Of all Britain’s birds, few are as common and widespread, and yet so often taken for granted, as the moorhen. This humble little waterbird goes quietly about its business, eking out a life on the smallest ponds, streams and ditches, while the wider world passes it by. Not for moorhens the vast migrations of wild […]
Category: Wildlife
Meet the Government Agency Using Your Tax Dollars to Kill Wildlife
They’re like a government kill team that targets wildlife — and our tax dollars are keeping them in business. Who are they? A little-known government agency called Wildlife Services. This rogue agency spends tens of millions of taxpayer funds to kill over 100,000 defenseless wild animals every year. And right now, they’re getting away with […]
Birding the Gambia
For birders on a budget, or perhaps nervous first-timers to Africa, the Gambia offers some of the best of the continent’s bird life without the expense of a safari. This tiny West African country is not only the closest Sub-Saharan African destination to the UK but is also served by numerous package companies offering budget […]
Longline fisheries in Costa Rica hook tens of thousands of sea turtles every year
Hundreds of kilometers of commercial fishing lines slither along coastal waters in Costa Rica, hooking thousands of mahi-mahi and many other marketable fish. But when scientists scrutinized fishermen’s catch, they were shocked by the staggering number of sea turtles accidentally snagged on the lines. A study published Aug. 20 in the Journal of Experimental Marine […]
Happy Hour Rush
Elephants love water. You know that by now (at least some of you do). I love watching breeding herds rush to the water as they start to smell the nourishment. One of the best places to do this is around the waterholes of Etosha National Park in Namibia, which is exactly where I am headed […]
Collateral Damage
It’s well known that gamekeepers do their best to stop predators – like eagles, foxes, kites and others – from eating valuable game birds. Every grouse or pheasant is worth around £30-40 to an estate. But what is recently beginning to emerge is the extent to which gamekeepers in Scotland are persecuting mountain hares. There […]
Marsh Wren at the North Tract of Lake Jesup CA
Right near the entrance of the North Tract of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area, there’s a little pond with a couple very vocal Marsh Wrens. One of them was very photogenic and allowed me to get a few photos. I found this bird a couple weeks ago, and I’m just getting around to posting them. […]
Nearly half a million seabirds die in gillnets every year, but solutions exist
A recent study from the Biological Conservation journal brings shocking news: every year across the globe, an estimated 400,000 seabirds are killed by gillnets. Gillnets, a common term for any net used to entangle and catch fish, are used all over the world, and at any depth. These nets, whether used in subsistence or commercial […]