"Spring is in the Air - Northern Beardless Tyrannulets"
by Debra Martz
What a treat when I saw this pair on a bird walk at Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco, Texas. I was not the only birder who was thrilled, excited, and wowed by this pair as they flew in and out of this Ball Moss. They are so tiny, measuring in at only 4-1/2", and a rare sighting in Texas.
I am so excited to showcase this AMAZING partial (and 📸) of my coffee birb made by MiesdoCreations (on TG)!!!
It's her first time making a bird suit, and I think she did such a lovely job on him!
I can't wait to show him to friends and bring him to cons :D
Echo is the other half of the spirit of Last Caw. Not quite a direct opposite of Caw, Echo still presents a quiet, reserved demeanor, and is content to simply vibe in a room with people.
Bird flu detected in person who had contact with infected dairy cattle in Texas
A person in Texas is being treated for #bird#flu,
the second human case of an illness caused by
a highly virulent virus
that has rampaged through 🔸sickened dairy cows in five states🔸 in recent weeks.
The patient, who experienced eye inflammation as their only symptom, was tested for flu late last week with confirmatory testing performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the weekend.
The patient is being treated with the antiviral drug oseltamivir.
The case does not change the #risk for the general public,
👉which remains low.
The person had direct exposure to dairy cattle presumed to be infected with #avian#influenza, Texas officials said Monday.
The case has alarmed disease trackers monitoring for the worst-case scenario:
♦️human-to-human transmission of the pathogen, which has happened infrequently worldwide and typically among family members engaged in work with animals. ♦️
And it raises questions about whether this pathogen is now more easily transmitted among mammals.
Epidemiologists have been worried about the🔹 growing number of mammals 🔹infected by highly pathogenic avian influenza — commonly known as #HPAI — around the world.
The avian influenza has been spreading around the world since 2020, and has been documented to infect dozens of other mammalian species, but rarely spreads between them.
Last month, HPAI was found in a baby goat in #Minnesota, the first case in U.S. livestock.
CDC found one virus from a cow with a marker known to be associated with reduced susceptibility to the neuraminidase inhibitors (a change at NA-T438I). This change has been seen rarely in the past in H5N1 viruses isolated from wild birds and poultry.
Learning about St. Louis and the Eurasian tree sparrow is a rabbit (bird?) hole I fell down myself a few years back when I got into photographing birds on my walks to school with the kids.
But it didn't occur to me to turn it into a story. Great read.
A few weeks ago, I noticed this varied thrush outside my window. I grabed my camera and rushed downstairs. I have been trying to get decent photos of this bird for years. Not yet the type of photos I'm looking for but the ''best'' one so far.
Notice how green the grass is in early January on Vancouver Island 😛