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Posts Tagged "Earth"

Tailless Song Sparrow

Posted on Oct 16, 2015

Tailless Song Sparrow

Considering it is migration time for our sparrows that usually means they are not undergoing a molt. They need those feathers to fly! This Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) looked like it was losing a few, though, and it certainly lost a tail. This can happen after a near miss from a predator… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator

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“Warming Oceans Putting Marine Life ‘In a Blender’ “

Posted on Sep 8, 2015

“Warming Oceans Putting Marine Life ‘In a Blender’ “

The title of this article is very well put! But “[a]ccording to a 2013 study, marine species are pushing their range boundaries poleward, away from the Equator, at an average speed of 4.5 miles a year,” which is beyond mind blowing when one considers the history of the Earth and its evolution in hundreds of millions or billions of years. They are moving at the speed of light. The climate has always shifted, but it happens slowly over thousands upon thousands of years instead of decades as it is now due to humans. Even then it often meant extinction for those who had flourished...

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Songless Song Sparrow

Posted on Aug 18, 2015

Songless Song Sparrow

This is the songless Song Sparrow, a member of the now much quieter species as we head out of the breeding season and into migration. It is almost frightening to have a sudden lack of song from these prolific singers. In only a couple months there will be hundreds upon hundreds filling up all sorts of earthy habitats around us, making me wonder – as always – what bird is of what subspecies and if we shouldn’t have more than one thing that we call a “Song Sparrow”…then again, Melospiza melodia works so well. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach...

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Moisture Levels

Posted on Jul 16, 2015

Moisture Levels

Mosquitoes bothering you lately? Or have they been fewer in number than normal? Depending on your location in the Northeast you likely have differing answers. This map shows the precipitation minus the precipitation evapotranspiration, the total of evaporation and plant transpiration of water from the Earth’s surface. Preliminary research by the Northeast Regional Climate Center and Cornell Entomology “indicates that adult mosquitos (Culex) populations are typically high during periods of time when precipitation exceeds evaporation”, which are the positive values shown. The...

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Horned Spanworm Moth

Posted on Jul 13, 2015

Horned Spanworm Moth

Here is Nematocampa resistaria, the Horned Spanworm moth…does its appearance remind of you anything? For some reason all I could think of was an ancient and fraying map of sorts from another era, with intricate patterns and carefully crafted lines plotting out unique features all over those wings. Some of these spectacular little moths really make my imagination wander! When you were a child drawing all sorts of seemingly nonexistent creatures with your crayons you may have been closer to reality than you thought. Wrapping your mind around the thousands upon thousands of lifeforms on...

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