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Cattle tyrant bird native to South America turns up in Corpus Christi, Texas in November - never before seen in North America

Raul Alonzo
Texas Public Radio
Sun, 03 Dec 2023 13:39 UTC
The cattle tyrant is a flycatcher bird native to South America that has never been sighted north of Panama, until now.
© Raul Alonzo / Texas Standard
The cattle tyrant is a flycatcher bird native to South America that has never been sighted north of Panama, until now.
Over the years, there have been many efforts to revitalize downtown Corpus Christi as a means of drawing in tourists. And, driving down Schatzell Street one Saturday afternoon in November, you might think that's been a roaring success when you see a group of people walking around with cameras and binoculars.

But they're actually here to see another tourist to the area - one that's never before been seen in North America: the cattle tyrant, a flycatcher bird native to South America.

It's an unusual sight to be sure. The cattle tyrant had to have traveled nearly 3,000 miles and crossed several borders to make it to its current stake-out spot near a sushi restaurant and parking garage in downtown Corpus. And ever since it was identified, scores of birders from all over have made the trip to catch a glimpse of it.

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Hardhat

Giant hailstones pummel parts of Queensland, Australia

Elizabeth Pike
News.com.au
Mon, 04 Dec 2023 13:19 UTC
The storms battered southeastern Queensland as a precursor for what is to come.

The storms battered southeastern Queensland as a precursor for what is to come.
Australians have been warned to brace themselves for another week of wild weather as hail storms batter the east coast while a tropical cyclone is on its way.

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted a high chance of Tropical Cyclone Jasper developing into a category 3 weather system by Tuesday or Wednesday as it moves towards Queensland from the South Pacific Ocean.

However parts of southeastern Queensland have already been smashed by giant hailstones on Monday as thunderstorms reportedly appeared out of nowhere.

Residents from Gympie claimed golf ball-size hail had pelted down just after midday across the region.

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Seismograph

Magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes off southern Philippines - 7th mag. 6+ in area within 30 hours


Mint
Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:33 UTC
mmmm
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines, following a series of strong quakes in the same area. Early morning on Monday, the 6.9 magnitude earthquake jolted the southern Philippines early Monday, the United States Geological Survey said.

Yesterday, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake and a deadly magnitude 7.6 quake Saturday struck in the same region.

At least two people were killed and several were injured after Saturday's quake, according to AFP news agency.

Saturday's quake triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific region and sent residents along the east coast of Mindanao fleeing buildings, evacuating a hospital, and seeking higher ground.

Comment: For details of the other quakes, see: 7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippine Sea, 5 aftershocks of mag.6 or greater

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Cloud Precipitation

One dead, 11 missing in flash floods around Indonesia's Lake Toba

Bernadette Christina
The Star (Malaysia)
Sun, 03 Dec 2023 13:53 UTC
mmmmmmm
One person died and 11 were missing after flash floods hit near Lake Toba in Indonesia's North Sumatra province, the country's disasters agency BNPB said, with scores of people evacuated and rescue efforts underway.

Heavy rain followed by flash floods on Friday evening hit the region located on the shores of the lake, damaging dozens of houses, a church, a school and a hotel, BNPB said in a statement on late Saturday.

Lake Toba, the world's biggest volcanic lake, is a popular tourist destination for Indonesians and international visitors.

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Black Cat

Leopard mauls 13-year-old boy to death in Indian district of Bijnor, 18th human kill there in 9 months

Harveer Dabas
Times of India
Fri, 01 Dec 2023 13:16 UTC
Stock image of leopard
© Getty
A 13-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard at a sugarcane field on Thursday.

The attack occurred around 1.30pm at Sabdalpur Rehra village in Bijnor district. Notably, this is the 18th human kill in a leopard attack in nine months in Bijnor. The last incident was on November 3, when a big cat killed another boy.

The forest department claimed that more than 40 leopards have been trapped and relocated since the attacks began in February.

On Thursday, Alfez along with friends went to a sugarcane field, 500m away from the village. Once they reached, a leopard suddenly appeared and dragged him away. Alfez's friends then screamed for help. Farmers working nearby started looking for the boy.
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Attention

Elephants claim 3 lives in 4 days in Indian district of Sundargarh - 18 killed there in 11 months


New Indian Express
Sun, 03 Dec 2023 13:07 UTC
mmmm
Residents of villages in Sundargarh district are living in fear as elephants, in search of food, have reportedly claimed three lives in the past four days, bringing the total number of human deaths to 18 in the past 11 months. The ongoing paddy harvesting season has escalated the human-elephant conflict, with incidents reported across various forest divisions.

On November 29, Hiralal Behera (25) was killed by a wild elephant while attempting to protect his standing crops near Gargarbahal village in Bargaon range. The following evening, Mangri Munda (58) lost her life when a wild elephant attacked her house at Bhaluadihi in Patmunda under the Koida range. Additionally, the death of a woman in a suspected elephant attack inside the Satabhaya forest of Birmitrapur range on November 29 is pending confirmation with the autopsy report.
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Fire

Eruption on newly formed island caught on camera off the coast of Iwo Jima, Japan


ABC 7 Chicago
Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:46 UTC
mmmmmm
Newly released aerial footage captured by the Japanese coast guard showed a volcano exploding on a new island formed off the coast of Iwo Jima.


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Nebula

Skies in Mongolia mysteriously turn blood-red

Sibu Kumar Tripathi
India Today
Sat, 02 Dec 2023 21:39 UTC
The eerie red skies seen in Mongolia.

The eerie red skies seen in Mongolia.
In an extraordinary celestial display, the skies over Mongolia turned deep, blood-red as the country experienced one of the rarest auroral events on Friday and early Saturday.

The intense colouration is attributed to the initial impact of a significant solar storm that collided with Earth, creating a spectacle that left onlookers in awe.

The phenomenon, known as an aurora, typically occurs closer to the poles and is often green in colour. However, the auroras seen in Mongolia were of a striking crimson hue, a rarity caused by the interaction of solar particles with oxygen at high altitudes — over 241 kilometres above the Earth's surface, where the atmosphere is much thinner.
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Seismograph

7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippine Sea, 5 aftershocks of mag.6 or greater

William B. Davis, Madison Dong, John Keefe, Judson Jones and Bea Malsky
New York Times
Sat, 02 Dec 2023 20:53 UTC
mmmm
A major, 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck in the Philippine Sea on Saturday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 10:37 p.m. Philippine time, data from the agency shows.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake's reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.


Comment: Earthquake Track noted 5 aftershocks of mag.6 or greater, for details see here, here, here, here and here.

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Better Earth

Unusually large Southern Hemisphere ozone hole baffles scientists


Copernicus.eu
Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:00 UTC
ozone

FILEPHOTO: Ozone hole 2021
The ozone hole over Antarctica keeps intriguing by its unusual pattern this 2023 season. The Southern Hemisphere ozone hole size had a series of rebounds in late November, as shown by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) data, at a period when it usually declines until its closure. This behaviour raises questions about what's behind yet another peculiar ozone hole season.

The Southern Hemisphere ozone hole is unusually large, at a time when it normally reduces until its total closure, generally in December. Instead, since the end of October the ozone hole area has virtually remained unchanged, with a series of rebounds, remaining at a size of some 15 km2, to become the third largest after 30 November.

Comment: Despite decades of propaganda scaring people into believing that everything from hairspray to old fridges were destroying the ozone layer, it has become fairly clear that, despite claims to the contrary, the mechanisms driving the formation of the ozone layer are very poorly understood by mainstream science: Magnetic storms can destroy up to a quarter of the Earth's ozone layer, new study reveals

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