Two VERY interesting articles on my list this week. One from the American Birding Association's publication called Winging It. Go to the Winging It page and click on Vol 23, no. 5 and look for Birding With A Conscience. Also, check out this article on Birding While Black--Does It Really Matter? He was part of the Focus on Diversity birding conference. You can watch some of the speakers here.
Fidelity Exploration & Production Co., of Denver agreed to plead guilty and pay a $1,500 fine for killing a solitary sandpiper that was found in a waste pit during drilling operations in western North Dakota.
When I was in North Dakota this past June with fellow bird bloggers we saw the above oiled duck (I think it's an oiled pintail). I'm now wondering if was oiled in similar circumstances and wish we'd documented it better. It was far away on private property and mobile enough to get away from us. There was no safe way to retrieve it, but wish I documented it better.
Human encroachment on the Tundra (like oil refineries) are creating an imbalance in the predator/prey balance.
From Nature Canada, Birds at Risk: The Importance of Canada’s Boreal Wetlands and Waterways: "The North American boreal forest supports more than 50 percent of the global populations of 96 bird species, including landbirds, shorebirds, and waterbirds.10 The boreal is critical to the majority of iconic species such as the Common Loon, Whooping Crane, Canada Warbler, and White-throated Sparrow."
And if you don't understand why the tar sands are a bad idea, take a look at this before and after photo of what happens to the area when they go in for the oil. This is terrible land stewardship, short-sighted and a terrible option.
And now a really cleansing link: