Q: Why are we in this situation, with the Colorado River and its reservoirs shrinking so quickly? A: Truth is, we saw this coming. We use more water than the river provides. The only reason we got away with it for so long was because the reservoirs were full when the climate’s shift to hotter […]
Tag: white pelican
Some birds that fly together in big colonies have evolved brightly-coloured feathers under their wings to avoid mid-air collisions, study suggests
Birds with brightly-coloured feathers under their wings may have developed them to avoid mid-air collisions, experts believe. Researchers compared the underwing colours of 1,780 species and found that larger birds, as well as those that flocked together in big colonies, were most likely to have colourful, contrasting feathers. The researchers think this is because larger […]
Dolphins have begun washing up on Black Sea shores in large numbers due to the Ukraine war
Conservationists at the Tuzly Lagoons national park on the Black Sea in Ukraine have been digging small canals from the coastal lagoons down to the seashore every spring for the past 30 years, linking the bodies of water together. The rivulets, which used to be natural until modern agriculture clogged the little rivers that supplied […]
Response to the bird flu outbreak in Senegal and Mauritania
Nearly 2,500 pelicans died in late January in two National Parks on the border of Senegal and Mauritania as a result of an outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). In late January 2021, 750 Great white pelicans were found dead in the Djoudj bird sanctuary, a remote pocket of wetlands and a UNESCO […]
Spring is for the Birds and Birders!
As days get longer and temperatures begin to climb, birds and birders are anxiously waiting for that annual bliss that comes with the change in seasons. Yes—you know what I am talking about: Spring Migration. While some species are already on the move, we’re waiting for that burst of northward movement from the bulk of […]
Global Big Day
Yesterday I teamed up with Jonathan and Re’a to take part in Global Big Day. Our plan was to record as many species as possible, and also to connect with some specialties that are less likely to get recorded elsewhere. We did not plan our route too carefully, as this was not a competition but […]
I love my new camera
A few days ago I said goodbye to my old Canon 7D mk1. My followers know how much I have been complaining about it in recent months – it certainly took me far too much time to scrap it and get a new camera. I contemplated making a big move to a mirrorless Olympus system, […]
Wings over Israel: conservation challenges and second chances
Israel is one of the most important bird migration bottlenecks in the world. Twice a year, when the call of warmer climes springs nature into action, an estimated 500 million birds make their spectacular odyssey: amongst them, the entire global populations of Lesser Spotted Eagles (~100,000) and Levant Sparrowhawks (~60,000), the entire European population of […]