I returned from a splendid three week trip to a place that is affectionately referred to as “The Rock” in August 2011. After a few weeks driving around the beautiful province of Newfoundland I can see why as the rocky geology and rugged coastlines aptly earn their nickname. The landscape also creates perfect habitat for […]
Category: Wildlife
Reddish Egrets in Florida
Reddish Egrets are the rarest, and arguably the most beautiful, of the Florida herons. Once relatively common along the coastlines of Florida in the 19th century, plume hunters nearly eradicated the species from Florida by the early 20th century. Since the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Reddish Egret has been increasing in numbers in […]
The World’s rarest dolphin faces extinction…
With the recent death in January of another Maui’s dolphin by entanglement in static fishing gear cetacean biologists around the globe are resigning themselves to yet another whale species facing extinction within the next few years; joining the recently extinct Yangtze river dolphin and the ranks of other critically endangered marine mammal species like the […]
PhotoShare: Little Egret in breeding plumage
I have totally been neglecting my blog this last month, since I posted my “Top 20 for 2011” photos. I am swamped with a lot of work and photography and family related issues at the moment, but thought I might as well just pop a PhotoShare on here in lieu of nothing else to post […]
California’s Largest Burrowing Owl Population Is in Rapid Decline
Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) are listed as endangered in Canada and threatened in Mexico. They are considered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to be a “Bird of Conservation Concern” at the national level, in three USFWS regions, and in nine Bird Conservation Regions. They are also listed as endangered in Minnesota, threatened […]
Wintering Cranes at Arasaki
Perhaps the most important winter refuge for Hooded and White-naped Cranes in the world is the famous Arasaki area in Izumi city, Kagoshima, Japan. From late November each year, thousands of these magnificent birds migrate to this spot on the southwestern coast of Kyushu, and by the end of December most of the more than […]
First record for Bahrain, Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens japonicas) – Alba Marsh Bahrain
I have starting to learn (July 2011) to ring (band) birds, as a trainee, in Bahrain with the help of trainer Brendan Kavanagh . Brendan is licensed to ring under the British Trust for Ornithology scheme which operates in Britain and Ireland and has permission to use their rings in Bahrain. As a trainee ringer […]
Merlin Perched in a Tree
Merlins are winter visitors in the Salt Lake Valley so I have just a few more weeks to attempt photographing them. Merlins used to be called “pigeon hawks” because their shape and flight patterns are similar to pigeons. Merlins feed on small mammals, birds as large as doves and apparently they include bats in their […]