Rock Wren photographed at Big Bend National Park.
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And speaking of Big Bend National Park, when we were there a couple of weeks ago, I saw many Say's Phoebes and even managed to photograph some of them. These are western birds which don't normally stray into the East, but this week one of them turned up and was photographed in New Hampshire! No one really knows how the bird came to be there, but birds do have wings and they tend to use them to fly to new places.
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Superstorm Sandy caused a massive spill of diesel fuel from tanks into the waterway between New Jersey and Staten Island that is known as Arthur Kill. Several oiled birds have been found as a result of the spill. Cleanup is progressing slowly.
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David Sibley has an interesting graph which shows the various causes of mortality in wild birds. By far the biggest cause of death is window strikes. Second is feral cats. Third but much less deadly are high tension wires.
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The Canada/Texas flock of wild Whooping Cranes are beginning to return to their wintering grounds at Aransas. Still unresolved are legal actions stemming from the 2008 and 2009 winter when 23 birds died there as a result of lack of water in the wetlands where they feed. This caused an insufficiency of food, resulting in starvation of the birds. The Aransas Project is trying to force the state to put a water plan into effect which will protect the birds' habitat and ensure that enough water is delivered by the Guadalupe River to support the populations of creatures on which they feed.
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A huge avian dinosaur of the Eocene Era, the Diatryma, was once thought to be a bloodthirsty carnivore, but a more recent study of its fossils has determined that it was more likely a slow-moving herbivore.
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Wildlife along the Appalachian Trail has been impacted by the human traffic on the trail. Black bears and bobcats appear to have been negatively affected, but critters like red foxes and raccoons seem to derive some benefits from the presence of humans.
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A census of the Island Scrub Jay, one of the distinct species of scrub jays, has revealed that it is one of the ten rarest birds in America. The bird is endemic on the island of Santa Cruz off the California coast. That is its only known habitat. In spite of its rare status, the bird's numbers are actually increasing following the removal of some invasive species from the island.
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You've probably heard that BP has reached a settlement with the government over its massive oil spill in the Gulf a couple of years ago. It will pay $4 billion in fines and two of its supervisors will be indicted for manslaughter in the deaths of the eleven men who were killed. Long-term damage as a result of the spill continues to become apparent.
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Three-quarters of the world's population of Lesser Flamingos live in Africa and use Lake Natron in Tanzania as their breeding site. Thousands of the birds are now returning there to begin nesting. The success of their nesting season will largely depend on the environmental quality of the area which is threatened by development.
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It's not just Say's Phoebes that are turning up in unusual places. Recently, a Bee-eater, a bird of Africa and Southern Europe has been found in Scotland
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Bats seem to be facing a myriad of challenges to their continued existence. Unchecked fungal diseases and encroaching human development are just two. But because of their life style, bats are also highly vulnerable to climate change and this has begun to be an additional stressor for the furry fliers.
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Those clever New Caledonian Crows continue to amaze scientists. Recently, they have concluded that the crows have imagination and that they are able to infer hidden causes for events. These are definitely the PhD candidates in the world of birds.
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Around the backyard:
And speaking of crows, the common American Crows of my neighborhood have been very active and very vocal this week. One day, I watched the noisy antics of a flock of ten in my neighbor's big pecan tree. I've noticed that they really seem to like that tree. I can't see that they are eating pecans, but something certainly attracts them. They also spend time in the live oak trees in the neighborhood, including the three in my front yard which had a massive crop of acorns this year. There'll be plenty of food for all the acorn-eating critters this winter.
The bird habitat in my yard has been changed dramatically this week by the removal of three threes - a red oak, a water oak, and a sycamore. The oaks were in the front yard which had become, quite simply, too crowded with trees and too shady. We still have the three aforementioned lives oaks, a red oak, a magnolia and a contorted willow out there so it's not as if the birds will be lacking for perches.
The big sycamore was in the backyard and was too close to the house. Its roots presented a problem and it had to be removed. It was a great favorite with the birds and with the birder who enjoyed sitting under it. Even though I know it had to be done, the birds and I will miss it. The good news is that one of its offspring is growing up in the middle of the backyard and now that it is out of the shadow of its parent, it should grow even faster.
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