Another precise landing for the Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath), world’s largest heron. Mana Pools, Zimbabwe.
Results of the Best Photo of the Week Ended 23 Jul 2016
We are delighted to announce the results of our latest photo competition. Candy McManiman wins First Prize for her brilliant capture “Whose Birdbath Is It Anyways?”. Dana Allen wins Second Prize for his outstanding composition “Leopards of Luangwa”. Third Prize goes to Paamul Jack for his excellent photo entitled “Oh No! – Howler-monkey Mama Protecting […]
Are mockingbirds life-long learners?
Ornithologists have long maintained that Northern Mockingbirds are continual learners, adding new imitations to their songs year after year. The assumption has been that imitations of different sounds indicate the breadth of experiences a male has lived through, and that female mockingbirds are drawn to the most experienced males. The American Ornithologists’ Union and Cornell […]
How to survive a bear encounter
Peak camping season is upon us, and this July and August millions of Americans will be loading the minivan, heading into our national parks and forests, and inevitably meeting some bears. Fortunately, most of these encounters will be uneventful. In almost every case, the bear will turn its tail and run. Take Yellowstone national park […]
Disappearing Nightingales
Taking photos of Common Nightingales can be tricky but flight shots are pretty rare and I was really pleased to capture a sequence of photos set on 1/2500th of a second of such a bird in ‘hovermode’, something that to me at least is a pretty rare sight. During the breeding season and with young […]
Massive relocation of 500 elephants begins in Malawi
In one of the largest scale translocations ever, some 500 African elephants are currently being moved to what is believed to be a safer habitat in Malawi. Elephants are being shot by tranquilizer darts, then retrieved by cranes and recovery trucks. The elephants are then awoken in special “wake-up crates” and then transported 450 kilometers […]
Harns Marsh Preserve Summer Activity
The water level at Harns Marsh Preserve during a 19 July visit was very high, but did not deter a large number of waders from finding the habitat suitable. Bud Tom Obrock and I made a drive over to the preserve in Lehigh Acres which also hosted a very good number of Purple Gallinule and […]
POLL: Should the lynx be rewilded in the UK?
During the Second World War small groups of people were thinking about how wildlife and the countryside might best be conserved in the hoped-for aftermath of the conflict. From such discussions emerged in 1949 the Nature Conservancy, the first government conservation body in Britain. It sought to protect examples of heaths, meadows, moorland and coppiced […]