Would you care if vultures were dying because of a man-made drug? Meet a man in Spain who really cares about vultures—so much so that he travels great distances and climbs rocks to feed them. The majority of Europe’s vultures live in Spain, and these vultures are in danger of being decimated, following the country’s […]
Socotra Cormorant – Dhahran Expro Wader Roost
Whilst birding the seafront next to the Dhahran Expro Wader Roost I found a Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis sitting in a small tree next to the water edge at very close range but unfortunately it flew after I had only taken a single photo. This is probably the best place in Dhahran to see the […]
Video: Staring Down Angry Elephants (graphic scenes!)
Filmmakers and conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert come face-to-face with a herd of angry elephants. Their only option is to stare the elephants down. If they try to flee, it could provoke an attack. This video was first published by PBS.org on 14 Oct 2015.
Admiring a Great Blue Heron
I was admiring this photo of a great blue heron and its shadow when I remembered the poem “Heron Rises from the Dark, Summer Pond” by Mary Oliver: So heavy is the long-necked, long-bodied heron, always it is a surprise when her smoke-colored wings open and she turns from the […]
POLL: Should Scotland be “rewilded” with wolves?
The last wolf in the UK was shot centuries ago, but now a “rewilding” process could see them return to Scotland. Adam Weymouth hiked across the Scottish Highlands in the footsteps of this lost species. In Glen Feshie there stand Scots Pines more than 300 years old, and in their youth they may have been […]
Petition: Don’t let Bayer overturn the ban on bee-killing pesticides
Wow. Bayer, BASF and Syngenta are suing the European Commission to overturn a ban on the pesticides that are killing millions of bees around the world. A huge public push won this landmark ban — and we can’t sit back and let Big Pesticide overturn it while the bees vanish. Last summer, 37 million bees […]
Well Marked Tree Pipit – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Phil and I found a well-marked Tree Pipit at Sabkhat Al Fasl on Friday 2 October 2015. The bird was seen initially from some distance and caused some thoughts of Olive-backed Pipit. The bird appeared to have relatively plain upperparts, lacking streaking of Tree Pipit and sometimes looking olive toned but other times more brownish. […]
California bans captive breeding of SeaWorld killer whales
The California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved a $100 million expansion of the tanks SeaWorld uses to hold killer whales in San Diego — but it banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them. Animal rights activists praised the decision as a death blow to the use of killer whales at the […]