Friday, April 28, 2006

Loose Feathers #42

News and links about birds, birding, and the environment.

  • In the past two years, the white pelican colony at the Chase Lake NWR in North Dakota has been marked by turmoil: in 2004, tens of thousands of pelicans inexplicably abandoned their nests; in 2005, a high chick mortality led the parents to leave. This year, about 16,000 white pelican adults have returned to the refuge. Whether this year's breeding will be any more successful remains to be seen.
  • An oil spill in Delaware Bay is affecting key shorebird migration habitats along the Delaware coastline. Birds that use these beaches include the declining red knot. While shorebirds are not expected to arrive in large numbers until about May 10, some early migrants are already arriving, and may have their ability to reproduce impaired.
  • Kevin Karlson, author of a new Shorebird Guide, answers questions about birding by impression.
  • The western snowy plover will remain on the endangered species list, for now at least. This is one of the few instances of the Fish and Wildlife Service acting in favor of protection in recent years.
  • The Adirondack Regional Tourism Council has a new page devoted to Birding in the Adirondacks.

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