UPDATE On Piping Plovers and Moonbird It isn’t easy being a Piping plover. At a NJ beach where we follow the birds, there were 11 chicks hatched but just 2 that have fledged. Not a great success rate for an endangered species. A major factor is too much human disturbance, including dogs on the beach, […]
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Update on Moonbird and Ospreys
UPDATE on Moonbird and Ospreys Great news on a few birds we have been following! That superhero Red knot, B-95 has been seen in NJ and Delaware gorging on horseshoe crab eggs again this season. This marks over 20 years that scientists know he has been making an annual 18,600 mile journey roundtrip. Against all […]
Sitting Quietly….Seeing More
FAMILY FUN: Sitting Quietly…Seeing More Want to see more birds and tune into nature? This summer, why not see the natural areas you usually visit a little differently? Go to a favorite field, forest, marsh, or beach. Rather than do what you might normally do there…this time , take some time to sit quietly and […]
Defending the Kids
Defending the Kids Piping plovers are endangered and they like the same beaches we humans do…and at the same time. This can cause some tense and dangerous moments for both the parents and young chicks. I was recently at the beach watching a Piping plover family. The parents had to constantly maneuver their nearly uncontrollable […]
FAMILY PROJECT: Help Long Distance Migrators
Birds that migrate long distances need your help! There are fun and easy things anyone can do and they can make a big difference to wildlife. If you like taking a stand for the right thing – animals like the Red knot and horseshoe crabs need you to stand up for them to keep them from […]
Rescuing a Baby Diamondback Turtle
I was walking on the beach looking for the first piping plovers of the season, when I looked down. There was a small dark shell with a tiny turtle inside. What to do? I knew it was some kind of land turtle, and I also know they dont live at the beach. The gulls were […]
Helping Injured Hawks – My Own Story
Hawks and eagles are top predators. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have challenges — most of which come from humans. From hitting power lines and being injured or killed in windfarms while hunting birds to being hit by cars, shot (often intentionally) and poisoned, raptors needs our help – even more than most other […]
Winter Hiking With Kids
Winter is one of the best times of year to really be able to see birds as well as signs of other wildlife. The leaves are off the trees, the ground may be covered with snow making footprints visible. It’s the perfect time to take kids outside for a wildlife walk or hike. Below are […]
Peregrine on the Beach
Why do Peregrine falcons sitting on the beach seem so unnatural to me? Seeing them soaring over the city or swooping over flocks of shorebirds on migration is how I think of them. Their drives into flocks of shorebirds create changing elliptical masses of birds intent on confusing their attacker. The shapes the shorebird flocks […]
Great Places to See Waterfowl
The National Wildlife Refuge System is a large network of public lands set aside specifically to benefit native wildlife. One of a lot of very nice things about ducks is that they respond well to management, and national wildlife refuge managers have learned all the best tricks to make it easy and rewarding to see […]
Another Grey Bust
Another 1000 African Gray parrots were discovered earlier this month in crates about to leave the airport in Cameroon for transport to Bahrain and the Middle East. This is the second illegal shipment of these parrots intercepted in two months in Cameroon. The total number of birds discovered numbers over 1500 between the shipments – […]
Finch Fights
Apparently there are no animals too small be bet upon in forced fighting rings. The latest bust, this one in Massachusetts, of illegal immigrants who keep finches in intolerable conditions, get them worked up , sharpen their beaks and then get them fighting, is a sad testimony to what goes on. Who would have thought […]
On the Wind and a Prayer
How do butterflies and moths travel great distances? According to an article from the BBC researchers have discovered that on those warm summer nights,there are thousands of butterflies and moths traveling in winds up to 60 mph above us. They may look fragile, but these beautiful creatures have a navigation system that makes for the […]
Innocent Bystander
The Chicago Tribune wrote this story about a hawk who had gone to her roost for the night, expecting to have a cool but quiet nights rest. Sadly for her, she was sleeping in a tree that happened to be near the location where a small plane crashed, killing both passengers. Upon impact, the plane […]
A Cozy Warm Bed
Do you ever wonder where birds sleep? On a cold winter night, when the wind is blowing the snow sideways across the light of your street lamps, the chickadees that visited your feeder in the morning are huddling close together. Hopefully they have found a decent cavity to roost in. If your neighborhood is like […]
Where’s the Water?
Right now the northern states are blanketed in snow, and stepping outside can be hazardous. Winter temperatures can dip below zero degrees Farenheit, and the wind chill pushes far below that. We can throw on layers or stay inside, but what do the birds do? How can we help birds brave the winter onslaught of […]
Copenhagen Comments
There seems to be a lot less commentary about the outcome of the climate change talks in Copenhagen now that things are over. The US is finally participating which is great…but there is a lot of disappointment about the outcome. Will any of this really help? Biologist Bernd Heinrich wrote an OpEd piece in the […]
The Tragedy of Taiji
Today I got a Facebook request to sign a petition to stop the Japanese dolphin slaughter. I signed it and put a post on my Facebook page explaining a little about the situation and asking others to sign the petition. So now what? Will this slaughter ever really end? My understanding is that in the […]
A Cardinal Moment
With the changing seasons our New York City backyard garden has different birds passing through, but among our constant companions are our cardinal family. This beautifully masked male cardinal is the epitome of grace and elegance. In the summer his gorgeous coloring is eclipsed by no other bird in our garden; in the fall, even […]
Down with Down
For many, the loft and warmth of a down comforter or parka is an expected part of winter. Once considered a luxury, now you can go into any store and they seem to be everywhere – inexpensive and costly ones – by the hundreds. Down isn’t made up of big feathers but of the tiny […]