With the recent death in January of another Maui’s dolphin by entanglement in static fishing gear cetacean biologists around the globe are resigning themselves to yet another whale species facing extinction within the next few years; joining the recently extinct Yangtze river dolphin and the ranks of other critically endangered marine mammal species like the […]
PhotoShare: Little Egret in breeding plumage
I have totally been neglecting my blog this last month, since I posted my “Top 20 for 2011” photos. I am swamped with a lot of work and photography and family related issues at the moment, but thought I might as well just pop a PhotoShare on here in lieu of nothing else to post […]
California’s Largest Burrowing Owl Population Is in Rapid Decline
Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) are listed as endangered in Canada and threatened in Mexico. They are considered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to be a “Bird of Conservation Concern” at the national level, in three USFWS regions, and in nine Bird Conservation Regions. They are also listed as endangered in Minnesota, threatened […]
Wintering Cranes at Arasaki
Perhaps the most important winter refuge for Hooded and White-naped Cranes in the world is the famous Arasaki area in Izumi city, Kagoshima, Japan. From late November each year, thousands of these magnificent birds migrate to this spot on the southwestern coast of Kyushu, and by the end of December most of the more than […]
First record for Bahrain, Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens japonicas) – Alba Marsh Bahrain
I have starting to learn (July 2011) to ring (band) birds, as a trainee, in Bahrain with the help of trainer Brendan Kavanagh . Brendan is licensed to ring under the British Trust for Ornithology scheme which operates in Britain and Ireland and has permission to use their rings in Bahrain. As a trainee ringer […]
Merlin Perched in a Tree
Merlins are winter visitors in the Salt Lake Valley so I have just a few more weeks to attempt photographing them. Merlins used to be called “pigeon hawks” because their shape and flight patterns are similar to pigeons. Merlins feed on small mammals, birds as large as doves and apparently they include bats in their […]
Juvenile Burrowing Owl Portrait
Just a simple portrait of a juvenile Burrowing Owl taken in the soft light of dawn. Burrowing Owls are beautiful birds with lemony yellow eyes, downy soft feathers and subtle coloration. It’s hard to believe that they aren’t that much different in size from an American Robin. OnTheWingPhotography.com
Birding Couch Park, with an homage to the Babe
A much-debated legend in baseball involves the New York Yankee’s Babe Ruth at the plate facing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field for game 3 of the 1932 World Series. According to the story, Ruth was enduring quite a bit of trash-talk from the Cubs’ bench, and he returned same: With the count at two […]