Last Saturday I went with a couple of friends to North Lido Beach in Sarasota (after finding the Tropical Kingbirds nearby). We found a couple Sandwich Terns along the shore. This is one of my favorite species of tern, partly because the pale tip makes them so easy to identify, and partly because their slender […]
Last disease-free Tasmanian devils imperiled by mine
The federal environment minister, Mark Butler, has given the go-ahead to a controversial mine that the courts halted amid concerns it could drastically affect the last stronghold of the Tasmanian devil. Butler said he had granted approval to Shree Minerals to proceed with its iron ore mine at Nelson Bay River in the north-west of […]
Quest to save the snow leopard
Two decades after he first aimed his rifle at one of the world’s rarest mammals, Karmal was again on the hunt for the elusive snow leopard. Stalking through the mountains of north-eastern Afghanistan, he was getting closer. There were paw prints in the sand and scratch marks on the limestone boulders, signs that the leopard […]
La Janda News
Good news that aerial crop spraying is now limited to only a few specific controls for health and agriculture. Natural sprays are used against mosquito control in La Janda although to be honest the problem with such insects is the same in the pine forests. Most of the fertiliser spraying that takes place is showering […]
In search of Sooty Falcon
The Sooty Falcon has undergone a major decline in Arabia. Current status as per the EBRC (Emirates Bird Recording Committee) – “Highly endangered declining breeding visitor (5 nesting pairs in 2008, per EAD) to offshore Arabian Gulf islands. Rare migrant onshore”.So it was a pleasant surprise when an Emirati friend of mine reported a sighting […]
10 Facts You May Not Have Known About Sharks
Because you can’t keep pulling out the same stale old facts at your Shark Week parties, we’re going to hook you up with some fresh new shark facts to astound and amaze your friends and family! When we told a few of these shark facts to the basking shark in the photo below, his jaw […]
Starved polar bear perished due to record sea-ice melt
A starved polar bear found found dead in Svalbard as “little more than skin and bones” perished due to a lack of sea ice on which to hunt seals, according to a reknowned polar bear expert. Climate change has reduced sea ice in the Arctic to record lows in the last year and Dr Ian […]