Bird strikes are a chronic problem for pilots, but an incident Wednesday over the East China Sea involving a Japan Coast Guard patrol plane was particularly serious. After hitting an albatross at around 5:10 p.m. at an altitude of 300 meters, the Bombardier DHC8-315 sustained a big hole in its nose, and the dead bird […]
Recent UAE Vagrants and Migrants
This is my first post in ‘Focusing on Wildlife’. I thought I’d post about some of the vagrants migrants seen in the UAE recently. I start on 23rd December with a trip to Zakher Lakes near Al Ain, the water levels here are increasing at an alarming rate. There used to be many reed beds […]
The Saudi Arabian Gulf Coral Islands
The Saudi Arabian Gulf coral islands are very important sites for birds, both breeding seabirds and migrant passerines and hold internationally important numbers of breeding Lesser Crested Terns (Thalasseus bengalensis) and Bridled Terns (Onychoprion anaethetus). All six Saudi Arabian, Gulf Coral Islands were formed when sand, produced by wave action, boring of some worm species […]
Isahaya Bay in Winter
I always feel very fortunate to live in an area of Japan that is surrounded by some of the best winter birding locations in the country and, indeed, in all of East Asia. From my home in Shimabara, Nagasaki, it is just a short ferry ride and drive to Hikawa and Yatsushiro in Kumamoto, while […]
Chinese consumers urged to be wary what they eat during New Year festivities
TRAFFIC is advising consumers to be especially vigilant in the lead up to Chinese New Year to minimise their consumption of threatened wildlife species. “During Chinese New Year, friends and families gather to celebrate and exchange gifts, but some of the wildlife products consumed at this time are from highly threatened species, and we urge […]
A Win For The Cranes
Kentucky fish and wildlife officials say they are not disappointed that Kentucky hunters killed only 50 sandhill cranes — far less than the 400-bird limit they had set — during a controversial 30-day hunting season that ended Sunday. Actually, they should feel not only disappointed but ashamed. This was an ill-advised and unjustifiable effort to […]
Great Southern White Butterfly
Great Southern White (Ascia monuste). Note the distinctive blue antennae tips. Taken at Gilchrist Park, Punta Gorda, Florida.
Barn Owl Wing Adapted For Stealth
Their screech is one of nature’s eeriest sounds, but barn owls hunt in almost total silence. Now researchers in Germany have revealed how the predators’ wings are specially adapted to allow noiseless flight. Their supreme stealth is thanks, largely, to their ability to fly so slowly – with relatively little beating of their wings. And […]