A big part of finding birds is being in the right place at the right time. When the birds show up, you have to be there. Last Friday, local birder John Brammer looked out his window and saw a large yellow bird that he did not recognize. He had the presence of mind to snap off a series of great photos for the next 15 minutes. Then the bird departed.
Local birders pored over online photos of immature male orioles (there are not all that many, by the way), and identified it as a hooded oriole, a bird native to the Southwest and Pacific coast.
A snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) has been photographed in Hungary's southern Baranya county for the second time since records began, the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society has said. The only previous occasion the cold-loving animal has been spotted in Hungary was in 1891.
The owl was photographed at the settlement of Bóly in Baranya county, after which bird-watchers from the ornithological society travelled to the scene to verify the sighting. Subsequently, several observers arrived to the area and a large number of good-quality photographs were taken.
At least 20 swans have died mysteriously of illness or poison on the river Wear in Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, in the last month.
The RSPCA has asked the public to be vigilant after swans died on a stretch of river in the past few weeks.
It is unclear whether the birds that live on the River Wear in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, have been being deliberately or accidentally poisoned, or if they have succumbed to natural illness.
There are about 100 swans on that section of the Wear which passes through Riverside Park, and it is popular for children to feed the inquisitive swans.
What started as a few reports of dead trumpeter swans in the Snoqualmie Valley has turned into much more. Dozens of birds are dead and many more are terminally ill in an area near Carnation along the Snoqualmie River.
Experts believe it to be a massive case of lead poisoning.
A lone trumpeter swan appears perfectly fine as it floats in a Snoqualmie River side channel, but it's in serious trouble.
"The only good news is, it's not raining," said Martha Jordan, coordinator with Washington Swan Stewards.
Jordan is going after that swan like she has dozens more just like it since a lead poisoning die off began late last month.
The Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha's Kendrapara district, considered to be the largest rookery of the endangered Oliver Ridley turtles, has turned into a mass graveyard of these endangered species as hundreds of carcasses were spotted ashore.
Around 800 Olive Ridley turtles were found dead along Barunei, Pentha, Satabhaya, Gahirmatha, Babubali river mouth and other places during the ongoing mass nesting season by February 15, a forest department official said.
However, unofficial estimates put the toll over 5000, raising concern among environmentalists.
Stephan Kayyar daijiworld.com Fri, 13 Feb 2015 20:02 UTC
Wild boar.
A woman has died after being attacked by a boar at Kubdaje near Badiadka.
The deceased person is Ayesha (55), wife of late Abdul Rahiman.
As per reports, at around 7.30 am on Tuesday, February 13, Ayesha was attacked by a boar when she ventured out from her house. When she reached the front side of the house, the boar jumped into her. Mohammed, her son managed to chase the boar.
Ayesha was given first aid in the Badiyadka hospital and was immediately rushed to a hospital in Mangaluru. But she breathed her last on the way due to grave injuries inflicted on her.
The boar which went to a nearby shed later belonging to Prakash also attacked a buffalo there. The baffalo sustained deep injuries on its shoulder. When villagers came to the shed, the boar ran into the nearesr forest.
Wild boar presence in the locality has created problems for the villagers who cannot move out freely these days.
After a brief lull, another child has been attacked by a pack of stray dogs while he was on his way home from a rice mill in Rurki village of Baheri district on Tuesday evening.
According to reports, the pack mauled the eight-year-old boy and dragged him towards a sugarcane field. However, a few passersby heard his cries for help and rushed to his aid. The mill workers, armed with bamboo sticks, hit the dogs and shooed them away.
The minor sustained serious injuries on his neck, head, legs and arms. He was admitted to a community health centre (CHC) in Baheri but was later referred to district hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment.
Starting from January 15, pack of stray dogs have killed four children and seriously injured more than ten to date.
Richard Kostecke stood on the side of a Williamson County road for more than two hours peering on and off through a telescope. Then he quietly said, "I've got it."
Right in the middle of his lens was a bird never before seen in the wild in the United States.
The striped sparrow, recognizable by a black mask-like stripe on its head, was perched on a shrub 200 feet away on a sunny February afternoon. It was 700 miles away from its home in the western mountain ranges of Mexico, said Kostecke, the associate director of conservation for the Nature Conservancy in Texas.
A sperm whale that had been stranded near a coastal village in the town of Calauag, Quezon province, died yesterday, an environment official of the province said.
Manny Calayag, community coordinator of the Quezon-Environment and Natural Resources Office, said the sperm whale, one of the world's largest animals, died around 7:30 a.m. in the shallow portion of the waters off Lamon Bay near the coast of Bangkorohan village.
The whale was found by fishermen a kilometer away from the shore on Tuesday, said Senior Insp. Noel Divino, Calauag police chief.
He said the whale, measuring 40 feet long and 10 feet tall, was found with a wound on the right part of the belly.
Two people, a teenager and a child under 10, were bitten Tuesday by a family dog in Glendale
Glendale Police are investigating a dog bite that sent two children to the hospital.
According to Glendale Police they got a call of a dog bite from the family dog around 1:22 p.m. Monday. Officer Breeden with the Glendale Police Department described the dog as a pit bull.
It all happened near 67th Avenue and Mountain View Road.
8-year-old Xavier was passing by the home and heard the screaming, he ran over to the home and called 911.
"I heard somebody yelling animal and hurt," said Xavier.
The dog bit an 8-year-old boy on the arm and leg and a 13-year-old girl was bitten in her lower extremities.
Paramedics rushed both of the children to area hospitals in serious but non life-threatening condition. The 8-year-old was flown to Phoenix Children's Hospital.
Neighbors that live nearby say they know of the dog.
Comment: Map of animal events since the start of 2015 -
Comment: See also:
Feral dogs kill 5-yr-old in Bareilly, India: Third fatality in a month of 10 attacks
Pack of stray dogs maul 17-month-old boy outside his house in Bangalore, India
Indore reports at least 50 dog bite cases daily, India