Month: January 2015

The Pine Marten, once common in the UK, is a natural predator of the grey squirrel and has successfully reduced their numbers in Ireland. Photograph: Alamy

Not every problem in the natural world has a solution, let alone a simple one; and there is always that law of unintended consequences, but we like the way this proposal sounds as an alternative to other forms of eradication:

Is there anything more stupid than the government’s plan to kill grey squirrels?

I ask not because I believe – as Animal Aid does – that grey squirrels are harmless. Far from it: they have eliminated red squirrels from most of Britain since their introduction by Victorian landowners, and are now doing the same thing in parts of the continent. By destroying young trees, they also make the establishment of new woodland almost impossible in many places. As someone who believes there should be…

In this video, one can hear and see a male of the recently rediscovered toad species Andinophryne olallai call.

From mongabay.com:

Scientists rediscover endangered Andean toad in Ecuador

By Joanna Parkman

January 30, 2015

In 1970 researchers uncovered the Tandayapa Andean toad (Andinophryne olallai), previously unknown to science, in the Pichincha Province of Ecuador. Given that only a single individual was discovered, even after further exploration in the following years, the toad was soon presumed to be extinct. Forty-two years later, however, a research team rediscovered the species in Manduriacu, Ecuador. Their recently published study in Amphibian & Reptile Conservation describes new knowledge of the cryptic Tandayapa Andean toad, including population status, geographic extent, and natural history.

The Rediscovery

While rediscovering an “extinct” species may appear to be an unusual phenomenon, Lynch says that “…approximately 12 percent of [frog and toad] species previously thought to have…

This video is called Life Science – Echinoderms.

From Fossil Roulette:

30 January 2015

Name: Haimacystis rozhnovi
Location: Utah, USA, Wah Wah Limestone
Age: 466-488 million years ago, Ordovician Period

The early history of major groups of animals is often messy and mysterious. The suite of features that make those groups distinctive today show up piecemeal in different combinations in early species, like Haimacystis.

A long, thin column of discs and a flattened pod with a few wispy arms make up the body of this individual of Haimacystis. The animal is part of the same group that includes living sea stars, sea cucumbers, and intricately crowned sea lilies. The group also includes little-known, extinct animals like rhombiferans and corkscrew-armed gogiids.

Sea stars, sea lilies and other living animals in that group all have skeletons of calcified plates. All have five-part bodies that are usually…

This video from South Africa says about itself:

Two rescued female lions find new home in Africa

22 January 2015

Following years of abuse in a circus in Germany, two rescued female lions put their paws onto African soil. Sisters Maggie and Sonja were rescued by the Born Free Foundation and its partners, their new home Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape.

From Wildlife Extra:

Two lionesses born to circus life get first taste of freedom

Maggie and Sonja have spent their eight years of life performing in a German circus

After eight years in captivity in a German circus, two rescued lionesses are settling into their new home at the Born Free Foundation’s Big Cat Rescue and Education Centre at Shamwari Game Reserve, South Africa.

Maggie and Sonja spent the first eight years of their lives making regular appearances in the circus, performing for the crowds…

This video from England says about itself:

28 January 2013

Record numbers of grey seal pups have been born on Blakeney Point Nature Reserve in Norfolk, taking the size of the colony to possibly more than 1,000 pups for the first time.

By Peter Frost in Britain:

More seals to see by the seaside

Friday 23rd January 2015

Thought our flippered friends were vanishing from the east coast? Don’t be so sealy, cautions Peter Frost

Mother nature certainly hasn’t lost her talent both for fighting back and surprising those who study and marvel at her mysterious ways.

In December 2013 I reported in these very pages that the storms and tidal surges on the east coast had devastated the seal colonies that come to pup and breed over the winter months.

It seemed clear that numbers would be down and I, alongside experts, predicted that it would take years for…

Inside a city that works hard at keeping the jungle in “urban jungle.”

by  Grace Chua:  Cityscope

“SINGAPORE — When it comes to discovering plant and animal species, this densely packed  metropolis of more than 5 million people is full of surprises.

“A year ago, a slender woody tree known as Alangium ridleyi, which was believed to have been lost to development, was discovered hiding in plain sight in the middle of Singapore’s heavily visited Botanic Gardens. (A dry spell triggered the tree to put out its small and delicate yellow flowers.)

“Then in May, researchers found a species of shrub brand-new to science called Hanguana neglecta, a shin-high spray of blade-like leaves. It was spotted right beside a footpath in a nature reserve.”  Source: citiscope.org

Singapore’s commitment to biodiversity is outstanding.

Grumpy baby Bulbul.

He wants to be FED!

Happy baby Bulbul, he got fed!

Red Vented Bulbuls were first identified in 1766 and originate from India.

People tend to not like them because they eat flowers. I like flowers, and Red Vented Bulbus.

The Fairy Tern is native to the south west Pacific. It’s numbers are rapidly decreasing and it is considered a vulnerable species.

The White Capped Noddy, is wide spread in tropical seas and doesn’t have much fear of people. You can walk right up to them and they are studying you!
Cheers to you from the clever birds of Polynesia~

Stories this week:

$10 million forest restoration project in tri-state Great Lakes area will help preserve several at-risk species, including Golden-winged Warbler, American Woodcock, Ruffed Grouse, Black-billed Cuckoo, Moose, Canada lynx, and Northern long-eared bat.

New study reveals that Western dry forests are affected 7 times more by insect outbreaks and droughts than they are by wildfires. Forests have historically contained up to 92% small trees, so reversing the modern restoration treatment of removing small trees will increase the resilience of the dry (tall pine) forests, as the smaller trees are attacked by insects less than larger ones.

According to experts from the U of Copenhagen, crops are able to do their own weed control, if we would plant in tight grid patterns, rather than in rows. The employment of new seed-sowing techniques would allow farmers to use little or no pesticides on crops, to obvious advantage to the…

This video says about itself:

21 January 2015

An elephant calf makes an escape after it fell into a water storage pit in China’s Yunnan province on Tuesday. The calf tried to climb out of the two-metre-deep pit unsuccessfully before being found by local villagers. Police officers spent half an hour shovelling in earth to lower one of the sides of the pit, so the calf could climb out and return to the forest.

From daily The Independent in Britain:

Video: Baby elephant is rescued in China after getting stuck down a water pit

The elephant is believed to have been stuck in the pit for a day before being spotted

Jack Simpson

Thursday 22 January 2015

A baby elephant has been rescued after it fell into an empty water storage pit in south-west China.

The tiny calf is said to have become trapped after venturing near the pit next…

This video is called Birds of Morocco: Levaillant’s Green Woodpecker.

After earlier birdwatching in Morocco, here a recent report.

From The Birder and Biologist blog:

Monday, January 19, 2015

Morocco Trip Report Part 1: Dec 26-28, 2014

And so the adventure begins…my first trip to Africa, and going solo.

December 26, 2014

Day 1 was essentially a travel day, slowly making my way from Oxford to Marrakesh. It began with a quick cab ride from Littlemore to the downtown Oxford bus station, and then a relatively long 2-hour ride to London-Gatwick airport (thank goodness for Sudoku). I had about 3 hours to mill about the airport, so had some lunch, studied the bird guide a bit, and tallied five species from the airport windows: Common Wood-Pigeon, Eurasian Blackbird, Common Buzzard, and Eurasian Magpie.

That is four species; not five.

At 3:40pm my EasyJet