20-Apr-23, 06:22:39 AM
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4351
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Bees amd Biodiversity
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on: 21-Aug-10, 11:19:38 AM
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This short piece should certainly give us pause for thought... I will look for more info re "Bee Part of It" and let you know...
City bees show a richer diet than bees from farmlands
Farmlands sown to feed us well lead to impoverished diets for bees...
Bees in urban and suburban settings have a richer, healthier diet than bees in farmland settings, say researchers.
Honeybee hives from 10 National Trust [UK] sites were studied in an attempt to assess the link between bee health and the diversity of pollen they encounter.
Bees from farmlands showed a distinctly narrower range of pollens than both urban and untouched "natural" settings.
The find is part of the Bee Part Of It campaign being run by the BBC and the National Trust.
Hives from Kensington Palace in [central] London showed evidence of eucalyptus and elderberry, while suburban sites such as those around the University of Worcester - where the researchers who carried out the study work - showed a rich mix including lily, blackberry, rowan trees, and oilseed rape.
However, at more rural National Trust sites near farmland in Yorkshire and Somerset, the hives were overwhelmingly dominated by oilseed rape pollen.
'Useful information'
Matthew Oates, an adviser on nature conservation to the National Trust, told BBC News that although the results were no great surprise, they were "a very useful piece of information in terms of being able to quantify the problem that bees are up against in intensive agriculture systems".
"What is clear is that there is a far greater range of plants in urban and particularly suburban settings than in many of our contemporary agricultural landscapes," Mr Oates explained.
"The difficult area for bees is modern mainstream farmland: intensive arable land for wheat, barley, oilseed rape, and also dairy beef and sheep grasslands.
"There really is so little forage for bees in those modern intensive farming systems."
The next stage of the Bee Part Of It campaign will aim to assess the effects of pesticides, analysing what residues can be found in hives. That, Mr Oates says, will determine if bees are "unscheduled victims of pesticide use aimed at genuine pest insects".
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4352
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Re: Rooney was at my door last night
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on: 21-Aug-10, 11:00:28 AM
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As kids, my family (7 of us... 5 kids) used to have vacations at Allegheny State Park (we loved it!). When the Aged Parentals hauled off on the rare occasion, we - along with other Junior Campers - would gather up tidbits and wait for the critters to come out. (Rabies did not occur to us...) One time, there we were, all lined up - and there they were, all lined up - a few raccoons, some "chippies"... and this other guy... black and white, kinda stripey... waiting for his hand-out, all polite, just like the others.... and then it occurred to us... You never saw a gang of kids disappear into a cabin so fast!
We still laugh about it...
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4353
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Rochester Falcons / Falcon Watches / Re: Twitter
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on: 21-Aug-10, 10:52:35 AM
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wnyfalconfan (Joyce): MAK reports that the falcon had prey and feathers were flying! Then it took off and headed west. Absolutely in awe of these peregrines. I talked to MAK and I've never heard anyone so excited to see a stoop like that. I saw one a couple years back in Buffalo do a straight down stoop off a building and then pull up at the end. It is such a thrill...your heart thumps and you hold your breath. Congratulations on an exciting watch!  You guys are killin' me! What wonderful experiences our Watchers are having... for all of us!  |
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4354
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Re: Dimming the Skyline to Save the Birds
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on: 21-Aug-10, 10:49:56 AM
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Yes, it was in today's paper but I did not find any other indication of a date so do not know for sure how current it is. Their website is www.mcall.com/ but this particular piece is not listed there that I could see. I found it buried in the back of the paper just before the classified ads. Perhaps Google might turn it up if you searched under "eco-friendly cities", which was the headline. Dot in PA Thanks, Dot. I googled eco-cities... should have done eco-friendly cities... I did not get any further ahead with just eco-cities, so will try the other one... I find this so interesting, and would love to know the criteria... given that there is not a single Irish city to be seen... Slainte! Bobbie (btw... "google" is not accepted in the Forum's spell-check... haha!  ) |
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4358
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Member Activities / Pets / COMPANION ANIMALS AND THE RECESSION
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on: 21-Aug-10, 07:37:47 AM
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In my search for some good news... more bad news...
Furry victims of the recession
By Katie Connolly, BBC News, Washington
On Saturday 21 August, International Homeless Animals' Day, pet-lovers around the world will hold vigils for and celebrations of their furry friends. But this year the celebrations have taken a more sombre tone.
The recession that has devastated so many families and individuals has affected their pets as well.
Across the US, the numbers of animals in pet shelters has swelled as owners find themselves unable to care for their pets.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (ASPCA) estimates that in 2009, around a million pets were at risk of losing their homes.
When families are having a hard time making ends meets, many make the decision to relinquish their pets. Although most pets are passed on to friends and relatives, a large number end up in shelters.
Stephen Zawistowski, ASPCA science adviser, says it is not an easy decision.
"For people to relinquish a pet is a heartbreaking event," Mr Zawistowski says.
For many pet owners, he says, their animal makes their life "whole and liveable". Particularly for people under pressure at work, economically or otherwise, coming home to a pet can be a bright spot in an otherwise stressful day.
"They're the one individual you live with you that isn't judging you," Mr Zawistowski says.
"They're going to love you whether or not you got your bonus or whether or not you made a sale and got your commission today."
Budget woes
Several shelters have started animal food banks to help families on the verge of having to give up their pets.
"The opportunity to help that family stay whole is something you can feel good about," he says.
Some human food banks are also stocking pet food.
The recession has affected animal shelters financially as well as inflating their intakes. Shelters that rely on donations are finding it more difficult to raise funds.
Publicly funded shelters are having their budgets cut as governments try to make fewer tax dollars go further.
A brand-new shelter funded by the local council in Sacramento County, California, faced closure this year after just six months of operation due to budget cuts. The shelter survived, but its cash flow has dwindled and it is increasingly reliant on volunteers.
At the same time, with finances tight, fewer people are adopting pets, and many people are finding it hard to afford veterinary care, such as spaying, neutering and vaccinating.
That leaves animal shelters buckling under the pressure, with the International Society for Animal Rights (ISAR) reporting that increasingly shelters put four cats in a cage meant for one or two because they simply don't have enough space.
Social responsibility
Still, with so much human suffering, it may seem like a stretch to ask people to help four-legged friends.
In response, Colleen Gedrich from ISAR, the group which organises International Homeless Animals' Day, quotes Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi who once said that a greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
"Our companion animals rely on us to care for them," Ms Gedrich says. "As a society, it is our responsibility to provide and protect the creatures that cannot do so on their own."
Mr Zawistowski of the ASPCA similarly dismisses concerns about people prioritising animals over needy people. He notes that only about 3% of the charitable dollar in the US goes to animal-related causes, including wildlife groups.
"It's not like you are taking food out of a baby's mouth and giving it to a dog," he says.
For many people, the pet is a crucial member of the family that needs looking after. Mr Zawistowski recalls that many of the people who didn't evacuate in Hurricane Katrina had stayed to take care of pets which were banned from the evacuation shelters.
"For very many people, the animals they live with are a significant part of their life," he says.
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4362
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Feeding birds 'changes evolution'
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on: 21-Aug-10, 04:28:37 AM
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Another fascinating piece about the effects of feeding garden birds. Blackcaps are delightful little warblers that grace our winter feeders here in Wicklow... but true to this piece, they are now becoming more frequent as breeding residents.
B.
Feeding birds 'changes evolution'
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News
Bird-feeders, hung in many a garden, can affect the way our feathered friends evolve, say scientists. European birds called blackcaps follow a different "evolutionary path" if they spend the winter eating food put out for them in UK gardens. The birds' natural wintering ground is southern Spain, where they feed on the fruits that grow there.
Researchers describe the impact this well-intentioned activity has had on the birds in Current Biology journal.
Dr Martin Schaefer from the University of Freiburg in Germany led the research.
He and his team found that blackcaps that migrated to the UK for the winter were in the very earliest stages of forming a new species. He explained that some blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) would always have migrated "a little further north" than others and eventually "ended up in Britain in the winter".
"But those birds would have had nothing to eat," he said. It was when garden bird feeders became more popular in the UK, that an evolutionary division began to emerge.
"As soon as the British provided a lot of bird food, those birds would have had a much higher probability of surviving the winter."
And because the UK is closer to their breeding ground, those birds would also have returned earlier to claim the best territory.
The researchers, from Germany and Canada, set out to discover if the birds that spent the winter availing themselves of garden bird-feeders were in fact a distinct group. To do this, they studied the blackcaps at a breeding ground in Germany. The team were able to use a chemical "signature" from the birds' claws to identify where they spent the winter, and what food they ate.
"Then we took blood samples and analysed those to assess whether... we had two distinct populations. And that's exactly what we found," said Dr Schaefer.
"To a very large extent the birds only mate [with] birds with the same overwintering grounds as them." This initial "reproductive isolation", Dr Schaefer explained, is the very first step in the evolution of a new species. "This tells us that by feeding birds in winter we... produce an evolutionary split. And we have produced these initial steps in as little as 50 years."
The team also observed differences in the birds' beaks, wings and plumage. Blackcaps that migrated along the shorter route to the UK had rounder wings, and longer, narrower beaks.
The scientists said these differences were evidence that the birds had adapted to their shorter journey, and to eating seeds and fat from bird-feeders, rather than fruit from shrubs and trees.
But, Dr Schaefer pointed out that the evolution of a new bird species "could take 100,000 to a million years".
"At this stage this is reversible," he added. "And it's hard to envision a species change, because if there's another economic crisis and people stop feeding the birds, the whole system might just collapse."
Man-made change
In this case, Dr Schaefer thinks the human impact on blackcaps has been a positive thing.
"[The birds have] found a better overwintering area that is closer to the breeding ground, where they can obtain food easily.
"And I also think its positive news for us, because it means not all the changes we produce are necessarily bad, and that some species have the potential to adapt quickly to the changes."
Grahame Madge from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said that this was "a fascinating piece of research" and that it fitted in with the birds adapting to a changing climate.
"Blackcaps have been able to start this behaviour because of the milder winter we've experienced in the last few decades," he said.
"And because they're getting food, this reinforces the behaviour and will enable them to survive a colder winter [in the UK]."
Joseph Tobias, a biologist from the Oxford University in the UK, agreed that the UK climate may have been a more important factor contributing to the changes observed in the blackcaps.
"The study clearly demonstrates that a new lineage has arisen... [but] it doesn't actually demonstrate that food hand-outs by humans are the root cause," Dr Tobias said.
"It is possible that the main reason for the switch in migratory behaviour was a warming winter climate in the UK. The best we can say on the basis of the evidence is that the increase in bird-feeding in the UK may have contributed to the switch in behaviour."
Mr Madge added that putting food out for birds in the winter was "very important" and that many birds "need the energy boost at this time of year".
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4364
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Re: GOTCHA!!!
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on: 20-Aug-10, 08:02:38 AM
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For those of you who, like me, were stopped by "abseiled from a helicopter": 
Abseiling (German: abseilen, "to rope down"), rappelling in American English,[1] is the controlled descent down a rope; climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection. Abseiling is used chiefly in British English, as well as in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
He got 14 eggs out of one nest?? I saw that too! Also... for shame (in another report) that he is Irish! And yes... 30 months per egg would have been better! Having seen a few other posts re this, I am at least pleased it is getting wide coverage. |
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