A leopard killed dozens of endangered penguins at a nature reserve outside Cape Town earlier this month, prompting a renewed debate about how best to protect South Africa’s threatened species. Ranger Cuan McGeorge found the bloodied, lifeless bodies of 33 African penguins on 11 June scattered across Stony Point, a reserve at the sleepy holiday […]
Arabian Scops Owl at Al Mehfar Park – Tanoumah
Whilst birding the Al Mehfar Park area of Tanoumah, I heard a number of Arabian Scops Owls calling just after dark. A minimum of six birds were calling in a relatively small area suggesting the species is common in the correct mountain habitat. I managed to see one bird hunting in a relatively open position […]
Results of the Best Photo of the Week Ended 25 Jun 2016
We are delighted to announce the results of our latest photo competition. Dave Waddell wins First Prize for his brilliant capture “Up on Fox Hill”. Kath Aggiss wins Second Prize for her outstanding composition “Smile”. Third Prize goes to Rob Belterman for his excellent photo entitled “Little Ringed Plovers”. See detailed results below: (click […]
Brown Bears Use ‘Human Shield’ to Protect Their Cubs
You might think that winter is the most dangerous time of the year for a young animal. But for Scandinavian brown bear cubs, these next few weeks may determine whether the animal lives or dies. That’s because early May to mid-July is breeding season for Sweden’s brown bears. The males, in a desperate attempt to […]
POLL: Should China’s dog meat festival be banned?
Although dogs have been eaten in parts of East Asia for hundreds—and possibly thousands—of years, a relatively new festival in Yulin, China, has sparked global controversy and polarized many Chinese, over both the treatment of the animals and the practice of eating them. The ten-day Lychee and Dog Meat Festival started in Yulin, in southern […]
A new little family and a scary threat to their survival
Last fall on September 7, when I was taking photos of my dog Pip and the birds at my birdbath, I noticed some Red-bellied Woodpeckers in my yard and my neighbors’. They were here and there, hard to track in the foliage, but I saw at least one adult and at least two young birds, […]
Endangered sandpipers lay eggs in captivity for the first time
One of the world’s rarest birds has laid eggs in captivity for the first time, in what wildlife experts say provides new hope for the species’ tiny wild population. Only around 200 breeding pairs of critically endangered spoon-billed sandpipers remain in the wild, where they make an annual 10,000 mile round-trip between their Russian Arctic […]