Bird in the News

Well a lot of the news isn't too good. You probably saw the last male Northern White Rhino is gone.. no more left. They saved some of his sperm but AI in this species and surrogacy has never been done before. I sure hope it will but it's just another wake up call for us all, to stop destroying our planet. As the climate warms, we will have more and more species extinctions and extirpation. We need to think about the big picture, because it's really too late. The sad thing is that we are fully informed and have been since the 1950's about the detrimental effects of a warming climate. If we continue down this self centered greedy non-renewable source of energy path, we aren't going to like what our oceans and planet will look like. It could look truly apocalyptic. I mean today, BC biologist Luke Halpin said he found a Swordfish and Loggerhead Turtle off Vancouver Island! As the climate warms more species will extend their range north and places like the Boreal Forest and Arctic will suffer the most. So far the planet has a temperature rises 0.8 C if we continue the way we ar,e we will not only break the Paris Climate Change agreements target of no greater than a 2 degree C rise, we will be on the way to a 4degree C rise,  which will be truly catastrophic. From mass migration, to no more sea ice, Inuits will lose their way of life, Polar Bears and Walruses will disappear, who need the ice to hunt on and the walruses to pup and rest on. Narwhals will disappear, coral reefs are being bleached and dying off... if we could only look at the big picture. I commend countries like Norway and Sweden who have fully switched to green sources of energy. The other saddest thing, other than us knowing full well what we are doing to the planet and yet continue to destroy it, is that the people who contribute the least to human-induced climate change will suffer the most! For instance small islands in the Pacific will be completely lost and they have bougth land in Fiji for the mass migration that will surely occur. The poor in India and Africa will be the first to suffer many will die as they live in places so hot and so full of drought and there will be an increased amount of disease spread. All the while we live our life in North America burning fossil fuels. Even here in North America we protest but we are the 99% and it is the 1% elite and major fossil fuel companies that pay off politicians and lobbyists, so that they have people in power who block every climate change bill. It's a very frustrating uphill battle but scientists from NASA have said we can stop this temperature rise if we stop now, If we do, the world will continue to warm and then self regulate and cool. If not we are going to see countries in Europe go cold , the arctic warm up and warm up until it is a positive feedback loop we simply can't stop. There are millions of poor people in India right now who use cow dung to light on fire to cook their food. Of course they want to have the life we have in North America and since it is not their fault but mainly ours, we need to pay them and invest in them so that they can invest in renewable sources of energy, so that countries who didn't cause this problem don't have to suffer, it really is only fair. Hard to have hope sometimes about the fate of our planet and it's ecosystems and oceans therein especially when you see seabirds feeding their young and dying with stomachs full of plastic (scientists say up to 90% of seabirds do now)... but we can't give up.

Here is a video of a recent Stellar Sea Lion rescued by the Vancouver Aquarium with garbage around her neck. Treated in the wild and released at Fanny Bay... when will we learn to stop polluting our oceans with garbage?



Well back to the birds...
Second trailer is out on the movie on the Philippine Eagle which is almost extinct due to us:



Enter the 2018 Audubon Photography Contest - deadline is APRIL 9, 2018. 

Mass bird deaths in BC's Okanagan

Birds' stomachs are still filling up with plastic all over the world

A horrible man shoots 130 hawks and 10 other birds in California 

 New Study on BC'S Song Sparrows

Ancient Murrelets in Haida Gwaii are still being eaten alive by rats

David Hancock is putting radio transmitters on Vancouver's Bald Eagles 

Birds are decreasing at catastrophic rates in Europe

Birds are so smart!!!! New study reveals as smart as Humans

As the climate warms, national parks are the last safe havens for birds if Trump doesn't develop them all.  

A sad sign of the times... birds flying north too early now in Ont

King Penguins May Go Extinct because of US!

A cute Boreal Owl falls into a toilet - happy ending!

 Cool new bird study in Australia - mail in your bird feathers 

Every year 1 million birds are illegally killed in Iran

Listen to FEMALE BIRDS sing

This lady in Vancouver follows the crow spectacle 

Great Blue Heron Cam in Vancouver is LIVE 

Humans are to blame for Raptor Deaths in Canada

If you live in bear area in BC please take down your bird feeders

Australia's Birds aren't sufficiently protected

House Sparrows killing bluebirds in the Okanagan 

Just as NASA scientists predict Britain will have more cold spells as climate change worsens

These birders are trying to bring awareness to climate change  

Penguin selfies!!!

This is not about birds but incredible.... the first time BC scientists ever saw a male Orca kill a calf

Comments

  1. John TabakMarch 22, 2018 at 9:23 AM

    Well the situation is sad but it is important to never lose hope and keep trying to make a positive Difference.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Dowitcher Identification

Image
Birders notoriously find it difficult to tell Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers apart. I have got a request to do an identification explanation on them so here goes, I hope it will be helpful. Short-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed look so similar. Using their habitat is helpful but not diagnostic. Short-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer Salt water and brackish water and Long-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer fresh water. However, I have OFTEN seen Short-billeds in freshwater and Long-billeds in brackish and salt water. Therefore, DO NOT rely on habitat. Another feature many people will tell you to rely on is spotting on the side of the flanks of Short-billeds and barring on the side of Long-billeds. Usually this is a mark that you can use but it is not always as distinct as you like. I have seen Short-billeds with a barred appearance to the flanks. It is only at the side of the breast where you have to look for this diagnostic feature for the spots on a Short-billed and t...
Read more

Hawk Identification Tips from every angle (Sharpie vs Cooper and Red-tailed Subspecies)

Image
I get several questions about the difference between accipiters. The most common ones are between Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks and between Cooper's Hawks vs Northern Goshawks (to a lesser degree). Next, I get many questions dealing with a certain race of buteos the Western Red-tailed Hawk and Harlan's. So I thought I would do a post on these to help answer those questions. I will deal with Cooper's and Sharpies and not Goshawks because they are much more common here and look much more alike. My friend John Reynolds inspired me to write this up. COOPER'S AND SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS EYE COLOUR - YELLOW OR ORANGE? RED? Normally a juvenile Cooper's hawk has a bright yellow eye and a Juvie Sharpie has a orange eye but some cooper's can have a dull yellow eye that looks a bit orangish. Cooper's Hawks usually only transition to the orange eye colour when they are sub adults, so in good light, it's a very very reliable feature. However you ...
Read more

STINT IDENTIFICATION

Image
As per request, here are some tips that I hope will be helpful in identifying and differentiating Red-necked Stint from Little Stint. I will also do a brief intro on Long-toed and Temminck's Stint... if you build it they will come right?😉 Red-necked and Little Stints look very much alike in worn breeding plumage. The amount of Red on the face, throat and breast in Red-necked Stint is vary variable). They look even more alike in non-breeding plumage, that is why it is essential to learn structural differences to separate the two. They are similar to Semipalmated Sandpipers as well as Sanderlings. Both species are often confused for Red-necked Stints. Little Stints rarely get confused with Sanderling because they have a hind toe which helps differentiate it from this species. Sanderlings in breeding or worn breeding are usually confused with Red-necked Stints but they are much larger than Red-necked Stints. Let's first start with Bills in this complicated ID proces...
Read more

*Updated - The most famous Red-tailed Hawk is eating fish on the ground just like a Bald Eagle!

Image
Update - There are plans in the works to make a documentary film on this young Red-tailed Hawk who thinks he's an Eagle. You can read the latest news about that on CBC HERE . Watch this incredible footage of the little Red-tailed Hawk who grew up in a family of three Eaglets and 2 Bald Eagle Parents. He is imprinted now on Bald Eagles. He looks and acts just like one, as you can see here in the video below. He is standing over a large salmon carcass, just like a Bald Eagle would and he's eating the decaying flesh. Red-tailed Hawks like to eat voles and rabbits etc. not fish! Imprinting is usually irreversible according to raptor expert David Bird. However, I hope it's reversible so that he doesn't attempt to mate with a Bald Eagle, as the Eagle would kill him because it would view him as a Hawk. Eagle expert David Hancock said that the bird will likely starve and get killed by an eagle. He said this possibly can be prevented if someone grabs it and takes it to O...
Read more

1 year since I lost my father

Image
My dad and I whom I miss terribly. One year on since I lost him. Today would have been my mother's bday. Her name was Valerie and it is also the first year anniversary of the death of my beloved father, Arne. There is not a day that goes by where I don't think of them. Now for ever more the day of his death will be connected to her birthday, a very sad day but in a way that connection is beautiful to tie them together. My beautiful family before we lost both parents. I put flowers down at their grave to celebrate them both today. I hate that it is one year since I told him I loved him and hugged him. I miss him so very much. I miss his voice, his love and guidance and support. The ground for me feels shakier without his guidance and safety. I hate I will never see him again or talk to him again. Can't believe how quick time passes. This is why it is so important we treasure every single day to the fullest and tell those we love them. I will never forget the day he passed aw...
Read more