Author: sharonstjoan

Blue-footed Booby mating display, bird on right is “sky pointing”

There are not many places on earth for observing this delightful creature, for they are a marine bird found only on a few tropical and sub-tropical spots in the Pacific Ocean.  A trip to Espanola Island in the Galapagos yielded a fascinating introduction.

Sula nebouxii breed here where their ground nesting succeeds without animal or human disturbance, and they are surrounded by plenty of tasty meals.  They eat fish and are extraordinary divers, aligning their large body and wings in a streamlined bullet as they pierce the waters.  A large bird, about the size of a bald eagle, they measure approximately 36 inches long with a wingspan of over 4.5 feet.  To learn  more click here. 

Female Blue-footed Booby

We found their breeding colony and were entertained for hours observing their mating dance.  A sunny, open expanse of lava and…

2014 Wildlife photographer of the Year invertebrate category winner: ‘Night of the deadly lights’ by Ary Bassous (Brazil). Photograph: Ary Bassous/2014 WPY. Via The Guardian.

We’ve always loved wildlife photography, and the explosion of competitions over the web in the last decade has created the type of arms race for the best shot in which the audience always wins. Folks over at The Guardian know what’s up: they’ve compiled some of the most amazing wildlife photographs from various competitions over the course of 2014, so we have an even greater pool of shots to enjoy.

In a most welcomed landmark decision, an Argentine court has ruled that the Buenos Aires zoo has to release Sandra, an orangutan, to a sanctuary, because during 20 years of confinement she has suffered “unjustified confinement of an animal with proven cognitive ability” and “should be recognized as a person with a right to freedom.” The court said that Sandra should be transferred to a nature sanctuary because Sandra is a “‘non-human person'” which (sic; Sandra should be referred to who) has some basic human rights.” Intelligence and the ability to suffer are reasons to confer personhood to a nonhuman animal.

This is very important news. According to AFADA (Association of Professional Lawyers for Animal Rights) lawyer Paul Buompadre, “This opens the way not only for other Great Apes, but also for other sentient beings which (sic) are unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in zoos, circuses, water…

This video is called The noisy harp seal pup.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain today:

Seal slaughter subsidy axed

Norway: Parliament has voted to scrap a controversial subsidy for seal hunting, potentially spelling the end of the much-criticised activity.

Most MPs voted to remove a £1 million subsidy — which has made up 80 per cent of seal hunters’ revenue in the past — from the 2015 Budget.

“We fear that the hunt will actually disappear along with the subsidies,” a fisheries committee spokesman said.

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This video, in Spanish is about the Sierra Gorda nature reserve in Mexico.

From the World Land Trust:

Monarch Butterflies appear in large numbers in Sierra Gorda

27 November, 2014 – 12:51

Although three weeks late, Monarch Butterflies have started to appear all over Sierra Gorda, stopping off on their long migration to the fir forests further south.

Roberto Pedraza, Technical Officer of Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda, World Land Trust’s (WLT) conservation partner in Mexico took this photograph on 22 November 2014.

He told us: “As you know, Monarch Butterflies are extremely endangered thanks to logging, government ‘protected areas’ that aren’t protected, and industrialised agriculture in the US and Canada.”

Roberto found the big group of the butterflies in the highlands of Sierra Gorda. There were so many of them that the branches of the cedar were bowing under the weight.

He noticed that they had returned…

This video is about hawksbill turtles.

From the Wildlife Conservation Society:

Major comeback for sea turtles: Highest reported nest counts in Nicaragua

December 11, 2014

Summary: Scientists noticed a dramatic increase in nesting of critically endangeredhawksbill sea turtles including the highest nest counts since a conservation project began there in 2000.

A WCS team in Nicaragua reported today a dramatic increase in nesting of critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles including the highest nest counts since a conservation project began there in 2000.

The total nest count for hawksbill turtles in the project area in Nicaragua’s Pearl Cays region has increased some 200 percent from 154 in 2000 to 468 in 2014.

Of the areas monitored, poaching rates have decreased by more than 80 percent. Poaching in 2014 was one of the lowest in project history at approximately five percent. Nest success has averaged approximately 75 percent this…

This video is about mandarin ducks in nature reserve Boswachterij Dorst in the Netherlands.

Christ Grootzwagers made the video.

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