Animals
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Binoculars

North American flycatcher arrives on British shores for the first time at Dungeness


Daily Telegraph
Wed, 23 Sep 2015 17:40 UTC
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© Paul TroddAcadian flycatcher in Dungeness
Experts believe the Acadian flycatcher got caught up in a fast-moving Atlantic weather system that took it from the eastern US to Dungeness in Kent

A bird never recorded before in the UK is believed to have landed in Kent, and then died.

Suspected to be an Acadian flycatcher from North America, the historic landing on the beach at Dungeness in Kent sparked one of the biggest mass gathering of twitchers in years.

They hope to catch a sight of the small robin-sized bird that should be basking in the tropical forests of Panama or Colombia.

But today it was nowhere to be seen with fears that the exhausted bird had died.

Somehow it had been caught up in a fast-moving Atlantic weather system that has taken it from its nesting grounds in eastern USA to the famous gravel headland overlooking the English Channel.

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Attention

Black bear attacks man in Powell River, Canada

Chris Bolster
PeakOnline
Thu, 24 Sep 2015 17:21 UTC
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A 51-year-old man was hospitalized with minor injuries after being attacked by a black bear. The bear and its two cubs have since been destroyed by conservation officers.
Conservation officers are searching for a bear responsible for sending a 51-year-old man to hospital in the early hours of Thursday, September 24.

Powell River RCMP have confirmed that a man walking his dog on the 4700 block of Redonda Avenue, behind the Town Centre Mall, was attacked by a bear at approximately 5:30 am.

The man sustained only minor injuries in the attack and did not require BC Ambulance Service paramedics to transport him to Powell River General Hospital, Constable Tim Kenning told the Peak at 9 am.

Kenning said that the unnamed man told him "the bear came out of nowhere."
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Attention

Dead Gray whale washes up near Fremont, California


ktvu.com
Thu, 24 Sep 2015 13:50 UTC
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Biologists will perform a necropsy Thursday on a dead whale that washed up near Fremont to determine what caused its death, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Biologists will perform a necropsy Thursday on a dead whale that washed up near Fremont to determine what caused its death, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The 25-foot long carcass was discovered washed up on a rocky beach in the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday just north of the Dumbarton Bridge, according to East Bay Regional Park District spokeswoman Carolyn Jones.

A park ranger spotted the whale carcass about 150 to 200 yards south of the Alameda Creek Channel, Jones said.

"We had a lot of whales washing up on shore," said Mary Jane Schramm from the National Marine Sanctuaries, Gulf of the Farallones.

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Attention

Rarely-seen beaked whale dies in Provincetown Harbor, Maine


Cape Cod Today
Thu, 24 Sep 2015 17:58 UTC
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© Center for Coastal Studies A rarely-seen beaked whale stranded in Provincetown Harbor Wednesday
A rarely-seen beaked whale stranded in Provincetown Harbor Wednesday. According to a Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) release, the whale died before a rescue could be attempted. CCS researchers responded and identified the animal as a beaked whale, although the species has yet to be determined.

The Provincetown Harbormaster and his crew assisted CCS with recovering the whale and towing it into the harbor. Researchers from the Yarmouth Port-based International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) will transported the whale to their facilities where a necropsy will be performed to determine cause of death, the release said.

A deep water species, beaked whales are typically only encountered hundreds of miles from shore. In July, a dead beaked whale washed ashore in Plymouth. Researchers from New England Aquarium responded on that day. According to the New England Aquarium, beaked whales are most often encountered by commercial fisherman when they are caught as by-catch. The last time aquarium researchers had encountered a beaked whale was in Duxbury in 2006.

The whale's dolphin-like beak gives them their name, the CCS release said.
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Attention

Texas man mauled by brown bear in Alaska


BABW News
Wed, 23 Sep 2015 17:43 UTC
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Grizzly bear
A North Texas man was viciously mauled by a brown bear that had a group of cubs while he was hunting for moose in Alaska. According to a report from Dallas Morning News, the man is in critical condition after the attack.

47-year-old Gregory Joseph Matthews of Plano, TX suffered life-threatening injuries on Tuesday as his brother watched on in horror while the two were out hunting in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The man is expected to survive.

The refuge manager, Andy Loranger, reported that fishermen in the area notified authorities of the attack, and Matthews was airlifted out of the park and to a nearby hospital. On Wednesday, Matthews was reportedly in good condition but refused requests for an interview following the attack.

Loranger says that the salmon are making their annual pass through the Alaskan rivers, and this has attracted the attention of a number of large predators. Wildlife officials are currently searching for the bear that attacked Matthews in the area surrounding Doroshin Bay, as well as the upper shores of Skilak Lake, but they still have found no evidence of the culprit.
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Boat

California kayaker films fight with hammerhead shark

Ben Hooper
upi.com
Wed, 23 Sep 2015 14:53 UTC
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Paddle versus shark
A kayaker off the coast of Goleta, Calif., shared video of his struggle with an aggressive hammerhead shark that repeatedly attacked his kayak.

Mark McCracken, who posted his video to YouTube, said he was in his kayak "trolling for bonito" off the coast of Gaviota State Beach in Goleta Saturday when the "tweaked out hammerhead started ramming and biting my kayak."

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Binoculars

Two Carribean seabirds turn up in Baltimore Harbor

Don Rush
delmarvapublicradio.net
Wed, 23 Sep 2015 13:57 UTC
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© Jerry Jackson A brown booby sits on a mooring line between the ships Denebola and Antares in Baltimore's Inner Harbor Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015.
Two birds normally found in the Caribbean and parts south are visiting Baltimore's harbor.

Two brown boobies, an adult and a "subadult" about a year old, have been seen around Baltimore's harbor this month.

Phil Davis of the Maryland Ornithological Society said in a phone interview Tuesday that he has seen and photographed the seabirds. He says a water taxi operator spotted the birds recently and emailed the Audubon Society, and the message was posted on the Ornithological Society's email list.
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Wolf

91-year-old woman mauled by family dog, dies in Miami hospital


miami.cbslocal.com
Tue, 22 Sep 2015 13:38 UTC
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Elderly woman killed in possible dog attack
Authorities said they are investigating the death of an elderly woman found mauled by a dog on Tuesday.

According to Miami-Dade Police, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue requested their assistance at around 4 p.m. after they found a 91-year-old woman unresponsive and suffering from an apparent dog bite.

Police responded to the home located at 9415 SW 18th Terrace and called in Miami-Dade Animal Services in regards to the dog. The dog found at the home also lives there, police said.

The woman was taken to Kendall Regional Hospital where she died. Investigators have not confirmed if the dog bite was the cause of her death or it was from her age.

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Question

Water at bird refuge turns pink in Santa Barbara, California


6abc.com
Tue, 22 Sep 2015 13:04 UTC
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Santa Barbara bird refuge
The water at a bird refuge in Santa Barbara, California has turned a startling shade of pink.

Officials say it may look pretty, but it's a sign of an unhealthy ecosystem.

Warmer temperatures have allowed purple sulfur bacteria to reproduce more frequently.

Officials believe a lack of rain may also be to blame.

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Bug

Bees swarm Arizona street, four hospitalized

Henry Austin
NBC News
Wed, 23 Sep 2015 21:39 UTC
Bee swarm
© Phoenix New Times
Six residents were injured when thousands of bees swept through an Arizona neighborhood, firefighters said - including a three-year-old boy who was stung up to 100 times.

When rescue crews arrived on scene in Gilbert, a small town to the southeast of Phoenix, the huge swarm made it difficult for them to get to the injured, Deputy Chief Michael Connor of the Gilbert Fire Department told NBC News.

The three-year-old was stung anywhere between 75 and 100 times and had been "rushed to hospital," he said.

A 14-year-old girl and 22-year-old woman from the same house were also hospitalized, according to NBC station KPNX.

To reach the boy and his family, firefighters had to go through the backyards of homes from one street over and the crews used ladders to make it over fences, the station reported.


A firefighter was also injured but he was treated at the scene along with two others with minor injuries, Connor said, adding that he had never seen such a big swarm, he said.

Police also made reverse 911 calls to residents in the area advising them to stay inside and close any open windows or doors, until the scene was secured.

Eventually, firefighters were able to overcome the bees using fire suppression foam, Connor said. They believe the bees had a hive in a tree on a front lawn.
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