Squirrel trapped in Palomar Mountain campground

A ground squirrel that tested positive for plague on Palomar Mountain has led San Diego County health officials to warn campers and hikers to take precautions."The big thing is to avoid contact with squirrels and the fleas that they can carry," Department of Environmental Health director Jack Miller said.

"Campers should set up tents away from squirrel burrows, never feed squirrels and warn children not to play with squirrels." Miller said.
A squirrel trapped at Cedar Grove Campground on Palomar Mountain was the first reported case of plague in San Diego County this year. Plague is a bacterial disease of wild rodents that is transmitted to people by fleas that feed on the blood of a sick animal and then bite humans.

The deadly tree disease, that first appeared in the UK last autumn, was until now confined mostly to the east coast and newly planted sites.

Of the 500 cases spotted so far, 295 are newly planted and the most far east infection was in established woodland in Kent.

But in a worrying development the infection was found for the first time in mature trees in the seaside town of Ferryside in Carmthenshire, Wales.

As trees start to burst into bud it is expected a lot more infected trees will be discovered by people spotting the tell-tale signs of curled, blacked leaves rather than spring green.

It was hoped the disease might be contained to newly planted sites or the eastern seaboard, where the fungus could have blown in from the Continent.

But the first case in mature trees in Wales suggests it is taking hold across the country via imports and the Government has admitted it is too late to stop the spread.

Members of the public are now being asked to keep an eye out for further cases by looking for trees with blackened leaves.

The first infected trees in Wales were discovered in Carmarthenshire by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) staff last week.

Three wildlife conservationists have noticed increases in the amount of dead and sick birds found on local beaches.

While scouting the beach for sea turtle nests, Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project coordinator Nancy Fahey noticed several dead birds along the beach strand.

These reports appear to be part of a larger trend of an increase of dead and sick birds along the North Carolina coast.
On May 1, Fahey reported 13 dead dovekies, three dead common loons and one dead green heron found along the Wrightsville Beach strand to the Wildlife Health Event Reporter website, www.whmn.org/wher

"I have found more dead birds during these two weeks of monitoring than I've ever noticed on Wrightsville Beach," Fahey said. "And I think primarily those little dovekies added to that number or that observation, because it is a rare event for them to be down here."

Typically dovekies are found in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Fahey also found three live common loons from May 3 to May 9.

"I've never found three live loons in a two-week timeframe before, ever," said Fahey, who has been a WBSTP volunteer since 1995 and coordinator since 2004.

Stormy weather has been blamed for an unusually large spate of native bird deaths on Western Australia's south coast in recent weeks.

About 130 dead flesh-footed shearwaters have washed up at Mandalay Beach and areas west of Walpole over the past fortnight, according to the Department of Environment and Conservation.

DEC Frankland District nature conservation coordinator Alison McGilvray said about 25 dead birds, which were mostly fledglings and sub-adults, were first discovered on Friday, May 3.

Eruptions from Pavlof Volcano continued on Wednesday after rumbling to life earlier in the week. The 8,261-foot peak on the Alaska Peninsula awoke Monday morning, kicking off a "low-level eruption of lava," according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO). Sitting about 30 miles northeast of the community of King Cove, Pavlof is a frequently-active volcano that last erupted in 2007. The volcano's rumbling has strengthened this week. At about noon Tuesday, satellite images showed a lava flow had coursed a third of a mile down the northern side of the volcano.
By late Tuesday, an ash plume extended 15,000 feet above sea level, moving downwind to the northeast for up to 100 miles before dispersing. The National Weather Service issued a "Significant Meterological Event" warning, called a SIGMET, to alert pilots of hazardous conditions in the area. Pavlof continued to rumble Wednesday, with one pilot reporting a dark ash cloud reaching 20,000 feet. Residents of Cold Bay, located 37 miles southwest of the volcano, observed incandescent glow at the summit during the night. Pilot reports and photographs from yesterday afternoon indicate that the lava flow extending down the northwest flank is still active and has generated debris-laden flow deposits, presumably from interaction of hot lava with the snow and ice on the flank.

A tropical storm has lashed coastal areas of Bangladesh, killing 12 people, destroying thousands of huts and forcing up to a million people to flee. Officials had prepared for a cyclone, but the storm, called Mahasen, weakened considerably before making landfall. The storm hit Patuakhali district on Thursday with heavy rain and wind of up to 100km/h (60mph). Early reports suggest Muslim Rohingya living in camps on both sides of the Burma border were spared the worst. The United Nations had warned that 8.2 million people were at risk from Mahasen in Bangladesh, Burma and north-east India. Several Indian states issued storm alerts and warned people to take precautions against severe weather conditions.

A massive emergency response is under way in the Granbury area, where at least six people were killed and dozens injured by up to three tornadoes as a relentless storm system raked across North Texas on Wednesday evening.

At a press conference Thursday morning, Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said all six people who died were adults, although he did not have their names or other details. He said 37 others were injured, and about 110 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Deeds said the death toll could rise as seven people remain unaccounted for and nearby rural areas just outside the Rancho Brazos subdivision had not been searched thoroughly. But he said he didn't expect anyone else to be found in the rubble. Search-and-rescue efforts were to wrap up by 10 a.m., just before a scheduled media tour of the hardest hit neighborhood.

Police and sheriff's deputies had the neighborhood blocked off this morning. Debris littered the roads approaching the subdivision, and volunteers with the Red Cross were out in force, seeking to help those in need find shelter and other provisions.

At an emergency shelter set up by the American Red Cross at First Christian Church, about 20 people woke up in beds that were not their own. Volunteer Jeff Watson said the extent of the damage to the families' homes was still unclear, but after breakfast, volunteers will conduct interviews to determine what other services the relief organization should be offering in the coming hours and days.

The sheriff added that many residents quickly left the area after the storm to stay with friends or relatives, so it was difficult to know where everyone went. Those from the damaged areas were encouraged to register at the Red Cross's Safe & Well program so officials and families would know who was all right.

Deeds said 250 people were taken from the Granbury area, about 90 of them from the Rancho Brazos subdivision. Sixteen were taken to Fort Worth hospitals and 38 to the local hospital in Granbury. Fourteen were admitted there.

Some unusual stranding events have occurred in recent days off the northwest coast. On Sunday 12 May, seven common dolphins (five adults and two juveniles) live stranded at Tarmon Beach near Blacksod on the Mullet Peninsula, Co. Mayo. Attempts to refloat them were successful on a number of occasions but one of the juveniles was found dead this morning and another was found alive but in poor condition and had to be euthanased.

On Five Fingers Strand, Inishowen, Co Donegal a beaked whale was found in very fresh condition late on Sunday evening 12 May. This is a female True's or Sowerby's beaked whale with current opinion more in favour of True's beaked whale, due to the shape of the head and length of the beak. In adult males it is possible to tell these species apart by the position of the two teeth on the lower jaw but in females and juveniles the two teeth are not visible. Samples have been taken and will be sent for analysis to confirm i.d. Either way it is a rare stranding as neither of these two species have been recorded since 2009 in Ireland. There are only nine records for True's beaked whales and fourteen records for Sowerby's beaked whales on the IWDG Strandings Database.

Earlier today (14 May) a dead beaked whale calf was also found stranded in very fresh condition nearby at Trawbreaga Bay and it seems likely that both strandings are connected. Both individuals are being recovered to Athlone Regional Vet Lab tonight for post-mortem examination tommorrow.

Interestingly a Sowerby's beaked whale live stranded in mid-Wales a few days ago . We will update this new piece with further information as and when it becomes available.

Scientists say small lava flows have been detected on two restless volcanoes in Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says satellite images on Tuesday show the lava partly down a flank of Pavlof Volcano in a low-level eruption, 625 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Geophysicist Dave Schneider says minor steam and ash emissions are visible from the community of Cold Bay 37 miles away. Pavlof is the second Alaska volcano to erupt this month. Cleveland Volcano, on an uninhabited island in the Aleutian Islands, experienced a low-level eruption in early May.