surprising capacity for solving problems. Goats, for example.

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Flying foxes cannot deal with extreme heat. When temperatures exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit, thousands of the animals die.

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An alarming crash in the numbers of salmon stocks along the West Coast has led to talk of fishing bans on the species.

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A barrage of winter storms has led to record snowpack on the high slopes of Sierra Nevada.

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This is the Akikiki, a small Hawaiian honeycreeper species that is on the brink of extinction.

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If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Southern California and Arizona you may be in for a "super bloom" show of wildflowers this spring.

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Those wildflowers would be manna for Nature's hardest workers, the bees. Not only are they hard workers, they are sentient beings.

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The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a crucial water permit for a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia.

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The official ban on incandescent light bulbs will take effect in August, after which only LED lights will be available from retailers.

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Is there any hope left for us? As Emily Dickinson assured us, it is "the thing with feathers."