Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Great Backyard Bird Count is Near

Worldwide birdwatching event starts on February 12

New York, NY, Ithaca, NY, and Port Rowan, ON—Lots of people turned to birdwatching during the past year, seeking enjoyment and relaxation. Chickadees, cardinals, finches and other birds are doing their part to lift human spirits. The 24th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a great opportunity for all budding birdwatchers and bird-count veterans to use their skills. People from around the world count the birds they see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, and then enter their checklists online. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan DNR accepting applications for Wolf Management Advisory Council

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is now accepting applications for the Wolf Management Advisory Council, an advisory body that is being re-established in light of federal delisting (which went into effect Jan. 4) of gray wolves as a threatened or endangered species.

The purpose of the council is to make recommendations on wolf management in Michigan. It will be comprised, at minimum, of representatives from conservation, hunting and/or fishing, agricultural and animal advocacy organizations, as well as tribal government, as specified in state statute.

Applications for the council will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4. Request an application by emailing DNR-Wildlife@Michigan.gov or calling the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453.

On Nov. 3, 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to remove gray wolves from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in the lower 48 states. The action took effect Jan. 4, 2021.

With the federal delisting of wolves, two state laws – Public Act 290 of 2008 and Public Act 318 of 2008 – became effective. These laws allow residents to use lethal control on wolves that are in the act of killing or wounding livestock or a dog.

Wolves in Michigan are still a protected game species, and the taking of a wolf that is not in the act of killing or wounding livestock or a dog is illegal. The mere presence of a wolf near livestock or a dog does not authorize the use of lethal control.

From an estimated survey of 140 wolves in 1998, to more than 600 every year since 2011, gray wolf populations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have recovered, based on goals set by state and federal governments. Wolf management in Michigan is guided by Michigan’s Wolf Management Plan, which currently is being updated. There will be opportunity for public input as work to refresh the plan continues. Read more
Hunting, Wildlife

RMEF Seeks Regional Director-Michigan

Regional Director

Reports to: Director of Field Operations

Department: Fundraising & Marketing

Classification: Exempt

Date: November 2020

Job Summary:

Field Operations is a primary fundraising division of RMEF. Regional Directors organize local volunteer chapters to hold fundraising events, principally banquets, and perform major gift development activities to support the continued operation of RMEF and finance elk and wildlife conservation projects.

In addition to event-related fundraising, Regional Directors solicit donations of major gifts directly from donors or through RMEF members, volunteers and other contacts. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Stealth Cam Reactor Wireless Trail Camera

Irving, TX– Stealth Cam® is excited to be expanding their wireless trail camera line in 2021 with the all new Reactor! This new camera is easy to setup, requires less batteries, captures premium quality images and videos with class-leading performance and program customization anywhere/anytime.

The Reactor wireless trail camera features the latest in wireless data transmission technology to provide fast image and video transfer from remote camera locations to anywhere you have a network connection. With this technology, users can employ the free Stealth Cam App to download photos and videos on demand, set transmission schedules, delete data from the memory card, and control all camera functions and image management features without having to be on-site.

Boasting 26-megapixel photo and 1080P video recording, the Reactor delivers superior imaging day or night! It is compatible for AT&T users in the US, Canada, and Mexico and available as a 4G Verizon network compatibility model, also in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Both camera models are 100% verified through the wireless service providers! Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

New study shows abundant high-quality wolf habitat in Mexico

Analysis reinforces the importance of Mexico for recovery of endangered Mexican wolves

PHOENIX – A peer-reviewed scientific paper published last week in the conservation journal Diversity and Distributions demonstrates that the Mexican wolf’s historical range in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico contains ample high-quality habitat to focus recovery efforts within that range.

The research, a multi-year collaboration between Mexican and U.S. scientists, is significant because it supports the 2017 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan and contradicts the contention of some advocacy groups that Mexico does not include enough adequate habitat to support recovery efforts there. Read more

Wildlife

Delta Waterfowl Already Prepping Hen Houses for Return of Nesting Mallards

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Mallards hatched last spring in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada and the northern United States continue to drop in on hunters during these final days of the 2020-21 season as far south as Louisiana, Texas and California. Meanwhile, a thousand miles north, Delta Waterfowl Hen House Specialist Travis Quirk is already working to boost next season’s migration of North America’s favorite duck.

Quirk, of the Colonsay region of southern Saskatchewan, Canada, is an agri-business execuctive and waterfowling outfitter. He is also a former Delta Waterfowl research student. Importantly, as a seasonal contractor for The Duck Hunters Organization, Quirk is responsible for the upkeep of 300 Delta Hen House nest structures. He installed the structures for Delta, and maintains them each winter to ensure they’re ready to greet mallard hens when they return to the prairie wetlands to nest in April and May.

The Delta team of Hen House specialists in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota maintains nearly 10,000 mallard nest structures across the PPR, where up to 70 percent of the ducks migrating down all four North American flyways are hatched. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

What Birds Eat

What Birds Eat

This comprehensive and interesting source book explains bird physiology and natural diets, including extensive feeding profiles that describe what a variety of birds eat naturally, and how we can support those diets in our yards and feeding stations. Author Kim Long and publisher Mountaineers Books provide a robust selection of photos and illustrations, and help birders to understand birds in more meaningful ways in the field and in our yards in the new book: What Birds Eat. Read more

Wildlife

Where Do Our Backyard Orioles Winter?

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

Baltimore Orioles are among our most identifiable and more popular songbirds, but where do they spend the winter months?
A single-week winter range map for Baltimore Orioles. The eBird Science maps are animated to show the annual movements and abundance of each species, which can be paused at week to week increments.
Western birders will appreciate learning about the movements and annual abundance of Bullock’s Orioles – and comparing that information to the other neotropical oriole ranges.
Where do fledgling Orchard Orioles spend the winter after they leave American feeding stations?

Orioles are some of the most popular songbirds that regularly visit feeders stocked with grape jelly and sugar-water nectar from late April through mid-September. Along with most warblers, tanagers, thrushes, and other neotropical migrants, orioles “disappear” from northern latitudes, leaving during late summer and early fall. But where do they go? Now, we have some remarkable new animated maps that provide a wealth of information about birds like our Baltimore Orioles, Bullock’s Orioles, and Orchard Orioles to show their respective nesting ranges, coupled with their migration routes to wintering areas – where they spend most of the year. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan: recent real estate transactions improve western UP trail access

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Eichinger recently approved two real estate transactions that have secured permanent trail easements, which will help ensure trail connectivity in the western Upper Peninsula.

These permanent trail easements, totaling 52 miles at a purchase price of $985,969, contribute to DNR and division goals and strategies by providing additional public recreation opportunities and securing trails for future generations.

“This certainly is good news,” said Ron Yesney, U.P. trails coordinator with the DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division. “Having permanent trail easements is an important advance for our western Upper Peninsula trail network.”

In the first of the two transactions, the DNR purchased 56 miles of 30-foot trail access in portions of Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron and Ontonagon counties. Read more

General, Wildlife

Virtual workshop showcases Michigan wildland firefighting innovation

Upcycling used military transports into rugged trucks destined for fighting wildfires, engineering improved designs for fire-line plows and even getting into the nitty-gritty of dreaming up a better rake for ground crews – it’s all in a day’s work at the DNR’s Roscommon Equipment Center.

Program design and fabrication specialists recently shared what they have to offer in the first virtual workshop provided to firefighting program managers in the U.S. and Canada.

Located in the pine forests of northern lower Michigan near Roscommon, the REC is a federally supported program serving wildland firefighting agencies across the nation. Read more

Wildlife
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