Animals
S


Butterfly

Monarch butterflies in California at critically low level for 2nd year in a row

Ella Torres
ABC
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 16:36 UTC
Monarch butterfly
© Smith Collection/gado/Getty ImagesA monarch butterfly collects nectar from a flower in the People's Garden, in Washington, D.C. in 2014.
The number of monarch butterflies wintering in California remains at a critically low level, according to a new study.

The total number of monarchs observed this year during The Xerces Society Thanksgiving count was 29,418, according a press release issued Thursday by the nonprofit, which focuses on conserving invertebrates.

While that number is slightly higher than the 2018-2019 count -- which saw an all-time low of 27,218 -- the organization warned that this year's numbers "are no better."

Comment: As we are seeing with most life on our planet, it's likely that what's affecting the butterflies is the impact of humanity, but a more significant contributor could be Earth Changes: Also check out SOTT radio's:

Read More...
Attention

Iguanas fall from trees in south Florida as temperatures drop

Jan Wesner Childs
The Weather Channel
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 21:24 UTC
Frozen iguanas falling from trees in South Florida
Iguanas falling from trees in South Florida
Cold-stunned iguanas fell from trees in South Florida Wednesday morning as temperatures in Miami hit 40 degrees - the lowest recorded there in more than nine years.

The National Weather Service in Miami issued a "falling iguanas" alert on Tuesday.

"This isn't something we usually forecast, but don't be surprised if you see Iguanas falling from the trees tonight as lows drop into the 30s and 40s," the agency tweeted Tuesday. "Brrrr!"

Some residents of South Florida tweeted photos and videos of cold-stunned iguanas Wednesday morning.

Read More...
Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Cape May warbler that normally winters in the West Indies turns up in Las Cruces, New Mexico

Marcy Scott
Las Cruces Sun News
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 19:45 UTC
The famed Cape May warbler of Las Cruces' Tellbrook Park pauses in a mesquite in January 2020.
© Jimmy ZabriskieThe famed Cape May warbler of Las Cruces' Tellbrook Park pauses in a mesquite in January 2020.
Even on its summer breeding grounds in Canada and the northernmost states of the US, Cape May warblers are by no means common. In the eastern states, they're most often seen during migration — in fall, mostly moving through the Appalachian Mountains and along the Atlantic coast, and in spring, usually east of the Mississippi Valley. They are extremely rare throughout the West. The great majority winters in the West Indies, with a few in southernmost Florida and along the Caribbean coast. Thus, for one to turn up in January most anywhere in the states but Florida, let alone a city park in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is downright astonishing, but one indeed did, at Tellbrook Park just a couple of weeks ago.

The tiny wayward bird was first spotted by a sharp-eyed local birder, who promptly reported the sighting to the online eBird community's rare bird network, and the news quickly spread. Beginning the next day, not only locals got to enjoy watching what proved to be an unusually obliging bird, but also some of the more serious birders from other parts of New Mexico traveled to see a bird that is hardly ever encountered in our state, and thereby add another species to their state or county bird list. Only once has a Cape May warbler been documented in neighboring El Paso County, that being in 1983, so this January 2020 occurrence, a definite first for Doña Ana County, was truly remarkable.
Read More...
Black Cat

Mountain lion attacks small child at California park

Karma Allen
ABC News
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 13:19 UTC
A mountain lion attacked a 3-year-old boy and then grabbed his father's backpack and climbed into a tree in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Trabuco Canyon, Calif., on Jan. 20, 2020.
© Orange County Sheriff's DepartmentA mountain lion attacked a 3-year-old boy and then grabbed his father's backpack and climbed into a tree in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Trabuco Canyon, Calif., on Jan. 20, 2020.
A small child was attacked by a mountain lion at a Southern California park on Monday, causing authorities to evacuate the scene while they raced to capture the wild cat.

A 3-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital after the animal grabbed him by the neck as he and his family walked through Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Trabuco Canyon, about an hour south of Los Angeles, officials said.

The child was transported to a local hospital and was listed in stable condition, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

The attack happened at around 4:15 p.m. local time.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife gave local law enforcement the approval to euthanize the lion due to the public safety threat, the agency said.

Read More...
Question

At least 20 dead birds show up in Matlacha Isles, Florida

Rachel Loyd
fox4news.com
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 12:22 UTC
dead birds
Neighbors said dead birds have been showing all over Matlacha Isles for the last few days. Beatrice Storino counted up to 20 grackle birds since Friday.

"I hope it's not a flu or something that's going around that can contaminate the other birds or the fish," she said. "Just like to know what the heck's going on."

Frances Martorella has a few ideas of what might have caused all these bird death.

"I thought maybe somebody's poisoning them. Or they've got a disease or something that's killing them," she said.

Read More...
Smiley

The elephant in the room!


NZ Herald
Sun, 19 Jan 2020 21:36 UTC
Elephant in the Room
© Netskope
Visitors to a Sri Lankan hotel had to contend with an unexpected guest when a wild elephant took a stroll through the lobby.

The video, which was shared on Twitter, shows the animal moving almost silently through what appears to be the lobby, gently investigating items with its trunk.

The curious elephant nudges over a desk lamp at one point, before casually wandering on.


Comments on the video poured in, with one wit saying: "Now let's talk about the elephant in the room."
Read More...
Fireball 5

Meteorite impact, not volcanoes led to dino extinction says study

Jim Shelton
Yale University
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 21:22 UTC
Impact Event
© Stock Adobe
Volcanic activity did not play a direct role in the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs, according to an international, Yale-led team of researchers. It was all about the asteroid.

In a break from a number of other recent studies, Yale assistant professor of geology & geophysics Pincelli Hull and her colleagues argue in a new research paper in Science that environmental impacts from massive volcanic eruptions in India in the region known as the Deccan Traps happened well before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago and therefore did not contribute to the mass extinction.

Most scientists acknowledge that the mass extinction event, also known as K-Pg, occurred after an asteroid slammed into Earth. Some researchers also have focused on the role of volcanoes in K-Pg due to indications that volcanic activity happened around the same time.

"Volcanoes can drive mass extinctions because they release lots of gases, like SO2 and CO2, that can alter the climate and acidify the world," said Hull, lead author of the new study. "But recent work has focused on the timing of lava eruption rather than gas release."
Read More...
Bug

Worst locust swarms in East Africa for 25 years posing an unprecedented threat to food security

Ian Collier
Sky News
Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:26 UTC
Locust swarm, Kenya
The insects are devouring crops with Kenya one of the worst affected
The most serious outbreak of locusts in 25 years is spreading across East Africa with a single swarm covering an area one-and-a-half times the size of Greater London.

Unusual climate conditions are partially to blame for the plague, which is posing an unprecedented threat to food security in some of the world's most vulnerable countries.

The insects are devouring crops, with Kenya one of the worst countries to be affected.

One swarm measured 60km (37 miles) by 40km (25 miles) in the country's northeast.

A spokesman for the country's Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said: "A typical desert locust swarm can contain up to 150 million locusts per square kilometre.

"Swarms migrate with the wind and can cover 100 to 150 kilometres in a day.

"An average swarm can destroy as much food crops in a day as is sufficient to feed 2,500 people."


Comment: At least 360 000 ha (890 000 acres) of crops have been affected in Rajasthan, northern India which is currently in the midst of the state's worst locust infestation in 60 years.

Locust outbreaks from last year include:

Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Vultures signal impending changes for Earth


Adapt 2030
Fri, 17 Jan 2020 00:12 UTC
Fuel truck stuck in snow in Idaho
© Matt BerryFuel truck stuck in deep snow in Idaho.
Record snows blanketed the Eastern Himalaya areas of India's N.E states in the same range as the Giffon Non-Migratory Vulture which suddenly abandoned the Himalaya and is 2000 miles south in Singapore. Massive avalanches and unprecedented snow fall in Indian, Pakistan and Afghan mountain ranges and Ice chokes 1/4 of China's second longest river.


Comment: See also:

Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Hundreds of thousands of fish killed in Australia after rains wash bushfire ash and sludge into Macleay River

Graham Redfearn
The Guardian
Fri, 17 Jan 2020 02:37 UTC
fish kill Macleay River New South Wales
© Larry NewberryResults of a fish kill in the Macleay River in northern New South Wales, which locals said was like ‘cake mix’.
Hundreds of thousands of native fish are estimated to have died in northern New South Wales after rains washed ash and sludge from bushfires into the Macleay River.

Parts of the Macleay River - favoured by recreational fishers - have been turned into what locals described as "runny cake mix" that stank of rotting vegetation and dead fish.

One freshwater ecologist told Guardian Australia the impact of the fish kill might be felt for decades to come, with long-lived species like Australian bass hit hard.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries has been receiving reports of "hundreds of thousands" of fish dead in the river since December 2019.

Locals say rain in the past 10 days has seen more ash and mud from the parched and burned landscape running into the river.

The disaster on the Macleay River is one of eight fish kills reported to the department this year, with the cause of most linked to lack of rainfall.

Comment:

Read More...