Who was this guy?
It seems so out of place. In the middle of nowhere Arizona, not far from the Mexican border, the following structure sits:
A closer peek at the plaque reveals a name and an intriguing statement:
So who is this Franciscan monk? There's a high school in Tempe named in his honor, after all. And why isn't his name as well known as Coronado?
After reading up on the subject I've come to a two-part answer to the second question above: 1) instead of being a gallant, swashbuckling noble like Coronado, Father Marcos was a poor Franciscan priest. And 2) Marcos De Niza was discredited in his time as being a liar.
Sent north out of Mexico City by Viceroy Mendoza in 1539, Marcos was charged with looking for wealthy cities. Accompanying him was a Moor, Estevan (considered the first African to explore the west). The group got as far as Hawikuh, a Zuni village (present day New Mexico), where Estevan was killed.
Upon his return to Mexico, Marcos reported he had been to, or at least seen, Cibola (as in the 7 lost cities of gold). Oops.
He is tasked the next year to lead Coronado's journey north. After not finding any gold, Coronado sends Marcos back to Mexico but continues to head into new areas, getting as far north as Quivara, Kansas.
Whether Marcos De Niza deserves his ignominy or not is apparently still debated. But no one can take away the monument to his name near Lochiel, Ariz. And I think I'm safe in saying very few folks from North Dakota have seen it.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/16/2010 at 2:54 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: arizona, cibola, coronado, lochiel, marcos de niza
Okay, we've got 49 hours.
I made the dash to the Tucson area in order to catch up with Bubba Schwartz, the unlucky friend from Bemidji who had suffered a terrrible loss in January due to a home fire. I met him at the site of his former (and future) home followed by a drive to his temporary quarters in a motel where we (very) loosely planned the next two days. I then looked at my watch and said, 'okay, we've got 49 hours.'
(At the homestead):
Bubba's Mercedes-Benz van would--for that tiny packet of time--act the gypsy wagon, carrying two itinerant midwesterners, a short list of must-dos (but even these were negotiable), sleeping bags, enough groceries cooling in a powered fridge, an ample supply of adult beverages, a map (or so we thought), and some idea of where we were headed.
(Yeah, we hit Patagonia):
From Patagonia the van steered into terra incognita upon Coronado National Forest roads in a sort-of attempt to get to Sierra Vista.
Upon emerging from the Canelo Hills, we encountered this (about which there will be more later):
The San Rafael grasslands are not unknown by cattlemen as the beef from this area is widely respected and desirable. For birders, it's known as a wintering place for sparrows, longspurs, and raptors.
As day waned the van approached a low wet area where javelinas had gathered in a number I'd never seen before--I'd guess 25. By the time we could get a photo, only their hind-ends were visible going away...
By day's last direct light, the fellas enjoy the moment atop a rise in the middle of the grasslands. In the distance are hills likely within the confines of Mexico:
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/16/2010 at 1:10 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, canelo hills, coronado national forest, patagonia, patons
Raptors show their stripes
Okay, I'm in Arizona. But it's for training and not vacation. Nonetheless I filled an empty hour with a walk on the north side of Scottsdale yesterday. While most of the spring migrants have yet to arrive it was still refreshing to walk around on something other than snow and ice and see some different, if common, birds.
Of the small handful of birds present there were three common raptors known to just about any birder and even some non-birders. Not only that but all are almost continent-wide critters, even up in good ol' North Dakota. First, a western red-tailed hawk juvenile. Notice the molt this young bird is going through:
Then there's the large female Cooper's hawk I found quietly perched in a tree above a small pond. The strange thing was a pair of mallards immediately beneath this woodland predator. I am guessing the mallards were uneasily aware the hawk was not big enough to take them. Still, the blood-red eye (only in adults) is enough to send shivers down the spine of every other songbird:
Finally there's the predator everyone has seen but few recognize, the northern harrier. Years ago this bird was known as a marsh hawk but it just didn't quite fit into any neat category, especially hawks. It is truly a bird on its own with traits unlike any other raptor in America. It spends most of its hunting time coursing low over grassy or marshy areas with a noticeable dihedral to its wings and trying to stir up prey. The telltale signature--at least while in flight--is its longish tail topped by a broad white rump patch evident in this photo:
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/11/2010 at 10:26 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, coopers hawk, northern harrier, northland outdoors, red-tailed hawk
Could we see moas again?
It really never mentions it in the story. But I have to believe the current flowing under the written words is flowing in that direction. From Oneindia comes the report based on a paper found in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. It speaks to some pretty amazing things being done with fossilized egg shells, specifically the extraction of DNA.
The relevant stuff:
Charlotte Oskam and Michael Bunce, Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, were able to isolate mitochondrial DNA from the eggshells of several extinct megafauna, including the giant moa of New Zealand
and a 19,000-year-old emu from Australia.
The researchers' breakthrough also included recovery of DNA from the egg of the elephant bird of Madagascar, New Scientist reported.
and...
Jaime Gongora, an expert in avian genetics, the University of Sydney, said: "It's a breakthrough. Extracting even a little more DNA is really important with ancient samples."
Again, I was waiting for the other shoe to fall in the story but alas it remains on the foot. No one wants to expose themselves scientifically it seems, but lay folk like me have no problem doing it so I will: IS IT POSSIBLE TO SOMEHOW RECREATE THESE EXTINCT BIRDS? Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/10/2010 at 11:18 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, dna, extinction, moa, northland outdoors
"Countable" one day?
(California condor, USFWS)
Ever since the last wild California condor was trapped back in the 1980s there has been a federal effort to breed and reintroduce this, the largest soaring bird in North America, back into former habitat in hopes of establishing self-sustaining population.
For birders, this is an exercise in patience. The bird, you see, is not "countable." That means even if you see one of these majestic vultures (with a 10-foot wingspan) in the wild, they cannot officially reside on your personal life list. For that to happen the powers that be must declare the bird established and sustaining, and reach a minimum population level. Every California condor out there now is tagged and tracked like a terror suspect. OK, better than a terror suspect.
Recent news out of California is causing a stir of excitement. In Pinnacles National Monument a pair of condors have lain an egg. The birds' attempt at bringing off a nestling represents the first nest in that area in over 100 years.
Some background stuff from the San Francisco Chronicle article:
Despite being listed on the federal endangered species list in 1967, only 22 remained in the world in 1987, prompting conservationists to capture the remaining birds and start a breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo.
Since then, millions of dollars and countless man-hours have been spent trying to bring the species back. The birds were reintroduced in California, Arizona and Baja California starting in 1991, and there are now 348 condors in the wild and another 161 in captive breeding centers.
The specifics of the nest attempt:
"Condors historically called the Pinnacles home, but because of the declining population the birds have not nested in the park in 100 years," said Carl Brenner, the chief of interpretation and education for the national monument, which is in the Gabilan Mountains about 30 miles south of Salinas. "Forty years ago there were no condors in the park. This is a milestone for the park recovery program."
A nest with a single egg was found recently in a cave on top of a cliff known to rock climbers as Resurrection Wall, on the west side of the park. The egg is the product of a romance between 7-year-old condors with the decidedly unpoetic names 317 and 318.
That's pretty cool. The only thing I wonder about is the release of the nest location specifics. They say they will close this part of the monument but that only serves as a target for ne'er-do-wells who may have less than honorable intentions. Better to ignore the area and not bring attention to it in my opinion.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/10/2010 at 2:24 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, california condor, lifelist, northland outdoors, pinnacles
Powerlines + fog = a lethal mix
In 1980, The Fog debuted with little or no fanfare. It was a semi-scary movie done by John Carpenter which featured a California harbor town beset by long-dead lepers terrorizing the small community. It was a pretty low-budget affair (what B-movie isn't?) starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Leigh Curtis and Curtis's mother, Janet Leigh.
Now comes news out of Tennessee pointing to fog as a contributing factor in the deaths of multiple birds which piled up recently near Clarksville (I wrote of it here), and reported by KSMV-TV, Nashville.
Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency officers sent several of the birds' bodies to a lab in Georgia. They said the results show the birds suffered trauma including fractured skulls and broken necks, pelvises and wings.
TWRA officers said they believe fog caused the hundreds of birds to crash into the nearby power lines.
(I had thrown out a theory regarding a nearby horse pond. Obviously that was wrong).
Powerlines will continue to be a source of bird (and bat, and the occassional helicopter) deaths. Call it the cost of doing businesss in the modern era. We all want power. And delivering it to your homes and businesses economically means overhead powerlines. Combine that fact with a hindrance to visibility and you end up with a potentially lethal mix as experienced in this case.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/09/2010 at 12:36 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bird deaths, birding, fog, northland outdoors, powerlines
Broken promise. But for a good reason.
Many months ago I made a commitment to entirely shun any entries regarding West Nile virus or bird flu. I tire of those stories quite quickly, they being the same old crap rehashed and retold, and for what? It's fear-mongering at its finest.
Today, I break that pledge. But it comes with a twist.
Birds have been the tried-and-convicted culprits accused of spreading West Nile across the country ever since the virus was identified in 1999 in New York. Not so fast, says Infection Control Today:
“In the past, people assumed that birds played the primary role in the spread of West Nile. However, the rapid spread of West Nile did not follow a leap-frog pattern or move north to south along migratory bird routes like we would expect,” said senior author Jason L. Rasgon, PhD, assistant professor with Bloomberg School’s Malaria Research Institute and the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. “When you see such rapid movement, one of the main questions we ask is: ‘What are the factors that mediated this jump?’ Our study shows mosquitoes are a likely candidate.”
Aha, it's the mosquitoes after all, not the birds (if their conclusions are valid). Now that is relevant IMO.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/08/2010 at 3:52 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, birds, mosquitoes, northland outdoors, west nile virus
Little blue pill, New Zealand style
I couldn't help but chuckle after running across this story from New Zealand.
Wellington - The main ingredient in fake Viagra seized by New Zealand customs officers was guano - bat and bird droppings, according to a scientist quoted in a newspaper on Saturday.
It seems when one is seeking a little help in "that area," one should probably stick with respectable pharmacies.
Umm, the article contained no report on the efficacy of the guano-laced Viagra. They probably couldn't find a buyer willing to talk. I might suggest a different use. Guano has, for centuries, been used as a fertilizer. Now stop right there, you know what I meant.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/08/2010 at 3:38 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bird guano, new zealand, viagra
Stuck duck...and other weird avian tales
Folks must be tiring of listening to the latest drivel on the health care bill. Either that or the news cycle must just be getting low. How else to explain the rash of strange bird stories peppering local papers lately. For evidence, I give you three examples:
First there's the escaped emu near El Paso that snarled traffic on I-10 until the Texas deputies arrived (which law enforcement class covers this situation?). Apparently the bird was not easily persuaded.
Deputies tried to prevent the tall, flightless bird from running into traffic on I-10, but when deputies neared the emu, it became aggressive, even lunging at them.
(emu, but not the perp from the story)
Read the story here.
Then in Santa Fe, Texas, a duck somehow became wedged in a homeowner's chimney. Now what would you do if a duck was stuck in your chimney? Probably not what this lady did: light a fire.
Well, that accomplished nothing more than filling the home with smoke (where do you nominate people for the Darwin awards?). Next step, call the fire department.
The chief says a firefighter reached into the lower part of the chimney, grabbed the duck and pulled the animal out. (Fire chief Tommy) Anderson says the duck was taken outside and it flew away.
Click for the duck story.
Finally, we have the bald eagle east of Seattle which became entangled in a rope requiring extrication. It had dinner in its talons--in this case a duck--but somehow miscalculated its flight path. Enter the savior in the form of a "raptor specialist."
...raptor specialist Tim Brown stepped in, whistled what he calls "an eagle song" and gently draped a blanket over the big bird's head to calm it. It took a few minutes Tuesday to unwind the rope but the bird let Brown work it out.
(You'll find the eagle story here).
What's going on out there?
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/08/2010 at 3:09 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bald eagle, birding, duck, emu, northland outdoors
Hints abound, but nothing yet.
For the first time in months the street in front of my house can actually be driven on without touching ice and snow. Really. The middle of the street is bare of the frozen stuff. Just the last few feet next to the curbs remain. And even this is getting rotten. Can spring be far behind?
I'm hearing whispers of migrant birds here and there but nothing from North Dakota which is still veiled in pretty serious snow cover. South Dakota is getting some gulls I understand. But that's a sort of red herring given the artificial setting of the various Missouri River dams and the resultant open water.
Here's an example of just what is happening south of us. It's a website which tracks the migration of chimney swifts. I clicked on it today and, lo and behold, there is a square marking the first arrival in the states this spring in south Texas!
Swifts usually don't show up here until May. Nonetheless it's kinda fun to watch the map as the migration progresses northward.
The first migrant around these parts is usually a western meadowlark or a killdeer or a raptor of some sort. But I haven't seen one yet...
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/08/2010 at 11:39 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, chimney swift, northland outdoors, spring migration
Trouble in Clarksville
(red-winged blackbird)
Dead birds typically attract little attention from the public. We see them, after all, quite regularly. Whether they are lying flat along a roadway or beneath a picture window, bird carcasses are fairly common components of our modern landscape.
But when there are flocks of dead birds, well, that gets attention. From UPI, dateline Clarksville, Tenn.:
Scientists are trying to determine why red-winged blackbirds, grackles and other birds have been dying in northwest Tennessee.
Officials have sent some carcasses to a lab to see if a cause of death can be determined. Until the results come in here's one guy with a guess:
One theory is that a power line running through the neighborhood is responsible. Dale Grandstaff, an officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, said birds are often so close together when they take off that electricity jumping from a transformer to one bird could continue through the flock.
But more interesting was a little descriptive statement the author fairly glosses over. However, it stands out as a ripe candidate in my mind:
Scores of carcasses have been found in a neighborhood in Clarksville on the Kentucky border, The Leaf Chronicle of Clarksville reported. Large flocks of birds gather in the neighborhood, attracted by a horse pond.
Hmmm. A horse owner with a pond. Might he not have hay to feed these animals? And might he not be quite upset with all the birds feeding on and crapping on his pricey hay? I say test the pond water for avicide.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/02/2010 at 3:02 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bird deaths, birding, redwinged blackbird
R.I.P. Mr. Cross
I didn't know this guy. In fact I had never heard of him. But today I ran across an article on NPR.com describing a small facet of Theodore Cross's life, that of bird photographer.
Just who was he?
Theodore Cross pursued many passions over his 86 years: He was a real estate lawyer, a publisher, a White House adviser and a leading spokesman for black economic development.
But Cross was perhaps most passionately a lover and photographer of waterbirds.
One statement in the story caught my eye particularly:
Theodore Cross spent just about every day of the last month at the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, still trying to get the perfect picture of a reddish egret. He died Sunday at age 86.
I've been to Ding Darling and all I can say is wow. If anyone is at all interested in birds, you must make a point to check out this magnificent refuge in south Florida.
I never really think much about the why of birding. For me it's a rich source of personal satisfaction. But Mr. Cross had an interesting take:
"Why I do it, I don't know, but I do get enormous pleasure from it, and it does indeed make it possible to face that ultimate day that lies ahead. It is a way of dealing with the expectation of death."
If you click the link above you will find an 11-shot slide show of some of his photos. Really nice stuff. Also he published a huge book of photographs called Waterbirds.
In addition, I found a short video interview of Theodore Cross with his photos providing the visual. Pretty cool:
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/02/2010 at 2:42 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, theodore cross, waterbirds
Strange bedfellows
We've all seen them. Every now and then a stray email will be found in our in-boxes from someone we know. Open it and up pops a message containing photographs of critter combinations considered unusual in nature. Sometimes it's cats/dogs, sometimes it's deer/rabbits, I've even seen the baby tigers/domestic pig one. Today another one came. And yeah, it's strange.
Caution: You are entering into the unmonitored and highly dubious world of Internet messages.
That said, it appears the photographs are authentic. I can't vouch for the wording. But it goes something like this...
Apparently a dog attacked a litter of five baby rabbits (they appear to be cottontails) leaving two dead and three teetering on the edge of life. Someone felt the pangs of emotion which can accompany such a scenario and the surviving bunnies ultimately ended up at a rehab facility where they were placed in a cage. At the facility there was also a one-legged, non-releasable homing pigeon named Noah who had free rein of the place. This pigeon, as the story goes, immediately took a shine to the bunnies and began sleeping next to the cage. One bunny disappears and gets the attention of the workers. Sure enough, the missing youngster is found safely under the belly of Noah. In time all the bunnies end up there favoring the warmth of a "feather" bed over that of a towel. And apparently Noah is carefully tending to his (the email claims the bird is a male) charges with a loving touch.
All together now....Ahhhhhhhh:
Regardless of the circumstances, the photos are pretty touching.
Posted by: kcorliss on 3/01/2010 at 12:26 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, homing pigeon, northland outdoors, rabbits
45 days in the poky
Last summer there seemed to be rash of drivers speeding along various beaches and killing birds. We mentioned three of them I believe in June and July. One has finally gotten his comeupance, according to AP, reported by KGW (Portland, Ore.):
SOUTH BEND, Wash. (AP) -- A young man who pleaded guilty to a felony count of animal cruelty in the slaughter of nearly 50 protected seabirds at Long Beach has been sentenced to 45 days in jail.
Last June, 21-year-old Charles Belgard of Longview drove a Jeep at about 70 miles per hour on the ocean beach, plowing through several flocks of birds.
The casualties were mostly Heermann's gulls and Caspian terns, which are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
Federal law provides for punishment as a misdemeanor. But the district attorney in Pacific County charged Belgard under Washington state law. Belgard has also been ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
Suppose Mr. Belgard will think twice next time?
Posted by: kcorliss on 2/24/2010 at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, northland outdoors, portland, washington
Prepping for onslaught
Last year a high school teacher of mine handed over a manila folder full of brochures he had collected then bragged about the spectacle to no end. He was talking about the sandhill crane migration he had witnessed along Nebraska's Platte River. Now I see a local story (from Nebraska TV dateline Grand Island) talking about the preparations being made for the coming wave of tourists.
(photo courtesy Fermilab)
Volunteers at the Nebraska Nature & Visitor Center finished two new blinds on Tuesday. The bird watchers are already booking tours, all that's missing are the cranes.
My teacher isn't the only person I know who has been down there for the annual event. Others have mentioned similar stories, all are uberimpressed. And it certainly doesn't hurt the local Nebraskans either:
A University of Nebraska study issued recently estimated the cranes have a $10 million impact, while a previous study done locally put the number closer to $20 million.
One of these springs I must make the pilgrimage and see it for myself.
Here's a great link to Nebraska's crane viewing sites. Check it out.
Posted by: kcorliss on 2/24/2010 at 11:44 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, nebraska, northland outdoors, platte river, sandhill crane
Another blast
Early yesterday--midnight actually--the temperature in Fargo was +18 degrees. By 6 AM it was zero and going south, the cold air mass hustling in on a stiff north wind making it a rather ugly day despite the sunshine. There are rumors this may be the last gasp of arctic air we experience this winter. Let's hope so.
I am consistently amazed at the resiliency of the little winter-visiting arctic birds in the face of such conditions. I'm not talking about the ones which huddle in the trees but the ones that stand up to the wind with pride--snow buntings, lapland longspurs, and to a certain extent horned larks.
With the wind gasping unabated across the fields these birds were seemingly oblivious yesterday near the airport. Here's one snow bunting in a healthy flock of a couple hundred individuals:
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You may recall these high arctic nesting birds don't molt into their white breeding plumage, relying instead on nothing more than feather wear so that the bland edges eventually turn white.
Here's one of a snow bunting (left) and a lapland longspur (right) from the same flock. You get a feel for the wind in this shot:
.jpg)
Finally, a couple of longspurs are bracing against the sandblasting snow:
Posted by: kcorliss on 2/24/2010 at 11:28 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, fargo, lapland longspur, northland outdoors, snow bunting
SNG in late winter
I only spent about two hours, all told, strapped into the trusty showshoes. The location I choose to traverse is very near a trailhead of the North Country Scenic Trail which cuts a meandering swath through the Sheyenne National Grasslands in this section.
This part of the grasslands is anything but grassy. It's river bottom with a mix of eastern hardwood trees in the low areas with oak/aspen savanna occupying the upper portions so it's not as if a person is crossing an ocean of grass. To the contrary, this is a zone which is quite scenic and satifying, shattering as it does, the mind-numbing sameness of snow-covere prairie.
Additionally--and this is a major league draw for me--there is silence. I don't mean the quiet which normally accompanies an early Sunday morning in town. No, I'm talking about an utterly complete lack of any sound whatsoever. A person's own heartbeat, blood rushing through ears, and breathing are the only sounds. It's the sort of tranquility unnerving to some. Not me.
Birds were scant as expected but I was treated to a couple nice sightings: an adult red-tailed hawk and an immature bald eagle in the same tree. Then in the middle of the woods I happened upon the largest single flock of purple finches I've ever encountered in North Dakota, maybe anywhere. They were quietly working the upper reaches of a mature green ash tree scattering seeds to the deep snow below. Every so often one would call. In all I counted 27 individuals.
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are gone this time of year. But their handiwork remains. These woodpeckers drill a series of holes in bark in order to feed on the nutrient-rich sap flowing down the bark from the leaves. I assume the bugs attracted to the sapwells are also a target.
In this case the target is an American linden, basswood to the lumber folks.
Posted by: kcorliss on 2/22/2010 at 4:49 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, northland outdoors, purple finch, sheyenne national grasslands
Not something you see every day
Sunday afternoon I went down to a certain area of the Sheyenne National Grasslands to do a little snowshoeing and see if there were any birds around. During the drive I happened to notice something I rarely, if ever, see. It was a person walking. But not just walking in town or down the street or even down the road. No, this guy was walking across a rural field. No skis, no shoeshoes, just plodding along on foot.
Normally this would be cause for concern and prompt a call to authorities. This behavior, after all, risks death from exposure or hypothermia and is usually associated with a hefty intake of alcohol. But the temps were in the 20s, the sun was shining, and he was making to the southeast with a purpose not apparent in persons of need. No, this guy was enjoying himself.
I don't mind a workout nor walking in the snow. But without snowshoes or skis in this deep snow, this is utter drudgery. I applaud his drive whoever he is.
Posted by: kcorliss on 2/22/2010 at 4:34 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: northland outdoors, skiing, snow, snowshoeing
When birdshot just won't do
I'm not privy to what motivated this guy--Freddy P. Jordan--to carry out his underhanded deeds, but whatever it was, it was dead wrong. It comes to us from the Lexington (Kent.) Herald-Leader:
A Logan County man was fined $5,000 this week after he pleaded guilty to poisoning migratory birds, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service news release.
Officials said Freddy P. Jordon of Auburn admitted to placing Furadan, what they called a widely misused legal pesticide, on bait and distributing it on his property to kill predators. In doing so, Jordon inadvertently killed three red-tailed hawks and three vultures.
An investigation of Jordon's property began in January 2009 after hunters noticed several dead animals on his property. Officials recovered 22 animal carcasses that ranged from the six migratory birds to several coyotes and foxes, U.S. Fish and Wildlife said.
Well, that was just the recovered animals. You can bet there were significantly more not found or carried away by predators; which subsequently died I'm sure.
According to the release, Jordon admitted to not following the directions on the pesticide's label and laced it with turkey carcasses to poison coyotes.
"Not following the directions?" No kidding.
I'm not naive enough to think this doesn't happen. And not just in Kentucky. But wow, poison? Such indiscriminate measures really have no redeeming justification whatsoever. It's a scorched earth method without a doubt. I've got no sympathy for this guy or others who choose the same course.
Posted by: kcorliss on 2/19/2010 at 11:10 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, northland outdoors, wildlife poisoning
The mouths (brains) of babes
I'm not sure if we are looking at a scientifically insignificant nugget or the tip of a potentially large iceberg of further discovery. But a recent study by a team at Duke U., suggests an intriguing dynamic occurring in the very young brains of little finches. (It's reported here by the Sydney Morning Herald with a Paris dateline. Figure that one out).
The experiment has been praised for unlocking insights into the learning process and proving that a single experience can rapidly shape a juvenile brain and alter the way it functions.
Professor Mooney and other researchers used a laser-powered microscope to peer directly into the brain of an anaesthetised immature bird.
As it heard the song of a mature male from the same species, they witnessed a dramatic transformation in connective tissue, called dendritic spines, that link nerve cells in the brain.
How cool is that? One exposure and the brain responds "dramatically." Is this telling us anything about our own child-rearing?
'Many skills, including communication skills, require great precision if you want to stay in the gene pool,' Richard Mooney, a professor at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, said.
'A male songbird has to learn to sing precisely or he won't attract a mate.'
The findings also suggest that the window of opportunity for picking up the all-important mating song slammed shut after a certain age.
'Juveniles in which spines were already highly stable weren't able to learn from their tutors,' said the lead author, Todd Roberts, a neurobiologist at Duke.
The work could help efforts to restore plasticity to synapses after a stroke or other brain damage, he said.
This line of study might be instructive to look back on one day.
Posted by: kcorliss on 2/19/2010 at 10:51 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: birding, brain, duke university
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