This week in birds - #8

Here is a roundup of the week's new stories from the worlds of Nature, science, and birds. Click on the highlighted links to read the full story.

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Countdown to the Great Backyard Bird Count: Two weeks.  That's right - the big four-day weekend count begins on February 17. If you haven't participated before, visit the website and get your instructions, register your site, and get ready to count birds! 

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There are several blog entries on The New York Times website from scientists who are doing a study of the moose population at Isle Royale National Park. This is an area where gray wolves roam as well and much of the information gathered relates to the interaction between the two species. This particular project has interested me since I read Nevada Barr's book, Winter Study, a few years ago. If you are not familiar with Barr, she writes a mystery series which is located in various national parks and features a ranger named Anna Pigeon. Good stuff if you like that kind of stuff, and I do.

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And speaking of wolves, a litter of four rare maned-wolf pups have been born in Virginia as part of a captive breeding program.

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Snowy Owls continue to irrupt southward and make their way into the headlines; however, according to eBird records this is not a record event for much of the Northeast and Northwest, although it may be for parts of the Mid-West. 

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NASA's climate studies have confirmed that current climate change on Earth is not being driven by solar activity because the planet has continued to heat up at a time of low solar activity. The scientists continue to believe that the warming of the planet is due almost entirely to the accumulation of greenhouse gases which human activity is sending into the atmosphere.

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The Southern Environmental Law Center, an advocacy group, has ranked the ten most endangered habitats in the southeastern United States. 

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Operation Migration, the project which leads a flock of juvenile Whooping Cranes on their first flight from their birthplace in Wisconsin to Florida, using an ultralight, has had all kinds of problems during this migration season. They have been delayed repeatedly by inclement weather and once they reached Alabama, they were stymied by legal issues. The project managers have concluded that they will not be able to reach Florida by air, and the decision was made to take the nine young cranes overland to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama and release them there. 

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While North America has been experiencing a relatively mild winter, Eastern Europe has recently been suffering extreme cold which has killed dozens of people.

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A huge and ancient fish, sometimes described as a dinosaur with fins, the Atlantic sturgeon is being listed as an endangered species.

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Two populations of humpback whales, which live on opposite sides of the southern Indian Ocean, sing different songs. Scientists conclude that this means that the two populations do not mingle.

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Road salt which gets into pools and wet areas where amphibians breed can harm those creatures. Road salt also has been found to be harmful to birds.

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Vital areas of biodiversity in the Andes are unprotected. Upwards of 80% of these hotspots have no protection.

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I bet you thought yesterday, February 2, was Groundhog Day. Well, it was, but it was also World Wetlands Day, a day to celebrate these important habitats around the world.

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Around the backyard: Around my yard this week, one word will serve to describe it: wet! We've had intermittent rain virtually all week. The result being that I haven't spend much time out there, but I have been outside enough to know that at least one of the Rufous Hummingbirds is still here, the White-winged Dove flocks are getting bigger, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers really, really love peanuts!

Mr. R.B. Woodpecker grabs a snack.

And so does Mrs.