Earth ChangesS


Eagle

Golden eagles with mange in California

krogers2012
calwil.wordpress.com
Fri, 06 Dec 2013 13:07 UTC
Image
© K. Shawn Smallwood.Photo of golden eagle with mange
The Wildlife Investigations Lab has been involved in the investigation of three cases of severe mite infestation, or mange, affecting subadult golden eagles in central California. Two cases were reported to WIL by SPCA for Monterey County in December 2012 and August 2013, while a third case was reported by biologists with the East Bay Regional Park District, also in August 2013. The eagles had significant feather loss and crusting of the skin on their head, neck, legs, and lower abdomen.

Severe mite infestation is unusual in birds and especially uncommon in adult birds. The degree of feather loss and infestation exhibited by these golden eagles has not been previously documented. Mange likely affects the eagle's ability to maintain normal body temperature and they may have difficulty obtaining food, becoming weakened, possibly increasing their susceptibility to trauma or other disease.We are currently working with researchers from the East Bay Regional Park District, SPCA for Monterey County, and the University of California, Davis to thoroughly document these cases, identify the mite, and evaluate any underlying health conditions.

The public is urged to notify the California Department of Fish and Wildlife if additional golden eagles, or other raptors, are seen with severe feather loss. If you find a live-eagle on the ground, do not attempt to capture the bird yourself, as these birds can be extremely dangerous; rather, please contact your local licensed wildlife rehabilitation center for assistance.
Read More...
Eagle

Another Utah bald eagle may have mysterious deadly malady

Brett Prettyman
The Salt Lake Tribune
Mon, 16 Dec 2013 12:49 UTC
The raptor displays symptoms of four others which died in Utah this month.

Mitch Lane was expecting a dead bald eagle when he responded to a report from a waterfowl hunter. His first glance at the raptor from across the river seemed to confirm the report.

But once the conservation officer with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) reached the eagle he found the bird was alive. How long it remains alive is another matter.

Lane picked up the live bald eagle Saturday in an area along the Weber River in West Weber, close to where another eagle was collected on Dec. 1. The eagle retrieved earlier - and at least three others from wide-ranging locations - eventually died from a yet unknown cause.
"There were a lot of eagles in the area this time of year. This one was on the ground and had his wings spread out; he looked dead from a distance," Lane said. "When I got closer it was obvious it was still alive."
Read More...
Igloo

Small town Canada: Triple the average December snowfall

Caryn Ceolin
Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 03:34 UTC
GP snow fall
© Jocelyn Turner / Daily Herald-TribuneOne unlucky cab driver had a less than ideal morning on Friday when he found himself stuck almost completely on top of a snow pile collected in the middle of Poplar Drive. Many of the city's residents found themselves battling the snowy conditions.
Though only two months into the winter season, Grande Prairie is already 22 centimetres of snow away from reaching the expected amount of snow it sees in a 12-month period, says Environment Canada.

In particular, the month of December thus far has seen the city close in on exactly half of the average snowfall it usually gets for an entire winter.

"In the month of November, it's reported that Grande Prairie got 55 cm and December, so far, 77 cm," said Dan Kulak, warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada.

"The normal snowfall for the month of November is about 26 cm and for December is about 24 cm, so basically the city doubled that amount in November and pretty much tripled that amount for December."

According to Kulak, who's based out of Edmonton, while the normal amount of snow for the area in a year is approximately 154 cm and, with November and December combined, has already reached some-130 cm, the unusual numbers cannot be attributed to anything other than Old Man Winter.

"It's not that the season started any earlier than it usually does, but that it's been going very strong since it did start," Kulak said, noting that recent snowfalls are no indication that the city will get more or less, come the new year.

Flash freeze warnings in many northern areas across the province on Tuesday, however, were somewhat out of the ordinary, said Kulak.
Read More...
Snowflake

Jordan: Four days of heavy snowfall leaves Amman paralyzed


CCTV.com
Mon, 16 Dec 2013 10:20 UTC

Thousands of homes in Jordan's capital Amman have been left without power, after four days of heavy snowfall left the city paralysed.

Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded, covered by the snow. Amman's residents have begun trying to clear the roads.

It is one of the worst blizzards to hit the country in recent history, leaving half a metre of snow in certain areas. Heavy snow has fallen in parts of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Syria over the last few days. The major winter storm, known as Alexa, is the first to hit the region this season.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Finland's chief meteorologist can't understand why storms on increase


Sott.net
Sat, 14 Dec 2013 11:48 UTC
Image
This powerful storm battered Finland in 2010
The last four winters in Finland have been brilliantly white, with snow. Intense storms are also on the increase. This has the Director of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Mikko Alestalo, rather confused.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - 195km E of Farallon de Pajaros, Northern Mariana Islands


US Geological Survey
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 21:22 UTC
Mariana Islands Quake_171213
© USGS
Event Time
2013-12-17 23:38:08 UTC
2013-12-18 09:38:08 UTC+10:00 at epicenter

Location
20.764°N 146.760°E depth=16.1km (10.0mi)

Nearby Cities
195km (121mi) E of Farallon de Pajaros, Northern Mariana Islands
623km (387mi) N of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
624km (388mi) N of Nth Islands Municipality - Mayor's Office, Northern Mariana Islands
652km (405mi) N of JP Tinian Town pre-WW2, Northern Mariana Islands
824km (512mi) NNE of Yigo Village, Guam

Technical Details
Read More...
Attention

Fuel-truck swallowed by massive sinkhole in India


Deccan Chronicle
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 23:37 UTC
Image
© Deccan Chronicle
A truck laden with compressed natural gas cylinders fell into a sinkhole caused by leakage from a water pipeline opposite St Ann's High School in Secunderabad on Monday.

The incident occurred at 10.30 am, during peak traffic hours, causing a traffic jam that extended for up to two kilometres and lasted for three hours. On Sunday, the Water Board had diverted pipelines to make way for Metro Rail pillars.

The truck (AP 16 TB 7796) was carrying the cylinders from Shamirpet to Narayangudda HP Petrol Pump. While heading to East Marredpally (opposite Maharaja Bakery) the rear wheels of the truck sank into the moist soil.
Read More...
Question

Mysterious vapor cloud sickens senior citizens in Commerce City, Colorado


Source
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 17:17 UTC
Police are working to pinpoint the source of a mysterious vapor cloud that made a group of senior citizens sick on Sunday night.

9NEWS received a newstip that half a dozen seniors became ill while standing outside the Commerce City Recreation Center at 60th and Monaco.

The senior citizens were about to board a bus at the rec center to listen to children sing Christmas carols.

The incident is puzzling for police and alarming for the seniors who got sick, including a 70-year-old grandmother named Mary who asked 9NEWS not to show her face or give her last name citing safety concerns.
Read More...
Arrow Down

Another sinkhole emerges on same Philadelphia street where truck was almost swallowed a week ago

Kelly Bayliss and David Chang
NBC10 Philadelphia
Mon, 16 Dec 2013 22:24 UTC
Image
© NBC10
Over a week after a huge sinkhole on a city street nearly swallowed a pickup truck, another sinkhole on the same street caused a stream of water to shoot out of the ground.

A water main break caused a sinkhole to emerge on Monday along the 900 block of Randolph Street in Northern Liberties. According to one resident, the sinkhole caused a shooting water stream that "reached three stories high for an hour and a half."

Kate Somerville recorded Monday's sinkhole. Water from the latest main break flooded her basement as well as her neighbors'. Residents say it took the Philadelphia Water Department several hours to respond.

"They said they'd come," Somerville said. "They said that about three hours ago."

Comment: The fourth sinkhole in 6 months!

July 31, 2013:
Massive sinkhole swallows entire intersection in Philadelphia!
Another sinkhole opens in Philadelphia, exposes green fluorescent water under city!

December 5, 2013:
Sinkhole nearly swallows pickup truck in Philadelphia

Read More...
Magnify

Mysterious snowy-owl migration one of biggest on record

Douglas Main
Mother Nature Network
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 16:54 UTC
Image
© Tom Middleton/Shutterstock
It's a long way from the Arctic to Bermuda, but scientists think the mass migration may have been caused by a scarcity in the owls' main sources of food.

Snowy owls - large, fluffy, white birds typically found in the Arctic and rarely seen south of the Great Lakes - have swooped down upon the eastern United States in greater numbers than at any time in at least 50 years, one bird expert says. The owls have been spotted as far south as Bermuda, the Carolinas and Missouri, according to news reports.

This migration of snowy owls southward is called an irruption, and this is the "largest of its kind in recent memory," said Kevin McGowan, a bird expert at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University.
Read More...