Save to del.icio.us  Submit to Digg  Seed Newsvine Find blogs discussing this release 
More Species Closer to Extinction

OTTAWA, Nov. 30 /CNW Telbec/ - So concluded COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), which met in Ottawa from November 23 to 27, 2009, to assess the risk of extinction for Canadian wildlife species. Of the 28 wildlife species assessed, many plants and animals are habitat specialists requiring specific and increasingly rare conditions to survive - all of these wildlife species suffer from habitat loss and fragmentation.

The Greater Prairie-Chicken that once numbered in the millions on the grasslands of the Canadian prairies, the Atlantic population of the Grey Whale on Canada's east coast and the Dwarf Wedgemussel, a mollusc whose habitat was destroyed by a causeway were all reassessed as Extirpated. The Eskimo Curlew, a bird known to nest only in Canada, was assessed as Endangered. Given there have been no verified sightings of this wildlife species anywhere since 1963, the Eskimo Curlew is on the brink of becoming the first Canadian bird to be declared Extinct since the Passenger Pigeon nearly 100 years ago. Without a reversal in habitat loss, climate change and direct human impacts, these assessments of Extirpated and Extinct will become more frequent.

Swift Rebound for Swift Fox - A Good News Story?

Known as one of the fastest animals in North America, this beautiful small fox holds considerable appeal as a symbol of prairie conservation and First Nations spirituality. Unfortunately, unrestrained harvest and poisoning decimated the Canadian population; the last sighting in the wild occurred in 1938 in Alberta. Efforts to reintroduce the Swift Fox beginning in 1983 appear to have been successful. Although the wildlife species was designated as Endangered in 2000, numbers in Alberta and Saskatchewan have since doubled leading to a reduced likelihood of extinction and a designation of Threatened. The wildlife species is, however, still imperilled because of habitat loss and risk of disease, which can rapidly spread through fox populations.

Big Shark in Deep Trouble

Despite this success, many wildlife species are still considered to be at risk in Canada. The Atlantic population of the Basking Shark, the largest fish in Canadian waters, was assessed as a wildlife species of Special Concern. Feeding on tiny plankton, it grows up to 12 meters - nearly the length of a city bus. This wildlife species is particularly susceptible to population declines because it takes up to 18 years to reach maturity and females are pregnant for about two and half years, one of the longest periods of any animal. The total population is estimated to be about 5 000 adults. The Pacific population of Basking Shark, which was once abundant and now rarely seen, was assessed as Endangered in 2007. This highlights the vulnerability of the wildlife species as a whole.

Fire Suppression Harms Wildlife

Over the decades, humans have become increasingly vigilant at preventing wildfires to protect human property and lives. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost to many native wildlife species that depend on periodic fires integral to ecosystem renewal. Three eastern Canadian wildlife species assessed at the meeting are particularly reliant on habitats produced by wildfire and all were assessed as Endangered. These include: the Northern Barrens Tiger Beetle, a globally imperiled, showy green beetle of the pine savannahs; an annual herb the Pink Milkwort, which depends on the wet prairie habitats of Ontario; and, a tall herb from the pea family, the Virginia Goat's-rue which lives in oak savannahs of Ontario.

Next meeting

COSEWIC's next scheduled wildlife species assessment meeting will be held in Victoria, BC, on April 25-30, 2010.

About COSEWIC

COSEWIC assesses the status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, or other important units of biological diversity, considered to be at risk in Canada. To do so, COSEWIC uses scientific, Aboriginal traditional and community knowledge provided by experts from governments, academia and other organizations. Summaries of assessments are currently available to the public on the COSEWIC website (www.cosewic.gc.ca) and will be submitted to the Federal Minister of the Environment in late summer 2010 for listing consideration under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). At that time, the full status reports will be publicly available on the SAR Public Registry (www.sararegistry.gc.ca).

There are now 585 wildlife species in various COSEWIC risk categories, including 250 Endangered, 150 Threatened, 162 Special Concern, 23 Extirpated (i.e. no longer found in the wild in Canada), and 13 wildlife species are Extinct. In addition, 45 wildlife species are Data Deficient.

[more]

WASHINGTON, DC, December 1, 2009 (ENS) – Honeycreepers that sing in Hawaii's mountain forests, the lynx that inhabit the snowy Rocky Mountains and New England, and the grizzly bears of the Rocky mountains are among America's top 10 threatened species already suffering from global warming, according to a new report released today.

The report was produced by the Endangered Species Coalition in conjunction with a coalition of groups, including American Bird Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Center for Biological Diversity.

It focuses on 10 species or groups of related species that are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act or are candidates for listing. The 11th species, selected in an online poll, is the polar bear, which is listed as threatened under the act.

The global warming threats to these species include increased disease, diminished reproduction, lost habitat and reduced food supply.  http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2009/2009-12-01-091.asp more

Click the map for a larger view
Just when we think Quest may have settled into a pattern she throws yet another specto subitus moment at us.  With few exceptions, she's been sticking close to the Lennox power station, no doubt content to feast on the plentiful prey in the surrounding wetland and on the...

Link:
http://rfalconcam.com/imprinting/?p=922

Quest likes the beaches...she was on Beach Rd. Smart girl. 

Click the map for a larger view
Just when we think Quest may have settled into a pattern she throws yet another specto subitus moment at us.  With few exceptions, she's been sticking close to the Lennox power station, no doubt content to feast on the plentiful prey in the surrounding wetland and on the...

Link:
http://rfalconcam.com/imprinting/?p=922

  WOW!!!!

I've already watched it 6 times!  This little one is just the cutest thing!

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/6522901?fr=yvmtf 

Way too cute...and yes!!!! I had to watch it over and over again too. Thanks Judi, I love it.       

[2 timing mate to boot!]

!!! One Mystery Solved, and another mystery surfaces??
May 20, 2009 - Scarborough - Bell
Mark Nash Reports:

Stay tuned, as this could get very interesting indeed!!

We stayed until it was too dark to see clearly and watched Linn settle in for the night on the upper east ledges of the building.

I think we'll find out in the spring that she's fine.  I suspect her "nest" turned out like Archer & Beauty's-not quite enough experience to successfully deal with an unestablished site and Linn had a 2 timing mate to boot!

She sure did Ei..

[Linn]

!!! One Mystery Solved, and another mystery surfaces??
May 20, 2009 - Scarborough - Bell
Mark Nash Reports:

After leaving the Yellow Pages nest site, we headed off to the Bell site to check in on Linn to get an update on her status.  After more than an hour at street level scanning both the communications tower and every nook and cranny of the building, (and with absolutely no birds in sight), we decided to check in at the hack box to utilize the peep holes to see if she was home.  Not only was no one at home, there was no evidence of any activity in the hack box.  No scrape, no eggs, and no peregrines. Seconds later as we were exiting the roof, we heard vocalizing coming from the direction of the communications tower to the east of the building and before we had a chance to react, we were aggressively stooped and pursued from above as Linn seems to come from no where.  Very aggressive & protective behavior indeed! Very territorial!  No male was observed during this visit.  After arriving back at street level, we both concluded that Linn may have produced / laid eggs somewhere else on the facility, (and suspected that her mate was currently incubating).  This would explain both her protective behavior and the lack of her mate’s presence. We stayed and watched from the street level for the next hour and never saw the presence of a male, nor did Linn return to any part of the building, preferring to roost on the communication tower to the east of the building.  After returning to the CPF office, we received news about the band number of the male that Marion and Bruce had watched and recorded several days earlier when they observed this male involved in a three hour plus long courtship and 8 copulations with Linn during this time frame.  The males band number was observed and recorded by both Marin and Bruce as being a Black 43 over Green M belongs and belongs to non-other than Rueben!!  Rueben was Lawrie’s mate here at the Scarborough Bell site in 2005 & 2006.  Now the more interesting part: Rueben is currently the territorial male at the Scarborough Yellow Pages nest site with Lawrie!!   So it  appears that Rueben has two homes and is servicing two different female mates!!
Stay tuned……


!!! PM Observation. Confusing indeed! Could the same adult male be servicing two different nest sites?
May 20, 2009 - Scarborough - Bell
Mark Nash Reports:

Yet another site visit this evening to the Scarborough Bell site produced yet more confusing information.   Marion and I spent several hours this evening watching Linn hanging tight around the Bell building with no particular interest in any part of the building.  She was observed having just finished her diner and with a huge buldging crop.  No male was observed or present during this period.  Bruce called during this same time frame from the Scarborough Yellow pages nest site and did have both adults in his view at the same time.  He reports that the adult territorial male at Yellow pages may in fact be Ruben as the USFW band colour is pinkish in colour and not silver as earlier suspected.  This would confirm that Rueben is still Lawrie’s mate and the territorial male at this nest site,, AND is the same male that was observed several days ago by Marion, Bruce and Kathy at the Scarborough Bell site copulating with Linn!  It was obvious that Linn is not incubating any eggs as yet, as during this observation period she was observed roosting on a ledge well into the darkness and was not down incubating…. It might appear that we have yet another male “servicingâ€� two diferent females at two different nest sites as with Whindwhistler from the 18 King Street nest site and the Toronto Sheraton nest site.  Remembering that he was servicing both these nest site for several years and responsible for fertilizing both sets of eggs at these two nest sites for several years in a row.  Talk about double duty!

Stay tuned, as this could get very interesting indeed!!

We stayed until it was too dark to see clearly and watched Linn settle in for the night on the upper east ledges of the building.

[(Where's Linn)???]

 November Updates
December 01, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:

FYI , Over the last month or so I had the occasion to briefly go by Osler Hospital.  There was  at least 1 PeFa in attendance, couldn’t tell if Male or Female (Driving) and it was on the North Sign.

Have been by Yellow Pages twice ( Mid November - Female In attendance and end of November- Male in attendance).

As with the North York pair I hadn’t seen the Female in a month or so, until the end of the Month were I saw a Female just North of Finch. and the Male since the middle of November.

Finally I was at Bell Building area and had a male sitting on the Corner of the Building by the Nest Box. (Where's Linn)???


Thanx

B.E. Massey

[Deer me..glad he's OK.]

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — A wayward deer is on its way back to the wild after an urban adventure that saw it roam through downtown Jersey City, leap into the Hudson and swim to Governor's Island.

New York television station WABC-7 is reporting the deer made its way on to the rocks at Governor's Island before police caught up to it and tranquilized it.

A Jersey City police spokesman says the department received calls at lunchtime Tuesday of a buck roaming near downtown. Witnesses saw it leap into the water near the Exchange Place area.

Police plan to transport it back to the mainland, but did not say where it will be released.

Deer me..glad he's OK.

Me, too:-)
I think we need a Snowy Smiley :-)

So far this is all I found janet

   
   
Homen Airfield is located on the shores of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul.

Holmen Field is located near downtown St. Paul and on the shore of the Mississippi River, also prime eagle habitat. The close proximity of eagles and airplanes pose a threat to both people and the birds.

In late May 2009, during the early morning hours, a Learjet 45 rolling down the runway at the St. Paul Downtown Airport struck an immature bald eagle, partially ingesting the bird into one of its engines. The aircraft aborted takeoff and no one aboard the plane was injured, but the collision killed the eagle. The young eagle had a band around its leg indicating it had fledged from a nest south of nearby Pig’s Eye Island the previous year.

This collision, or “birdstrike,� highlights the safety issue eagles and other birds present to aircraft. And at the St. Paul Downtown Airport (also known as Holman Field), an increasing number of bald eagles have taken to congregating by this airport that resides next to a large bend in the Mississippi River and within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Why these eagles are attracted to the area and is something that requires further investigation.

The Threats
Having an average size range of nine to 11 pounds, bald eagles are exceptional threats to aircraft because their large size is more than twice the weight at which most airframe components are tested for airworthiness. Most strikes occur less than 500 feet above ground when planes are landing or taking off. This is the same altitude raptors hunt for prey, when soaring, or flying between perches. The change in technology to the faster jet aircraft and longer runways provides less time for birds to react and move away from oncoming planes.

Direct strikes, however, are not the only problem as eagles can have indirect effects too, such as interfering with communications by perching on antennae or droppings and nesting material short-circuiting electrical systems on the ground. All of these situations can lead to damage that cost a considerable amount to repair.

Finding Solutions
Since 2000, the St. Paul Downtown Airport has been working with Wildlife Services, a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, to conduct a wildlife hazard assessment of the bald eagles. The assessment indicates three to five active nesting sites within one mile of the airport. Hazing with firecracker-like devices known as pyrotechnics are the primary method for hazing bald eagles from critical airspace and the airport, but it appears that this method only offers limited relief because the birds become increasingly tolerant of the noisemakers and return a short time later.

Surveys conducted by Wildlife Services indicate that juvenile eagles (less than 4-years-old) are the most frequently hazed, and that the eagles are present at the airport from February to October with March showing the highest number of visits.

In 2007, recognizing that current methods are not working satisfactorily, Wildlife Services in Minnesota received the first permit ever issued to capture and relocate immature bald eagles. In this pilot study, researchers will capture up to five immature bald eagles known to pose a persistent threat at or within one-half mile of the airport. After capture, the eagle will be checked over by veterinary staff at the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, banded and fitted with a small backpack carrying a satellite transmitter capable of tracking the eagles for at least 18 months. The goal will be to track the movements of the relocated eagles and see if or when the eagles return to the airfield.

By April 2008, researchers caught their first bald eagle: a male sporting a gold band from the National Park Service eagle nest survey from the previous year, which indicated the eagle was a resident of the area instead of a migrant.

This particular male came from a nest on Pig’s Eye Island, just south of the airfield. The young bald eagle, known as “Eagle 66,� was transported to Littlefork, Minnesota near the Canadian border, more than 200 miles away from his nest and released.

The initial results were promising as Eagle 66 stayed within a 30-mile radius of the release site during the spring and summer months. By November, Eagle 66 had began its migration south to its wintering area. Instead of picking up the Mississippi Flyway near Itasca and following it south, Eagle 66 flew southeast to the Duluth area and then south through western Wisconsin before picking up the river at Lake Pepin--well past the airport--before flying on to Iowa.

After spending the winter in the southeast corner of Iowa, Eagle 66 followed the Mississippi River back into Minnesota. But in flying over Pig’s Eye Island, the eagle apparently recognized the area and stopped for the summer.

Conclusions
Even though Eagle 66 is back where he started, it’s much too early to conclude whether relocation does or doesn’t work. Four other eagles still have a chance to give it a go, since the study continues into 2010. Another eagle, Eagle 67, was captured this spring and relocated to northern Minnesota where it spent the summer in Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Perhaps the spring migration of this eagle in 2010 will tell a different story.

[Eagle, Soaring High!Master of the boundless sky,Vision of freedom and majestySpirit of our lives and destinyKeen-eyed symbol of a nation's dream,Fly on forever, unfettered, supreme.]

http://www.tampabay.com/video/?bcpid=28597115001&bctid=52364872001   video

 CLEARWATER

Joan Brigham, Florida's indefatigable Eagle Woman, writes poetry about her favorite bird. She daydreams about eagles as she bakes her famous from-scratch brownies in her little kitchen. When eagles migrate from Florida in the spring she makes note of their departure on a clipboard. When they return in the fall she is waiting to greet them. Mrs. Brigham, 85, is the state's oldest volunteer in Florida Audubon's EagleWatch network. Most mornings she starts looking for eagles shortly after dawn. If there's an eagle lurking in the vicinity, she is lurking nearby. Her territory is west-central Florida's most urban county, Pinellas, where buildings outnumber eagle-friendly pine trees. In most of America, eagles are bashful wilderness critters that nervously avoid humans and their infernal internal combustion engines. In the urban Tampa Bay area, eagles often have no choice but to nest in backyard trees and in parking lots atop cell phone towers.

"I would rather find eagles in pine trees in the wilderness,'' Mrs. Brigham says crisply. "But I am happy to find eagles anywhere around here.''

Years ago, she seldom saw them anywhere in the United States. Eagles were headed for extinction because of a pesticide in the food chain, rampant development and illegal hunting. The chemical DDT, which weakened bird eggs, was banned in 1972. The Endangered Species Act passed the following year. By the next decade Mrs. Brigham was seeing Haliaeetus leucocephalus once again and feeling the call of the muse.

Eagle, Soaring High!

Master of the boundless sky,

Vision of freedom and majesty

Spirit of our lives and destiny

Keen-eyed symbol of a nation's dream,

Fly on forever, unfettered, supreme.

"I wrote that poem,'' says the Eagle Woman, "because it reflects my feelings exactly.''

BOSQUE DEL APACHE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.M. - The full-throated call of returning sandhill cranes in the golden light of a fall afternoon brought a smile to Colin Lee's face.

"It's nice to see the seasons change here," said the 36-year-old Lee, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He watched the big birds pick through stubble in a field near the north end of the sprawling Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

The 57,191-acre refuge on the Rio Grande south of Socorro sees some 350 different species of birds a year, plus reptiles, amphibians, insects and 30-odd kinds of mammals.

But the cranes, big charismatic birds that winter here by the thousands, are the marquee attraction.

Every year, Friends of the Bosque, a nonprofit that supports the refuge, holds a Festival of the Cranes to celebrate the birds' arrival, with talks, tours and hikes.

Taller than a typical kindergartner, tens of thousands of the birds spend winters along the Middle Rio Grande in central New Mexico at Bosque del Apache and the nearby Bernardo Waterfowl Area, maintained by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

At dusk one recent evening, Lee took out his binoculars and counted with care at a Bosque del Apache pond, filled with water to create a safe evening place to roost.

By sundown, Lee estimated 700 birds. A small crowd of humans also gathered with cameras and long lenses to watch the show. More birds flew in - family groups of three or four at a time, their long legs dangling as they settled into the shallow water.

The central New Mexico flock represents a long-term success in helping a species once threatened by habitat destruction. Refuge officials estimate fewer than two dozen sandhill cranes wintered at the Bosque del Apache in 1941.

Created in the 1930s by the U.S. government to address the problem, the wildlife refuge is now home to more than 10,000 birds each winter.

Refuge officials work with local farmers to grow corn for the birds on some of the land. Large flat areas, bordered with dikes, are periodically filled with shallow water and then drained to mimic the seasonal wetlands once created by a wild Rio Grande.

Huge flocks of snow geese and Ross' geese, also by the tens of thousands, join the cranes in winter along with smaller birds such as the pintail duck.

While current crane populations are healthy, scientists who study the bird are monitoring signs of problems the big birds and other similar waterfowl may face in the future, said John Vradenburg, the refuge's head biologist.

The birds summer in the northern Rockies, where they nest and raise their young, before making an early fall beeline for New Mexico.

The problem, Vradenburg said, is the loss of key habitat along the flyway.

The birds make the trip in several hops, stopping to eat for several days to fuel up "kind of like us eating at McDonald's on the road," Vradenburg explained.

But development along the flyway, including the San Luis Valley in Colorado, is reducing available food for the trip, Vradenburg said.

The problem is less severe for cranes than other waterfowl because they aren't terribly picky about what they eat. Vradenburg said other waterfowl, birds with more specialized diets like the northern pintail duck, are at greater risk.

actually, in my perfect world, I would turn them in after putting them in a similar  leg trap

In the Dec issue of the Conservationist, the front cover shows a battle between a peregrine and a snowy owl.  The article, and more pictures shows more of this battle.  Both were ok but it is very interesting.

I checked the website but they only have the october issue online

Wow, can't imagine.

I found this though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi0axyVTkkI  I so love Snowy's.