Local Wind Energy Development Has Broad Consequences for Golden Eagles

Local Wind Energy Development Has Broad Consequences for Golden Eagles:

"Together, the stable isotope and genetics data indicate that eagle populations are connected across much of North America and often travel long distances."

This puts me in mind of Grace, a recently deceased golden eagle who had been a resident of New Mexico Wildlife Center. Grace didn't have an easy life; she came to NMWC after being found by a road in northern NM, apparently hit by a car, tail feathers pulled by some heartless scofflaw. While in residence at NMWC she participated in several golden eagle surveys throughout the state, tethered in fields near elk carcass to attract other passing eagles. I don't know when/where the results will be published, but my understanding is that they helped confirm a decline in golden eagle numbers in New Mexico. The reasons for the decline are unknown. Coincidentally, while hiking with friends this last Saturday (1 Oct) near Ironton Park, Colorado, we saw several birds circling above a rock outcropping. Several were ravens. One was a small hawk, either a Cooper's or a sharp-shinned. And one, barely discernible in a photo I snapped, looked very much like a golden eagle.

Squatting Owls Eavesdrop On Prairie Dogs | LiveScience

The part that caught my eye actually had little to do with the owls:

Squatting Owls Eavesdrop On Prairie Dogs

...prairie dogs have the most sophisticated language yet decoded among non-humans. Recent studies have shown that they have nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs, which they can use to indicate the size, shape, color, and speed of an intruder. The social rodents even have different calls for a tall human in a blue shirt and a short human in a grey shirt.

“In the past, people shied away from the word language, because we didn’t have enough information. But it’s really clear now that’s what it is,” said Con Slobodchikoff, an animal behaviorist at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, who studies prairie dog calls.

Growing up, my parents frequently opined that animals of other species were as intelligent, if in sometimes specialized ways, as humans. I bet they'll be pleased by the final paragraph:

“We have for a long time underestimated the ability of animals. We thought they were running on programs of instinct, like little robots,” said Slobodchikoff. “But in reality, they’re far more advanced and far smarter than we give them credit for, and with that acknowledgement we need to give animals more respect than we have been."

As a first step maybe we could stop trying to exterminate prairie dogs...

Lake Peak

Last month I got to spend time in the mountains above Santa Fe. The resulting video is up at Vimeo now.


Lake Peak from Mitch Chapman on Vimeo.

The compression is bad. Then again, Vimeo is free :) And they provide hyperlinks to the original uploaded video.