Morning all. It’s #WorldCurlewDay today. Please spread the love for these terrific endangered birds. Born in a Pennine village next to the moors, the distinctive curlew cry is an evocative sound of my childhood. If you’re out for a walk on the moors keep your dog on a lead. Curlews may be nesting. xx
Let’s get personal, shall we? I’ve been here a while now, and as I’m feeling quite comfortable at Mastodon, I’d like to share a bit more about myself beyond my passion for the climate and the environment.
To begin with, I’m a male, he/him, hetero, strongly supporting LGBTQ rights. I’m a baby boomer, born at 312 PPM 🌏, a United Statesian, although I lived in Europe (mostly Hungary) for several years, and traveled extensively for work before retiring in 2012. I’ve never been good at sustaining long-term romantic relationships, and I’ve finally settled into comfortable singlehood.
I like to say I’m made of contrasts.
For example, I’m rather funny and quite personable, but I don’t enjoy small talk and I hate parties. I currently live in the Bible Belt, but I’m an outspoken atheist. While I can easily fit into most social situations, I don’t feel comfortable around large groups and prefer being alone most of the time. I live near two huge military bases, but I detest the USA’s militaristic, troop-worshiping culture. I’m almost always cheerful, which masks my deeply felt existential nihilism. I’m a neat freak, but also rather lazy, preferring fun over work.
I’ll finish up with some hashtags to add flavor...
The plant in the first photo may not look like much, but it's very special. It's tall western penstemon (Penstemon hesperius), which only grows in about a half dozen locations in the Portland, #Oregon/Vancouver, #^Washington area -- and nowhere else in the world. This pestemon was thought to have gone extinct in the late 20th century, but it's turned out to be surprisingly tough. Even so, P hesperius is on the federal endangered species list.
The Vancouver Island marmot is endemic to Vancouver Island. It is listed as an endangered species: there is about 300 marmots in the mountains.
They are coming out of hibernation this month. If you see a Vancouver Island marmot while hiking here, please report your sightings to the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation.
“The BiOp needed to consider whether the small frog population could sustain grazing-related impacts on top of potential climate change effects, which, according to documents in the record, include stranding and higher egg mortality due to increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation and pathogens,” the judges wrote in the unpublished order.
Twenty-one creatures were just removed from the #EndangeredSpecies List last year for the worst possible reason: They're officially #extinct.
Once found across much of America, these birds, bats, fish and mussels are now gone forever. Their loss is a wake-up call for us to do all we can to protect Earth's #biodiversity -- from the grizzly on the ridgeline to the butterfly in our backyard.
Researchers say the Indochinese leopard is functionally extinct in Cambodia after a 2021 camera-trap survey failed to capture a single individual from what was once thought to be the country’s last viable population of the big cat.
The study points to hunting as the most significant contributor to the decline of the subspecies.
Cabrerita de la Ciénaga/Zapata Sparrow (Torreornis inexpectata), a Cuban endemic found only in the Zapata wetland and a couple of other isolated spots, is considered threatened due to its restricted range and ongoing habitat fragmentation. Subspecies of this bird live in varying wetland terrestrial habitats, including sawgrass, wooded and shrubby areas and even areas of thorny shrubs and cacti. Diet varies seasonally, but they will feed on seeds and flowers, insects and other small invertebrates, and even small lizards. #nature#NaturePhotography#birds#Wildlife#naturecommunity#photography#BirdsOfMastodon#birdphotography#birding#Cuba#Cubanwildlife#sparrows#biodiversity#endangeredspecies
Unchecked logging and quarrying of rocks from streambeds in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts led to springs drying up and populations of putitor mahseer fish, an endangered species, disappearing.
The situation was worsened by climate change impacts, characterized here by a more intense dry season during which even streams that once ran year-round now dry up.
A #GrayWolf killed in a January #coyote hunt in #Michigan's southern Lower Peninsula; #DNR investigating how it got there.
The harvest was potentially the 1st time a gray wolf has been identified in the Lower Peninsula since the species was wiped out driven to [#extinction] from the state in the early 20th century, MI Dept of #NaturalResources said.
Happy to announce that you can now purchase my photo book ''Vancouver Island Marmot, The World's Rarest Marmot'' at the Vancouver Island University Campus store. Dr. Gorrell, a prof at VIU, has written in my book about his research on the Vancouver Island marmot and it is fascinating. He is part of the amazing team of experts involved in the VI marmot's recovery from extinction.
"Fire management in Victoria amounts to de facto native logging industry, conservationists say. On Thursday conservationists and the Victorian National Parks Association expressed shock after discovering a dead greater glider in an area where trees had been felled by FFMV."
"Logging in Victoria’s native forests ended at the beginning of this year but Prof David Lindenmayer, a forest ecologist at Australian National University, said: “There’s a de facto logging industry now emerging under the guise of fire suppression.“To me, when you cut down big trees and put them on a truck and take them to a sawmill … that is logging.”"
"Whether for fuel breaks, salvage logging, or private land logging, native forest logging hasn’t stopped in Victoria. It will continue for many years, and the logs cut from these operations will be sold commercially."
Today is World Turtle Day. I was commissioned by Turtle Survival Alliance, to revisit my ‘Turtles, all the way down’ print again, with a variety of wonderful but sadly endangered turtle species of special focus, in 2 prints: 1 for turtles from around the world, and 1 for North American species. Turtle Survival Alliance works to prevent extinctions of these amazing and varied animals worldwide, 🧵 #linocut#printmaking#WorldTurtleDay#turtle#sciArt#conservation#endangeredSpecies#biodiversity
For #WhoopingCraneDay :
N.C. Wyeth (American, 1882-1945)
The Dance of the Whooping Cranes, 1939
oil on panel, 30 x 22¼ in. (76.2 x 56.5 cm);
printed as a plate in the illustrated edition of The Yearling (1939) #BirdsInArt#EndangeredSpecies