Observations Of Nature Through The Seasons.

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Our little eco-network over here is doing everything it can for Fraxinus (Ash). We've got lots of saplings that are thriving so far and leaving the self-seeded ones to do their own thing for the moment. No evidence of ash die-back (chalara) so far, but it is around.

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Portuguese Man O' War patrol

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Narcissus

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This little lizard popped out of the bath plug-hole this morning.

It was safely captured and released.

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Puffin smashes world-record for clocking 37 years of life

A VETERAN puffin has flown into the record books for living a long and happy life.

It has clocked up 37 years and seven days – one of 17 species to set new longevity records last year, according to British Trust for Ornithology ringing data. 

Other long-lived species include a 30-year-old buzzard, a 23-year-old tawny owl and a 10-year-old goldfinch. 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/855351/world-record-puffin-bird-owl-manx

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The Snow Leopard Is No Longer Endangered. It’s Still at Risk.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/15/science/snow-leopard-endangered.html

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Octlantis is a just-discovered underwater city engineered by octopuses

https://qz.com/1077632/octlantis-is-a-just-discovered-underwater-city-engineered-by-octopuses/

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Red squirrels 'winning against greys' in Aberdeen woods

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-41322999

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Shadowlands (what a muppet)

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Red squirrels resurgent on Northumberland estate after cull of grey rivals

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Red squirrels are back on top at the National Trust’s largest agricultural estate after a six-year campaign to kill off hundreds of invasive greys.

The native red squirrels, which are classed as near threatened in England and Wales, had been almost wiped out at Wallington estate in Northumberland when rangers started culling the greys in 2011.

Grey squirrels, which first arrived from North America in the 1870s, carry squirrel parapox. They are immune to the virus but it is fatal to their red cousins.

They also compete for shelter and green acorns — one of the main foods for the reds, which have lived on the British Isles for at least 10,000 years.

The National Trust said that the squirrel population on the 13,000-acre estate, which includes the 300-year-old Wallington Hall, went from 99 per cent grey and 1 per cent red to 100 per cent red in six years.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/red-squirrels-resurgent-on-northumberland-estate-after-cull-of-grey-rivals-9fhk7dgz2

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Tide turns for sea turtles after decades of decline in western Pacific

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The sea turtle population is growing, apparently bringing a halt to decades of decline, after a clampdown on destructive fishing methods and better protection of nesting sites.

Turtle numbers are on the rise in 12 of the main areas of ocean that they inhabit and falling in five.

Green and loggerhead turtles are recovering or stable in most areas, while leatherbacks are still declining in the eastern and western Pacific.

The greatest recovery has been in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, according to research by Deakin University in Australia published in the journal Science Advances.

The authors attributed the overall increase to “effective protection of eggs and nesting females, as well as reduced bycatch”.

But

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Meanwhile, 25 species of seabird in the northeast Atlantic have been found to have ingested plastic waste, according to a review of previous studies. Northern fulmars had the highest level of contamination, with an average of 20 particles per bird.

Nina O’Hanlon, a seabird ecologist who contributed to the study in the journal Environmental Pollution, said: “Marine plastic pollution is an increasing environmental issue which poses a major threat to marine biodiversity. The production of plastic continues to rise with millions of tonnes entering the oceans each year.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/tide-finally-turning-for-sea-turtles-v27mn25tc

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Autumn reflections down at the lake this morning

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Conserve elephants. They hold a scientific mirror up to humans

The biology and conservation of elephants

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THE symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature is a giant panda. The panda’s black-and-white pelage certainly makes for a striking logo. But, though pandas are an endangered species, the cause of their endangerment is depressingly quotidian: a loss of habitat as Earth’s human population increases. A better icon might be an elephant, particularly an African elephant, for elephants are not mere collateral damage in humanity’s relentless expansion. Often, rather, they are deliberate targets, shot by poachers, who want their ivory; by farmers, because of the damage they do to crops; and by cattle herders, who see them as competitors for forage.

In August 2016 the result of the Great Elephant Census, the most extensive count of a wild species ever attempted, suggested that about 350,000 African savannah elephants remain alive. This is down by 140,000 since 2007. The census, conducted by a team led by Mike Chase, an ecologist based in Botswana, and paid for by Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, undertook almost 500,000km of aerial surveys to come to its conclusion—though the team were unable to include forest elephants, a smaller, more reclusive type that live in west and central Africa, and which many biologists think a separate species.

That most of the decline has been brought about by poaching is scarcely in doubt. Seizures of smuggled ivory, and the size of the carved-ivory market compared with the small amount of legal ivory available, confirm it. But habitat loss is important, too—and not just the conversion of bush into farmland. Roads, railways and fences, built as Africa develops, stop elephants moving around. And an elephant needs a lot of room. According to George Wittemyer of Save the Elephants (STE), a Kenyan research-and-conservation charity, an average elephant living in and around Samburu National Reserve, in northern Kenya, ranges over 1,500 square kilometres during the course of a year, and may travel as much as 60km a day.

https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21723394-biology-and-conservation-elephants-conserve-elephants-they-hold?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/conserveelephantstheyholdascientificmirroruptohumans

http://www.greatelephantcensus.com/

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Don't think for a minute I'm not paying attention

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What whales and dolphins can tell us about the health of our oceans

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From the poles to the equator, marine mammals such as seals, dolphins and whales, play an important role in global ecosystems as apex predators, ecosystem engineers and even organic ocean fertilisers. The ocean off the coast of South Africa is home to a high diversity of these mammals and is recognised as a global marine biodiversity hotspot.

Marine mammals are often referred to as “sentinels” of ocean health. Numerous studies have explored the effects of both noise and chemical pollution, habitat degradation, changes in climate and food webs on these marine apex predators. Yet the interplay of these factors isn’t well understood.

Our research on the unfortunate dolphins incidentally caught in shark nets off South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal coast has helped fill in some of the gaps. By assessing the health of these dolphins we have provided valuable baseline information on conditions affecting coastal dolphin populations in South Africa. This is the first systematic health assessment in incidentally caught dolphins in the Southern Hemisphere.

https://theconversation.com/what-whales-and-dolphins-can-tell-us-about-the-health-of-our-oceans-84169

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How did that get there? Plastic chunks on Arctic ice show how far pollution has spread

Discovery by UK scientists prompts fear that melting ice will allow more plastic to be released into the central Arctic Ocean – with huge effects on wildlife

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A British-led expedition has discovered sizeable chunks of polystyrene lying on remote frozen ice floes in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.

The depressing find, only 1,000 miles from the north pole, is the first made in an area that was previously inaccessible to scientists because of sea ice. It is one of the most northerly sightings of such detritus in the world’s oceans, which are increasingly polluted by plastics.

A team of scientists drawn from the UK, US, Norway and Hong Kong, headed by marine biologist Tim Gordon of Exeter University, said the discovery confirmed just how far plastic pollution has spread. It has prompted fears that plastic waste is flowing into the Arctic as the ice melts because of climate change. The thaw is simultaneously releasing plastic that has long been trapped in the ice.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/24/arctic-plastic-pollution-polystyrene-wildlife-threat

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Asian killer hornet discovered in Devon posing threat to dwindling native bee populations

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An Asian hornet has been seen in near Woolacombe in Devon, the National Bee Unit has said.

While the foreign species does not pose a risk to human health, its presence does threaten native honey bees.

The sighting, near an apiary, is the first since last year, when a nest was discovered in Gloucestershire.

Bee keepers tracked down and destroyed that nest, containing the incursion.

Honey bees are in decline and play an important role in maintaining British crops.

Nicola Spence, Defra Deputy Director for Plant and Bee Health, said in a statement: "We recognise the damage (Asian hornets) can cause to honey bee colonies.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/asian-killer-hornets-devon-bee-populations-british-national-unit-woolacombe-devon-a7968396.html

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Just spent a pleasant 50 minutes watching this very interesting video on Krill

Krill connections: Is Hobart the krill capital of the world?

 

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Lunch arrives on Wrangel Island, and 230 polar bears show up for the feast

A bowhead whale beached on the remote outpost in the Arctic Ocean, and the news spread fast among the island's bears.

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/lunch-arrives-on-wrangel-island-and-230-polar-bears-show-up-for-the-feast/

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Kashmir: Global Warming

http://kashmirlife.net/kashmir-global-warming-152083/

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That'll teach them to invade our airspace.

Ultimate angry birds: wedge-tailed eagles become drone predators

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Daniel Parfitt thought he’d found the perfect drone for a two-day mapping job in a remote patch of the outback. The roughly $US80,000 ($102,000) machine had a wingspan of 2m and resembled a stealth bomber.

There was just one problem. His machine raised the hackles of one prominent local resident: a wedge-tailed eagle.

The swooping eagle used its talons to punch a hole in the carbon fibre and Kevlar fuselage of Parfitt’s drone, which lost control and plummeted to the ground.

“I had 15 minutes to go on my last flight on my last day, and one of these wedge-tailed eagles just dive-bombed the drone and punched it out of the sky,” says Parfitt, who believed the drone was too big for a bird to damage.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/ultimate-angry-birds-wedgetailed-eagles-become-drone-predators/news-story/d0fdedd44057b87e68b87abde0d0a9d1

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A few Grey Wagtails around today

Goddammit not peanuts again!!