Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Enter Cornell Lab’s BirdSpotter Photo Contest

Gary Mueller of Missouri submitted this photo of a Lego feeder that was the Judge’s Choice during the first week of the contest.

Ithaca, NY-The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s BirdSpotter photo contest is underway! The contest is sponsored by Vanguard and offers weekly prizes for the photos that receive the most votes on the contest website. Special “Judge’s Choice” photos are also recognized.

Gary Mueller of Missouri submitted this photo of a Lego feeder that was the Judge’s Choice during the first week of the contest.
BirdSpotter is being run through the Project FeederWatchcitizen-science project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada. FeederWatch participants keep track of their feeder birds from November through April and report what they see online. This information helps scientists learn more about the changes in bird distribution and population numbers in North America over time.

Each Wednesday from now through February 11, 2015, a new BirdSpotter photo theme will be posted, such as “birdbaths” or “chickadees only.” You can upload one entry per week and then vote for your favorite photo. The winners will be announced on Monday morning. Each weekly winner receives a prize pack from Vanguard that includes binoculars, plus gifts from the Cornell Lab. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan Deer Habitat Improvements

Upper Peninsula – Western Mackinac County

Two DNR staff doing habitat workOver 1,300 oak saplings were planted in western Mackinac County this spring to increase hard mast for deer.  The plantings were focused on areas that have been hit hard by beech bark disease (BBD), and also in deer wintering complexes.  BBD areas will see a large loss of beech nuts, and the oak acorns that are produced in the future will help to mitigate some of the loss from BBD.  “We were able to get saplings planted to help avoid problems with deer browse, and as a bonus they’ll also throw acorns sooner,” said DNR wildlife biologist Dave Jentoft.  “We had great cooperation with our sister division, the Forest Resources Division, in making these plantings happen.”

Northern Lower Peninsula – Kalkaska County

Field work being done on a tractorThe Fletcher area in southern Kalkaska County is a great destination this fall for deer hunters. Over 1,600 acres of public land is available to set up camp during firearm, late archery or even muzzleloader season. This spring over 470 acres were prescribed-burned in an effort to kill woody plants that are closing in on this large grassland complex. Over 120 acres were mowed, and numerous acres were planted to winter wheat, rape and turnips. Visit Mi-HUNT to explore this area from home, and make plans to visit in person to hunt the fall and early winter seasons.

Southwest Lower Peninsula – Cass County

Fields where habitat work was completedOver the past year, staff members at the Crane Pond State Game Area have installed over 200 acres of food plots and other plantings for the benefit of wildlife on the game area. Food plots are placed in strategic locations to enhance recreational opportunities. The picture to the left shows a field border adjacent to a corn food plot. Such practices allow species such as deer, turkey and pheasants to have transitional and security cover adjacent to important high-calorie winter food sources. Field borders also provide valuable nesting and bedding cover and can greatly enhance the number of bird species using an area. This is just one example of the many habitat management practices implemented at the game area over this past year.

Southeast Lower Peninsula – St. Clair County

Funds from the license restructuring are helping the DNR Wildlife Division make habitat improvements for deer and other wildlife around the state. Port Huron State Game Area is no exception. With an increased budget for habitat work, more seasonal wildlife assistants were hired this year, allowing 9 additional acres at Port Huron SGA to be converted to food plots of corn and small grains. This brings the total acreage planted with food plots to 20. These employees also worked on improving parking lots and posting additional signage around the area to improve hunter accessibility.  Check out Port Huron State Game Area for an enhanced hunting experience this fall.

Hunting, Wildlife

Ithaca, N.Y.-This list of holiday gift suggestions from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology will appeal to the bird and nature lover on your list. These are gifts that improve the mind, create fun, and highlight the beauty of the natural world. A portion of the proceeds from all these items will support the Lab’s bird education and conservation efforts. To learn more about these and other “birdy” gifts visit www.birds.cornell.edu/BirdGifts. Read more

Wildlife

Agreement Reached in NC Red Wolf Lawsuit

GW:  Guess who’s behind the contrived issue…

RALEIGH, NC- An agreement has been reached in a lawsuit against the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which will restore conditional coyote hunting in the five-county red wolf reintroduction area of eastern North Carolina.

The agreement will restore daytime coyote hunting on private lands in Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Tyrrell and Washington counties by licensed or otherwise authorized hunters, with a special permit obtained from the Wildlife Commission and subsequent reporting of kill. In the other 95 counties of the state, coyote hunters may hunt during daytime or at night using artificial lights, and no special permit or reporting of coyote harvests is required.

The agreement stems from a lawsuit brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Institute. The suit alleged the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission violated the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing coyote hunting in Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Tyrrell and Washington counties where a non-essential experimental re-introduction of the red wolf is occurring. A court-ordered injunction issued in May halted coyote hunting in the five counties, except under extremely limited circumstances. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

DNR monitoring Upper Peninsula snow depths, assessing impact on deer herd

After receiving heavy snowfall across much of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this week, the Department of Natural Resources is monitoring snow depths and assessing potential impacts on wildlife, particularly the deer herd which is still recovering from the two previous severe and snowy winters.

Supplemental feeding of deer is allowed on private land in the northern U.P. counties along Lake Superior each year beginning in early January and in the southern counties if accumulated snowfall meets established minimum depths by mid-January. However, if snow depths continue to rapidly climb this winter and exceed the supplemental feeding triggers before the January dates, the DNR will consider taking emergency action to allow feeding at an earlier date.

“With more than 20 inches of snow already on the ground in some of the southern U.P. counties and more than 40 inches reported in some northern locations, we are looking at ways to mitigate potential detrimental impacts of the early and significant snowfall on the deer herd,” said DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason.

According to Mason, the DNR’s Wildlife and Forest Management divisions are also evaluating current timber sale contracts to identify opportunities to retain tree tops at logging sites on public land for deer to forage on throughout the winter.
Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

NWF Calls for Hunters, Anglers to Protect Streams & Wetlands With Action Today

Public comment on proposed protections closes today!

Hunters and anglers want the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to take action to better protect America’s streams and wetlands. That’s the message in a new letter signed by 210 hunting, fishing and sporting groups from across the country.

For the past decade, it has been unclear if two million miles of streams and many types of wetlands were protected under the Clean Water Act, the result of two controversial Supreme Court decisions. Since those decisions, the rate of wetlands destruction has gone up 140% nationwide – the first such increase in wetlands loss since the 1980s. Read more

Wildlife
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