Although there is much rejoicing with the recent news that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has given candidacy species designation on March 1, 2013 to the California great white shark, some biologists are jumping for joy. (To clarify, great whites are being CONSIDERED for either threatened or endangered status – The California Endangered […]
Some red tailed and red shoulder hawks in Southern California can take long-distance summer trips as far away as Idaho, raptor expert Pete Bloom recently told an audience of Audubon members and interested public at the Audubon Center in Debs Park. “We call these birds vagrants or ‘Magellans’ because they are charting into unknown territory,” […]
Fans and staff at the OC Zoo are mourning the passing of Nacho, a much-loved black bear that lived at the zoo for more than 11 years. Nacho died on Feb. 14, 2013. California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife brought Nacho to the zoo in 2001 because he was orphaned at a very young age […]
If you’re near a keyboard, you’re near the birds. Taking place Feb. 15-18, 2013, the Great Backyard Bird Count goes global this year with the addition of mankind’s friend for the ages, the Internet. Now, when you watch and record birds for 15 minutes at any location, you can tally your numbers online at www.birdcount.org […]
Why do they want to confuse us? They are called ring-tailed cats, but they are not part of the cat family. Sigh. Sure, they are cat-sized animals, but these beasties resemble a cross between a fox and raccoon with a very bushy long tail. A critter cam recently caught images of a ringtail snooping around […]
The challenges of getting the iconic California condor back up in the air where it belongs is the subject of a new 90-minute documentary that is slated to be screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 30 and Feb. 2. The Condor’s Shadow follows biologists, zookeepers, toxicologists and a feisty condor named Pitashi who tell […]
Calling all photographers: if you have a good photograph of ocean wildlife, that image may send you to the Galapagos Islands. Sponsored by the fine folks from SeaWeb’s Marine Photobank and Lindblad Expeditions, the “Ocean in Focus” photo contest is looking for pictures that illustrate – either positive or negative – the human impact on ocean environment and species. With hundreds […]
Flappers, flitters and flutterers – if you want more to visit your backyard, join an upcoming talk by local ornithologist Kimball Garrett who will discuss “Backyard Birds in Angeles: Who They Are and How You Can Attract More of Them” on Feb. 9, 1:30-3:30 pm at Theodore Payne Foundation in Sunland. Garrett – along with […]
Last week, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to put an end to a 24-year-old “no-otter zone” in Southern California – which also put an end to an experimental program to establish a southern sea otter colony on a remote island off Santa Barbara. Long thought of as a “big mistake” by environmentalists, the […]
Winging by – and with – a long neck, the sandhill crane was announced as the 2012 Audubon California Bird of the Year. One of North America’s largest water birds, the crane racked up 43 percent of votes cat during an annual online poll that invited more than 12,000 readers and nature-lovers to choose a […]
We all know that the holiday season often brings us together with hard-to-get-along guests – but a Southern California family recently discovered a very unwelcomed visitor creeping around the parameters of their Rancho Bernardo home. No it wasn’t a crazed alcoholic uncle scoping out the eggnog bowl, it was a poisonous Gila monster. Rare, […]
Fossil lovers who need their daily fix of All Things Pleistocene will shout a collective cry of joy on December 12, 2011 when the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits launches its new fangled, fancied-up website, www.tarpits.org. Promising to have more insight into the gooey world of Mid Whilsire Los Angeles (albeit 40,000 years […]