It was early spring on ‘eagle island’ and on our marine excursions covering the north shore of Mull we were monitoring our local white-tailed eagle territory to see if nestingattemptswere taking place. After not seeing any clues in their traditional nest site high up in aconiferplantation, we noticed the female bird seemed to be hunkered […]
Creature Feature: Harp Seal
There’s no doubt that harp seal pups are perilously cute. But did you know that once they grow up, these seals migrate thousands of miles each year? Named after the dark, harp-shaped patterns on the backs of adult seals, harp seals are widespread in the chilly waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. They […]
Snowy owls hunted at New York City’s airports
Whooodunit? Snowy owls, apparently. After one was sucked into an airplane turbine, the species has been added to a list of birds that ‘wildlife specialists’ kill to protect planes from bird strikes. The Port Authority doesn’t give a hoot about the lives of snowy owls. The agency that oversees the city’s airports has added the […]
Over 350 species added to the IUCN Red List’s threatened categories in the last six months
The number of threatened species on the IUCN Red List has grown by 352 since this summer, according to an update released today. Currently, 21,286 species are now listed as threatened with extinction out of the 71,576 that have been evaluated. The new update comes with both good and bad news for a number of […]
New Bush Frog species discovered from Western Ghats of India
Researchers have described a new species of shrub frog Raorchestes ghatei from the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, in India. According to them, the species differs from its close relatives based on a combination of characters including small to medium-sized adult males, snout slightly projecting beyondmouth ventrally, tongue without papilla but with a lingual pit, nuptial […]
Scientists bring the northern bald ibis back to Europe after 300 years
The northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), also called the hermit ibis or waldrapp, is a migratory bird. Once, the bald ibis lived in the Middle East, northern Africa and southern and central Europe, but due to hunting, loss of habitat and pesticide-use, the birds disappeared from most of these areas and is currently considered Critically […]
Playerito unicolor, Baird´s Sandpiper, Calidris bairdii
Hoy les presento al Playerito unicolor, también conocido como Playero de Baird en honor de Spencer Fullerton Baird, un naturalista del siglo XIX, es una de las aves playeras más pequeñas, alcanza los 15 centímetros de longitud y es muy parecido al Playerito rabadilla blanca. Las fotografías que ilustran esta entrada fueron obtenidas en una […]
The Tea Party Hits a New Low With Attack on Endangered Species
While conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) last week, Tea Party members were busy working on a bill to gut the act, which will put the most vulnerable plants and animals at even more risk. The ESA was enacted in 1973 in an effort to protect the […]