Month: January 2016

“Standing at a podium before the World Economic Forum, Leonardo DiCaprio briefly smiled as he received an award for his leadership in tackling climate change. Once settled under the spotlight, he quickly moved away from his grateful statements, and began railing on corporate avarice.

“We simply cannot allow the corporate greed of the coal, oil, and gas industries to determine the future of humanity,” said DiCaprio last week while at Davos, Switzerland, where some 2,500 top global business leaders, politicians, and intellectuals gathered to discuss politics, economics, and social issues.

“Fossil fuels must be kept in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change, he continued. “Enough is enough. You know better. The world knows better.”

“But while DiCaprio was cheered Wednesday as he stepped off the stage with his Crystal award, the international business community appears interested in venturing into new areas despite potential ecological costs. In fact, a day…

In this video, a female tawny owl in a nestbox replies to her male partner calling outside the box.

Gerard Mijnhout in the Netherlands made this video.

Related articles

• Young starling helps feeding its baby siblings
• First ever tawny owl on Ameland island
• Squirrel squats in owl’s nestbox
• Dutch policeman kept illegal pets
• Pied flycatcher attacks red squirrel, video
• Don’t forget wildlife at Dutch elections
• What little owlets eat
• Birds’ breeding season on webcams

This 20 January 2016 BBC video on African wild dogs is called Partners In Crime – Animals In Love.

Related articles

• First Puppies Born Through IVF Could Be The Key To Saving Endangered Species
• Carnivore hunting policy does not always align with science, say researchers
• Honey badgers and more: camera traps reveal wealth of small carnivores in Gabon (photos)
• British children asked to imitate bitterns
• The ninth extinction

This video is about an Amur falcon. One of the raptor species migrating through India.

From BirdLife:

Indian Government signs raptor conservation agreement

By Ed Parnell, Thu, 21/01/2016 – 11:28

India has become the 54th country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (Raptors MOU), an important international agreement to protect migratory birds of prey.

Approval to sign the Raptors MOU was given by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Cabinet meeting held on 30 December 2015. Although legally non-binding, the Raptors MOU –which was concluded under the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) – is an important instrument for the conservation of birds of prey.

“It gives us immense pleasure to congratulate the Prime Minister and Government for making India the 54th signatory to the Raptors MOU. This agreement is a…

This is a red grouse video.

The flooding disasters in Britain have various causes. Contrary to what right-wing politicians say, gay people are not one of them. Contrary to what right-wing politicians say, refugees are not one of them (quite the contrary).

Now, on to one of the real causes.

By Peter Lazenby in Britain:

Grouse shooting ‘making flood wreckage worse’

Saturday 16th January 2016

GROUSE shooting is contributing to the flooding which has devastated dozens of communities across Britain, the Green Party warned yesterday.

Landowners’ cultivation of moorland to suit grouse breeding — instead of managing it to prevent flooding — allows water to pour off moorlands instead of being absorbed.

Green leader Natalie Bennett reiterated a call for a ban on the “sport” after visiting flood-hit communities in Yorkshire.

“Management of moors for intensive shooting is simply incompatible with 21st-century needs —…

After a week of sleet and rain a patch of weekend sunshine seemed the best excuse for a trip to see some natural and some less natural avian pleasures at Pensthorpe. Locally with singing mistlethrush and mallards chasing each other round point towards spring. Although we are in winter the slight lengthening of days is now perceptible.   First to show their fantastic colours and spring time displays in all their pseudo captive glory were the mandarin ducks.

Mandarins sharing a moment of intimacy

Feral and escaped mandarins pop up all over the county but the best spot for them last year was the breckland birding mecca Santon Downham were it is possible these tree nesting imports bred.  The next bird to show us how to do courtship properly and perhaps trying to make up for his less impressive plumage were a goldeneye. This diving duck is a…

“In my mind the right amount of trees, wildfire, juniper, bark beetles, is whatever exists. All of these are controlled by climate, just like the amount of ice that covered the continents and mountains was dictated by climate. Climate will decide what density of trees can grow on any particular site.

LOGGING IS NOT BENIGN

“One of the assumptions of many collaboratives, agencies like the Forest Service, and of course the timber industry is that logging emulates natural processes. There is a very small amount of truth in that logging as well as wildfire, beetles and other natural agents do kill trees. However, that is like suggesting that someone shot to death by a gun is analogous to dying from old age because in both cases, the person is dead. The sad truth is that most so-called “restoration” is degrading our forest ecosystems.” www.thewildlifenews.com

GR:  Wuerthner debunks many of the…