Wintering American Oystercatchers
The American Oystercatcher is not a species you expect to find in New England in December! These two birds were photographed on Monday, December 21, as they fed on the shores of Stratford Point near low tide. I was surprised to see them, but it was not astonishing given our continuing extreme warmth. They were flagged in my eBird report, and they will be flagged if they are re-spotted on the Stratford-Milford Christmas Bird Count this upcoming Sunday, December 27. This focal species of our efforts in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds is usually a late February or more often early...
Read MoreDecember Sky
This December sky came at sunset on yet another warm and almost balmy evening…what a time to be alive! Our world is changing all around us as even buds and flowers have started to bloom in these unbelievable weather conditions. Yes, this is El Niño, but it is an El Niño in a period of intense global warming and climate change…all of which will cause possibly more frequent and more severe events going forward. The rate of this temperature change is unprecedented, and if it feels strange to us then imagine how the wildlife and plants throughout our world are feeling. I will be...
Read MoreHidden Wood Duck
This pond had a bunch of Mallards, American Black Ducks, and some hybrids…and hidden in the back were a couple of Wood Ducks, a treat for a December day when this water could very well have been frozen over in many other years. I hope you will be able to put on your t-shirt and shorts and get outside to enjoy this unfathomable stretch of holiday heat this weekend. See what you can find and keep an open mind – in the past week I have seen uncommon lingering birds like these, a dragonfly (Autumn Meadowhawk) and a butterfly (Orange Sulphur). It’s unbelievable! Scott Kruitbosch...
Read MoreUnfrozen Waters
Staring through the trees and seeing an unfrozen pond is a very common sight right now in the end of autumn when, at the most, we have a slight bit of ice or a little frost here and there. While everything “feels” like winter with a low sun, brown, decaying vegetation, and the cold “look” to the environment, our days are warming to historic levels. Whether it’s the weather or the climate – and in this case it’s both – nature has a strange feel to it at the moment thanks to El Niño.
Read More1956: The Rising Threat of Carbon Dioxide
From 1956! Nineteen fifty-six. And way back around 1859 to 1861 John Tyndall was first figuring this out. The only thing that they were wrong about was how fast the planet would warm and the subsequent rapidity with which the entire climate system would begin to spin out of control. Climate change is as real as the blue sky on a sunny day and we have known about it for literally centuries. Anything to the contrary is extremely dangerous denial of a fixable problem with solutions that benefit every life form on Earth. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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