Month: December 2014

This is a video from Spain about Egyptian vultures.

From the North African Birds blog (with more extensive information there in French, and photos):

7 December 2014

Release of an Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) saved from the illegal bird trade in Tunisia by the Association “Les Amis des Oiseaux” (AAO) (BirdLife partner in Tunisia) in coordination with the Directorate General of Forests (DGF). Thanks to the collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (Radolfzell), the Egyptian Vulture was equipped with a GPS transmitter to track its movements which will be followed via movebank.

Related articles

• International Vulture Awareness Day, 6 September
• Storm petrels nesting in Tunisia?
• Tunisian herons nesting, new research
• North and South African vultures
• Songbirds and pollution in Tunisia
• Breeding Biology of Squacco Herons (Ardeola ralloides) in Northern Tunisia
• Anti-bird killing conference in Tunisia

This 6 December 2014 video is about the return of wildcats to the Netherlands.

The Dutch conservationists of ARK Natuurontwikkeling report (translated):

Saturday, December 6th, 2014

For the first time since centuries in the Netherlands wildcats have been born in the wild. ARK Nature investigates the return of this rare animal. During the study this year we found at least five different wildcats, two of the animals were born here. The return of the wildcat happens with impressive speed.

The wildcat research was in the Vijlenerbos nature reserve and elsewhere in Limburg province.

Related articles

• Dutch orchid research
• Rare harvestman discovery in the Netherlands
• Good red-backed shrike news
• Hundreds of mud-puddling Dutch butterflies
• Stag beetles become electronic tag beetles
• Firefighters save wild boar piglets from drowning, then gamekeeper kills them
• Brown trout back spawning in Geul river
• Dutch wildlife passages for adders and other animals
• Ravens back in…

Press Release Center for Biological Diversity

Record Progress Made on Backlog of Endangered Species Awaiting Protection 

 Spurred by Landmark Agreement to Protect Nation’s Most Endangered Species

WASHINGTON— After several decades when endangered plants and animals were allowed to languish indefinitely on a waiting list, an annual federal summary released today reveals that for the second year in a row, the number of species waiting for Endangered Species Act protection decisions remains below 150 — the lowest number since the list, in its current form, was created in the 1990s.

The steady progress the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making in addressing the backlog highlights the success of a landmark agreement reached with the agency by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2011, which requires the Service to speed protection decisions for 757 species. The 2014 “candidate notice of review” released by the agency today includes 146 species…

I was at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley today for the Roderick Lecture on “Botanizing Baja California by mule: Adventures into remote regions of Baja California, including cowboy uses of indigenous plants” by Sula Vanderplank. Before the lecture I did a short walk around the garden and took a few pictures with at compact camera. Many of the Manzanitas are starting to bloom as well as at least one species of Ribes. There is still a bit of fall color. The rains have brought out bright green in the mosses, show off the lichens, and have brought up some mushrooms. There is also a fair amount of bird activity although today the only ones I really paid attention to were Anna’s Hummingbirds and a Song Sparrow.

Related articles

• Foggy Botanic Garden Photos 11/22/14 (naturalhistorywanderings.com)