Antioquia Wren. Fukushima Mutations. Peru’s Birding. Sunflowers. Bird Collisions. Yom Kippur. Shannon Lucid.

For “Winged Wednesday”:

Antioquia Wren

“The Antioquia Wren was first seen in 2010, and formally described as a new species in the July 2012 edition of The Auk. This wren is mostly brown and white, and differs from similar species in plumage color of the upperparts, pattern of barring on the wings and tail, smaller body size, and unique vocalizations.

One of the biggest threats to the Antioquia Wren is the ongoing construction of a multi-million dollar hydroelectric dam, which will flood 15 square miles of its habitat, including all six locations where the bird has been confirmed. Increased mining, tourism, and deforestation for agriculture have also resulted in widespread habitat loss. Unfortunately, none of this region's dry forest is currently protected, making conservation of the Antioquia Wren even more imperative.

A closely-related species, the Niceforo’s Wren, which inhabits dry forest in eastern Colombia, has been protected by ABC, World Land Trust-US, and ProAves at the Cucarachero del Chicamocha reserve.”

Help ABC conserve this and other birds and their habitats!

Photo: Carlos Esteban Lara; Range Map, ABC

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'Severe abnormalities' found in Fukushima butterflies

“Exposure to radioactive material released into the environment has caused mutations in butterflies found in Japan, a study suggests.  Scientists found an increase in leg, antennae and wing shape mutations among butterflies collected following the 2011 Fukushima accident.

The link between the mutations and the radioactive material was shown by laboratory experiments, they report.  The work has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.”

More at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19245818

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Bird-watching tourism to generate $50M in revenue next year

Lima, Sep. 13 (ANDINA). “More than 20,000 bird watchers are estimated to visit Peru in 2013, generating over US $50 million in revenue, according to the Ministry of Trade and Tourism.  Minister Jose Luis Silva said that Peru will be hosting a new competition which offers people the chance to watch and listen to a variety of birds in their natural habitat.

Silva noted that the country aims to attract about 20,000 bird watchers per year. The visitors, whose ages range between 50-75, spend $2,000 on average during their stay, he added.  Most foreign bird watchers visiting Peru come from the United States (23 percent), Canada, France and Spain (nine percent each).” From: http://www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/noticia-birdwatching-tourism-to-generate-50mln-in-revenue-next-year-428220.aspx

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From me:  If it generates that much in Peru, how much does bird watching generate here?

“Birdwatchers spend an average of $100 million in each state which, in turn, directly supports more than 200,000 jobs and generates more
than $1 billion in state and federal taxes.”  From: http://library.fws.gov/Pubs/mbd_bottom_line2.pdf

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Fighting birds with birds

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. (AFNS) -- “The 22nd Air Refueling Wing Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard program is being overhauled with new contractors employing the use of a falcon to keep skies clear from avian adversaries.  The BASH program is in place to reduce bird strikes by introducing a natural predator into the area to ward off smaller animals.
McConnell will be changing the type of predator used from a dog to a pair of falcons. 

Elaina, a Barbary falcon, and Jack, a Peregrine-Prairie hybrid, will be McConnell's new solution, capable of providing smaller birds the motivation to move along.

"One strike, if the bird hits the wrong spot on a plane, could do $50 to $100 thousand worth of damage," said Maj. Jeremy Fischman, 22nd ARW flight safety chief.  "It is really easy for the program to pay for itself by preventing one bad bird strike."
Preventing bird strikes also maintains safety by not putting Airmen in a situation where they have to maneuver aircraft damaged in flight.
There were 4,471 bird strikes Air Force-wide in 2011. These incidents cost $13,061,140.”  More at: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123317076

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A Crop Dividend: Restored Bird Habitat in New Jersey

John P. Parke/New Jersey Audubon

Raj Sinha’s sunflower farm in Augusta, N.J. The seeds are bagged and sold to finance grasslands restoration on a site 40 miles to the south.

“Farmers and wildlife advocates don’t often see eye to eye; each can look at a field and see widely divergent possibilities. Yet by encouraging farmers to plant fields of flowers, an innovative program in New Jersey is helping to finance the rehabilitation of wildlife areas for endangered species of birds.

The crop is sunflowers, and sales of sunflower seeds, bagged and sold as birdseed by the New Jersey Audubon Society, have financed the conversion of a 70-acre tract of state-owned land into a grassland habitat. Since the program began five years ago, flocks of 50 or more bobolinks, a threatened species in the state, have been counted at the site. Other threatened species, including the American kestrel and grasshopper sparrow, have also been sighted.

And for the seven New Jersey farmers taking part in the program, growing acres of sunflowers for the Audubon society offers the promise of a ready buyer for the crop before it is even planted and an opportunity for agritourism.

In Augusta, near the state’s northwest corner, Raj Sinha has carved a maze into his 50 acres of bobbing shoulder-high dinner-plate-size flowers. He charges $8 for adults, $5 for children, and his parking area has been full on weekends since opening in mid-August.”  More at: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/a-crop-dividend-restored-bird-habitat-in-n-j/

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Agritourism, Flowers for the Bees and Seeds for the Birds.

“The sunflower maze in Sussex County, NJ is 50 acres and one of the largest on the east coast. This is a story about the maze and the importance of agritourism in general.”

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Trying to save birds from the wilds of the big city

Bags of hurt birds collected Thursday by Chicago Bird Collision Monitors. Volunteers awaiting transport to Willowbrook Wildlife Center for care. | Neil Steinberg photo

“The early bird catches the worm, but how early must you wake to catch the early bird? In Annette Prince’s case, it’s 4:30 a.m. Thursday to head downtown to collect birds, both living and dead, whose journey from the wilds of Canada to the rainforests of South America have been interrupted by the brightly lit trap of Chicago.

“We have about 10 people out today,” says Prince, director of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, a group of volunteers who fan out over downtown every day during migration season — mid-August to early November, and again in the spring — to gather birds that collide with buildings during the night.”  More at:  http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/14973965-452/trying-to-save-birds-from-the-wilds-of-the-big-city.html

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Today is Yom Kippur.  Why should Christians celebrate the Day of Atonement (also known as Yom Kippur)?

“Long after Jesus Christ’s death, the Day of Atonement continued as an important Holy Day for the New Testament Church of God. What does the Day of Atonement mean for Christians today?”

Answer:

“The Day of Atonement is the fifth of God’s annual Holy Days:

(Leviticus 23:26-32 [26] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[27] Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. [28] And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. [29] For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. [30] And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. [31] Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. [32] It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. See All...),

following shortly after the Feast of Trumpets.  Observed by fasting (verse 27; compare Isaiah 58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. See All...),

which means not eating or drinking (Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. See All...),

this day portrays the human race finally becoming at one with God.

At the return of Jesus Christ, Satan the devil, who now leads all of mankind astray (Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: See All...;

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
See All...),     

will be bound      (Revelation 20:1-3 [1] And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. [2] And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, [3] And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
See All...)       so all humans of all nations can be reconciled to God.

In the New Testament Luke referred to this Holy Day as "the fast" in Acts 27:9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, See All....

When the meaning of the Day of Atonement is fulfilled in the future, it will set the stage for the sixth festival of God, the Feast of Tabernacles.”  From: http://www.ucg.org/bible-faq/why-should-christians-celebrate-day-atonement-also-known-yom-kippur

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On This Day:

Shannon Lucid returns to Earth, Sep 26, 1996:

“U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid returns to Earth in the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis following six months in orbit aboard the Russian space station Mir.

On March 23, 1996, Lucid transferred to Mir from the same space shuttle for a planned five-month stay. A biochemist, Lucid shared Mir with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Onufriyenko and Yuri Usachev and conducted scientific experiments during her stay. She was the first American woman to live in a space station.

Beginning in August, her scheduled return to Earth was delayed by more than six weeks because of last-minute repairs to the booster rockets of Atlantis and then by a hurricane. Finally, on September 26, 1996, she returned to Earth aboard Atlantis, touching down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Her 188-day sojourn aboard Mir set a new space endurance record for an American and a world endurance record for a woman.”

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Yesterday

While I was reading up on The Day of Atonement and Yom Kippur, my daughter called.  Their son’s dog is not well, and she needed some advice.  The vet said “Foxy” had a ruptured disk, gave her two shots, and prescribed bed rest.  So Wendy wanted to know how she could help the poor little thing without more pain shots, which will eventually hurt the dog’s kidneys.   We looked up some natural remedies, so she headed to their nearest large town, Lake Jackson, to buy some organic food and supplies.  When her dog had to be PTS, she hadn’t been buying the organic food for her son’s dog, and had been feeding it grocery store pet food which could cause Foxy to have more inflammation.

Misty and I had our walk around here, and saw Ray hobbling around outside, his back is still bothering him. He hadn’t even managed to go shopping, so he came in to borrow some cat food.  We discussed some things he could take for his back pain, as he hates getting those shots in his back.  There is no way he will take prescribed narcotic drugs for it.  We have seen several people get addicted right here in this subdivision.   Once in a while, they used to come begging for money to buy more pain pills on the black market, until they found out that we weren’t going to donate.  One gal takes so many that her face is distorted. 

So my workshop and washer/dryer area is still in disarray from us trying to locate the break in the TV coax cable.  So in the word’s of Scarlett O’Hara… it will be straightened out another day.