20-Apr-23, 07:31:56 AM
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Ilya is home..The wayward Manatee
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on: 15-Dec-09, 06:25:16 PM
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MIAMI (AP) -- Ilya, the wayward manatee, is being released into the South Florida waters. Ilya's release from the Miami Seaquarium is planned for Tuesday morning. The 1,300-pound sea cow has been undergoing rehabilitation there. Ilya was flown south aboard a Coast Guard C-130 cargo plane after being rescued from a small waterway between northern New Jersey and Staten Island, N.Y. He was huddling near an outfall pipe at a refinery to stay warm. The water temperature was 53 degrees - well below the 68 degrees manatees need to survive. Ilya has migrated in the summer as far north as Massachusetts in the last decade, but he dithered in New Jersey too long this year. I'm so happy...was wondering about this Manatee.  |
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Sandhill crane becomes a celebrity in Mount Gretna (PA)
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on: 15-Dec-09, 07:11:01 AM
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SANDHILL CRANE CLOSEUP 9-09.JPGAnne AnnibaliA sandhill crane at Lake Duffy on the old Railroad Bed Trail between Colebrook and Mount Gretna, Lebanon County.Sandhill cranes are often seen when they migrate down the flyway in the Midwest, but they are an oddity in Pennsylvania.
One of the four-foot-tall birds with a red forehead has taken up residence next to the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail near Mount Gretna. It has become used to the parade of joggers, bicyclists, walkers and horseback riders who pass by.
“I don’t know a lot about birds, but I knew it wasn’t a great blue heron,” said Anne Annibali of West Cornwall Township, who spotted the bird June 15. “I got so excited. I went home and looked it up online, then I thought, ‘I have to tell somebody.’”
She contacted birder Randy Miller of Rapho Township. The bird was seen in the marshy area adjacent to the rail trail as recently as Monday.
Miller said sandhill cranes have been spotted 14 times in Lebanon County since 1997. Most have passed through.
“There’s never been one that stayed this long,” he said.
Some observers worry that it is becoming too tame. Sandhill cranes easily can become used to people and dogs, making it more likely to be injured by predators. Bird watchers warn against feeding it or approaching it too closely. The birds are a protected species in Pennsylvania.
Some people thought the Mount Gretna bird might be injured or otherwise in trouble, but Miller said it appears to be healthy and can fly very well. It can be seen feasting on a diet of seeds, tubers, insects and frogs.
Annibali thinks the crane is just “an adventurous soul.”
Miller hopes the crane will find a mate and settle down. The cranes are hardy enough to survive a winter here, Miller said.
“That bird is educating a lot of people,” he said.
Caption: A Sandhill crane at Lake Duffy on the old Railroad Bed Trail between Colebrook and Mount Gretna, Lebanon County.
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Half a Lifetime Spent in Pursuit of Waterbirds
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on: 15-Dec-09, 07:06:28 AM
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Twenty years ago, Theodore Cross traveled 16 time zones, from New York to Moscow, Irkutsk and Yakutsk, and finally to the tundra of the Kolyma Delta, in northeastern Siberia, to catch a coveted glimpse of an Arctic bird, the Ross’s gull. Mr. Cross did spot one gull, but its nest was overtaken by a parasitic jaeger before he could return with his blind and his long telephoto lens. The trip was a failure.
Two weeks later, the unexpected happened: a Ross’s gull showed up in Baltimore. Thousands of birders converged on the spot for the rare sighting.
“They call it the bird that launched 20,000 binoculars,” Mr. Cross said.
His 344-page volume, “Waterbirds” (W. W. Norton & Company), is part visual encyclopedia, part memoir of a nearly half-century pursuit of birds. In intimate portraits of birds, like tiny sandpipers and the “flying boxcar” of a bar-tailed godwit, and in personal anecdotes of his birding adventures, Mr. Cross, 85, describes how he spent the first half of his life oblivious to birds only to become one of their most ardent photographers and advocates in the second half. Now, he writes, “the memories of them help me accept the brevity of the time that lies ahead.”
Among his favorites are the roseate spoonbill, which was hunted to near extinction a century ago for pink plumes to adorn women’s hats, but has been making a comeback.
The red-tailed tropicbird of Christmas Island is known for its acrobatics. At midday Mr. Cross said, “they take to the air and engage in unbelievable pirouettes, somersaults in a deafening clatter of noise.”
The bar-tailed godwit flies 6,800 miles each year from Alaska to New Zealand without food, water or rest in what Mr. Cross calls “one of nature’s miracles.” And the semipalmated sandpiper, small enough to fit into a teacup, migrates between South America and the Arctic, “through gales and hurricanes, over mountains and ocean.”
“Birds are very much like people in some ways,” Mr. Cross said. “The reddish egret will pretend it’s leaving its nest, the way humans sometimes pretend they’ve lost interest in a boyfriend or girlfriend. But sure enough, they’re going to come back.”
The white tern is incredibly friendly. “If you visit any island in the South Pacific,” he said, “a dozen or more of these little guys will come out and greet you.”
Mr. Cross hopes someday to capture the perfect picture, which he describes as “two reddish egrets in courtship with their fantastic feathers flared up and pointed to the sky.”
A Great Frigatebird, top, and Red-Footed Boobies, on Christmas Island. Caption
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / City doesn't see Loch Raven's potential (MD)
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on: 15-Dec-09, 06:59:57 AM
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I read with interest the news that the Department of Public Works has declared war on a scourge threatening the purity of the waters of Loch Raven: off-road cyclists ("Off-road bikers have rangers on watch," Dec. 10). It is claimed that mountain biking on a few miles of flat trails has caused an erosive deluge that defiles the Loch and imperiles the water supply of Baltimore. It was a relief that erosion from farms and construction, fertilizer runoff from the golf course to the west and petroleum leaking from the the fishing boats are no longer a worry. The Baltimore Department of Public Works will eventually utilize 13 rangers to prevent biking, hiking, running, birding and perhaps all interaction with the reservoir. In essence, the city is shutting down one of the major areas for active pursuits in the Baltimore area.
Having mountain biked since the '80s, I have heard the complaints that mountain bikes cause erosion, destruction of the environment, chaos. This is largely a fallacy. Impact studies do show that poorly designed trails exacerbate erosion and runoff. However, these effects are ameliorated with appropriate trail design and maintanence. The trails around Loch Raven are in somewhat poor condition, especially in the southern region off of Seminary Road where mountain bike traffic is heaviest. Failure to maintain and mark trails has led to a warren of small side trails sprouting around trail obstructions. Ad hoc attempts to surmount trail obstructions are evident and are clearly meant to prevent the proliferation of destructive side trails. In addition, the tortuosity of the trails and the lack of signage leads to the danger of collisions between cyclists and between hikers. The problem at Loch Raven is not one of overuse or inappropriate use but one of woefully poor administration. Contrary to the department's assertions, all trails, including fire trails, have been systematically closed to usage in the last few years. There is an agenda behind their actions which has yet to be revealed.
The Loch Raven area is a magnificent natural resource on par with any metropolitan park in the East Coast. The current policy of closure and isolation highlights the failure of the city to recognize the uniqueness of the reservoir and its potential. It is not simply a dead reservoir of drinking water but a vibrant urban ecosystem. I can envision the development of a trail and usage system that would be the envy of the Eastern Seaboard. The system could have designated mountain bike trails of varying difficulty, birding blinds, a terrain park, scenic overlooks and perhaps even a well-managed, engineered trail spanning the entire circumference of the reservoir. I suspect that creation of a living park would foster such pride that preservation of the integrity of the water quality would be ensured.
Or, we can pay rangers to prevent people from exercising and enjoying the and enjoying the area. Please let the Department of Public Works know your opinions before access is irrevocably denied. ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / NJ: THE MEADOWLANDS - Rare Northern Shrike has been seen on Disposal Road ...
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on: 15-Dec-09, 06:54:59 AM
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(Likely) the Last Shrike Update of the Day
We even had the good fortune of watching it cough up a pellet at the former Kingsland Landfill.
Several birders saw the same show this morning and, as one commented, "Recycling on a landfill -- how appropriate."
We saw the bird across the road from the Carillon, just behind that water retention pond, typically perched very high in a bare tree. (This shot was taken just after noon.)
We are hoping he hangs around for the Christmas Bird Count this weekend -- if not longer.
Several birders saw the Northern Shrike sporadically on Disposal Road from just after noon through 1:15 p.m. today (when we had to leave). Caption
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Thanks so much.
Now that's a beautiful card. Thank you Dot.
