W. P. Mueller

A rare step forward for a US pumped hydro project Rye Development got a federal permit for a massive grid megaproject in the Pacific Northwest. Construction will start once it finds buyers for the…

www.canarymedia.com/articles/hyd...

In the Brazilian Amazon, community conservation success comes with a cost: Study In rural communities living near Brazil’s Juruá River, a tributary of the Amazon River that flows northward through the country, families of fishers take turns in guarding the entrances of oxbow lakes...

news.mongabay.com/2026/01/in-t...

Woop

Box it up I’ll take it

The Kavanaugh Crisis in Minnesota is deliberate. By the best estimates, Minnesota has a relatively modest undocumented population. If deportations were the goal, ICE/CBP would be elsewhere. This is about:
• Targeting Somalis out of racism & politics
• Traumatizing political-dissident communities

Godwits and godwiteers This blog tells a few stories about individual colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits and the ‘godwiteers’ who watch them on the estuaries of the east coast of England. They’re part of an interna…

🔟 years ago, I published a blog to celebrate the work of 'godwiteers' - the special people who look out for colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits 🎂
wadertales.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/g...
30th Black-tailed Godwit blog will soon be published:
wadertales.wordpress.com/about/
#ornithology

First Skylarks seen and heard this year…. Royd Moor. Skein of Pink-footed Geese over head. @btoengland.bsky.social @rspbengland.bsky.social @s-yorksbirding.bsky.social #spring #skylarks #ornithology #wildlife

Birds of a Feather: Engaging in Community Science for National Bird-Feeding Month - Hilltown Families National Bird-Feeding Month is more than just a time to feed birds. It's a chance to explore the fascinating world of ornithology through activities such as bird counting and species identification. F...

National Bird-Feeding Month is more than just a time to feed birds. It’s a chance to explore the fascinating world of #ornithology through activities such as bird counting & species identification. Families can deepen their understanding of avian life while contributing to important research.

A Black Noddy against the brilliant blue of the Pacific. Actually not black but almost totally a very dark brown apart from its white cap and grey brown tail. It has a longer, thinner black bill than the very similar Brown Noddy.

Another bird from my Pacific trip last year for #SuperSeabirdSunday - Black Noddy while we were off Pitcairn Island #birds

A large group of white and black Western Gulls with yellow beaks in the brown and blue water, and some gulls and many brown and white Brown Pelicans on brown sand along the shore. There are tall green and light brown grasses in the background. This area is where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean in Jenner, California.

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #GullsInWater. I don't see many gulls in MA, so here's a photo of #WesternGulls and a large group of #BrownPelicans at Goat Rock Beach in #Jenner #California (12/30/21). One of my favorite places! 🤩🌊

#birds #SeabirdSunday #photography @robcrank68.bsky.social

Field studies of an adult Shag I chanced upon at my local reservoir this morning. The first here since March 1988, which I also found! 🤭A rather unusual submission for #SuperSeabirdSunday Obviously one of a recent influx in the region. Cheers

A Great Shearwater is flying right to left over a grey sea. It's mainly dark brown above and white below, with long wings.

Great Shearwaters were frequently seen in the south Atlantic from the Sapphire Princess cruise to Antarctica. It was wonderful to see the intricacies of their plumage up close.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday

A South Polar Skua is flying over a grey sea with its wings uplifted. It's a large brown seabird with white flashes in its wing.

A South Polar Skua is flying over a grey sea with its wings uplifted. It's a large brown seabird with white flashes in its wing.

A South Polar Skua gliding in the snow off the Antarctic Peninsula. These were common in the area but often hard to distinguish from the local form of Brown Skua.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday

ICYMI: New online! Welcoming all forms of knowledge enables more complete understandings

A Secret Panel to Question Climate Science Was Unlawful, Judge Rules

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/c...

Ancient pine trees growing in eastern Spain have quietly recorded more than five centuries of Mediterranean weather. Analysis of tree rings clearly shows that todays storms and droughts are becoming more intense and more frequent than almost anything the region has experienced since the early 1500s.

‘We shouldn’t be surprised’: bushfires in Victoria push threatened species to the brink The impact of fires on wildlife can be ‘catastrophic’, with some plant species feared extinct

Was glad to speak with The Guardian about the impacts of frequent fires on ecosystems, and bang my usual drum about the need for a state level strategy on how we manage the inevitable change that is going to occur to many forest ecosystems. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges More than 300 brown hairstreak butterfly eggs were recorded in hedgerows near Llandeilo this winter after decade of decline

Emphasises how relatively easy some conservation actions are and how rapidly positive results happen www.theguardian.com/environment/...

📹NEW: Republicans are panicking as Democrats outline a real path back to a Senate majority.

@dscc.bsky.social Devan Barber shares which seats are truly at stake — from Georgia and North Carolina to Maine, Ohio, and Alaska — and why GOP incumbents are suddenly vulnerable. https://bit.ly/46llkb6

Mayor Johnson signs executive order directing CPD to document misconduct and pursue prosecution of federal agents • The TRiiBE “What we are offering in this moment is hope for the people of this city and this country, that the government can work on behalf of the people, and that's what this executive order is designed to do,...

NEW — This morning, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed “ICE On Notice,” an executive order that instructs Chicago police to investigate alleged illegal activity by federal immigration agents and send evidence of possible felonies to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

thetriibe.com/2026/01/mayo...

This is figure 3, which shows forest plot and regional changes in richness.

A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution shows the long-term changes in tree species diversity across tropical forests in the Andes and Amazon. go.nature.com/45FPc1M 🌍 🧪

A figure depicting continental drift from when Gondwana existed to present day, with continents and countries colored according to the ratite species that occur or occurred on them. Next to that is a cartoon of a phylogeny that we would expect support for if continental drift explained patterns of species occurrence and relatedness. And next to that is a cartoon of the phylogeny supported by the genetic data presented in this paper, which demonstrates that closely related species must have traveled great distances after Gondwana broke up, after which flightlessness evolved, and that this happened more than once.

This paper is a great for teaching phylogenetic trees.

"Ancient DNA reveals elephant birds and kiwi are sister taxa and clarifies ratite bird evolution"

Clearly written. It discusses hypotheses of relatedness among species via continental drift vs genetic data. 🧪

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This was reposted to the Ecological Restoration and Stewardship feed (Ecological R and S). To view the feed, see bsky.app/profile/j-fo... To post to the feed, see bsky.app/profile/j-fo... 🌰

Comparison the cost to drive an EV that gets 3.8 miles/kWh vs. fossil fuel cars over a range of MPG.

More energy use translates into greater cost to operate. The big difference in energy use is due to efficiency. Fossil fuel have much lower efficiency than battery electric cars. Most of the money you spend on gasoline is lost as waste heat and noise. Switch to an EV and save money. 🧪🔌💡☀️💨💧🔋

For average fuel economy in the range of 32 to 44 MPG, an EV uses 3 to 5x less energy to drive the same distance. For gas guzzling performance cars, SUVs, or big truck, the difference can be as high as 14 to 16x greater.

If we select three example BEVs that span the range of efficiency available and compare how much energy they consume relative to fossil fuel cars the results are striking. A gas guzzling performance car, large SUV or truck may use 14-16x more energy than an EV. 🧪🔌💡☀️💨💧🔋

Judge orders release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his dad from ICE detention A judge has ordered the U.S. to release a father and 5-year-old son who were taken into custody during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. A judge previously ruled that they could not be removed from the U.S. for now.

A judge has ordered the U.S. to release a father and 5-year-old son who were taken into custody during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. A judge previously ruled that they could not be removed from the U.S. for now. n.pr/4qVBJLV

Trump’s SNAP rules are about to imperil food access for millions New work rules take effect this week, cutting access to one of the nation’s most vital anti-hunger programs.

Thank the Big Beautiful Bill. New federal work requirements for SNAP begin this week, stripping long-standing exemptions for veterans, foster youth, and some parents. An even greater hunger crisis looms.

This month has seen a big change in the way that people access WaderTales blogs - nearly six times as many links from BlueSky, compared to X.
Most popular blog - amazing Ringed Plovers
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/01/25/w...
Some of the waders that meet in Chukotka 👇
More in blog.
#ornithology

A Dunnock has its bill open in song as it perches on the top of a bush. Wording to the left reads: Bird Sound ID Training Course. When. Tuesdays at 7pm & Wednesdays at 10am or 7pm for set dates in March. Where. Two online sessions. www.bto.org/training. Image credit bottom right reads: Dunnock by Allan Drewitt / BTO.

Want to learn what birds are singing? Join our Bird Sound ID in Early Spring training course ➡️ www.bto.org/training #Ornithology

A Winter Storm Fueled by Global Warming Tests U.S. Disaster Response - Inside Climate News A sprawling winter storm that left hundreds of thousands without power, grounded thousands of flights and disrupted travel across the eastern half of the U.S. could be the first real test of the secon...

How the deep freeze and the lastest winter storm come from climate change ... and how we are losing the ability to respond to these disasters. 🧪🌎 insideclimatenews.org/news/2601202...

Pinpointing “plumage genes” with hybrids between the Yellow-shafted and Red-shafted Flicker Researchers unravel the genetic basis of particular plumage patches.

Your daily Avian Hybrids story!

Pinpointing “plumage genes” with hybrids between the Yellow-shafted and Red-shafted Flicker
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2021/12/25/p...

#ornithology