Archive for 2012 January
Will our birds fret that it’s been mild and wet?
Over half a million people will be taking part in the world’s biggest wildlife survey this weekend, the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (28-29 January). Continue reading
Modern Day Birding Record Set in DC in 2011 Big Year Event
Jason Berry, a researcher at American Bird Conservancy – the nation’s leading bird conservation organization – has broken the modern day record for the number of bird species seen in Washington, D.C. in a single year. Continue reading
Endangered Bird Produces a Chick on U.S. Soil for Second Time in History
For the second time ever recorded, an endangered Short-tailed Albatross has nested in the United States and produced a chick. The recent discovery of the nest and chick on Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands follows the fledging of the first U.S.-born chick last year at the same site by the same parents. Continue reading
One hundred year anniversary of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s heroic voyage
On 17th January (1912) one hundred years ago, Captain Robert Falcon Scott arrived at the South Pole – 33 days after his rival Amundsen. The rest, as they say, is history as sadly they never made it home, but for WWT this day played a pivotal role in its own history.
Searching for Pacific Petrels
Until recently, Beck’s PetrelPseudobulweria becki was only known from two specimens: a female taken at sea east of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea in 1928, and a male taken in the Solomon Islands in 1929. After a long gap of nearly 80 years it was only definitively re-recorded when, in July and August 2007, an expedition encountered the species on seven days and at at-least four localities off New Ireland. Continue reading
Targeting hunters to save Spoon-billed Sandpiper
It is estimated that at least 220 Spoon-billed Sandpipers, about half the global population, winter in Myanmar’s Gulf of Martaban. “Although not specifically targeted, Spoon-billed Sandpiper is regularly caught in nets that are set to catch other waders for food. Continue reading
New stronghold for Japanese Murrelet found
A recent study led by the Wild Bird Society of Japan (BirdLife Partner) has found that the Izu Islands, on the Pacific side of Japan, hold the second largest concentration of the threatened Japanese Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume (Vulnerable). Continue reading
Precedent-Setting Proposed Permit May Offer New Protections for Hawaiian Seabirds
Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a proposal to regulate the killing of seabirds by vessels in the Hawaiian swordfish fishery. The action is important because it marks the first time the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), America’s foremost law protecting migratory bird species, has been invoked to protect seabirds in federal waters. Continue reading
Saving Devon’s Precious Pearls
One of the UK’s most threatened butterflies is being given a helping hand to expand its range through targeted conservation in Devon. Continue reading
Thames airport plan bad for business, people and wildlife
The RSPB has warned the Government against including a Thames Estuary airport in an upcoming consultation on the future of aviation. Continue reading
