The eastern curlews
have “been hammered by habitat destruction up and down the entire flyway for the past 40 years”. Sean Dooley, a senior adviser at BirdLife Australia
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/08/a-high-flying-visitor-the-wondrous-far-eastern-curlew-faces-fresh-threat-in-nt-wetlands-haven
#birds #MigratoryBirds #Darwin #ExtinctionCrisis

Abusing beaches as highways

"Overcrowding due to a surge in visitors at some of Queensland's pristine beaches has raised safety and environmental concerns. Reports of offences including reckless driving, littering and even defecating have increased at 4WD beaches in recent years amid a domestic tourism boom."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/calls-for-major-change-at-popular-4wd-beaches-and-campgrounds-as-popularity-soars-224716506.html
#beaches #dunes #traffic #cars #vehicles #SUVs #4WDs #Biodiversity #wildlife #Invertebrates #birds #shorebirds #MigratoryBirds #turtles #NSW #Queensland #Australia #regulation #climate #tourism #FossilFuel #recreation #overtourism

Abusing beaches as highways

"Overcrowding due to a surge in visitors at some of Queensland's pristine beaches has raised safety and environmental concerns.Reports of offences including reckless driving, littering and even defecating have increased at 4WD beaches in recent years amid a domestic tourism boom."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/calls-for-major-change-at-popular-4wd-beaches-and-campgrounds-as-popularity-soars-224716506.html
#beaches #dunes #traffic #cars #vehicles #SUVs #4WDs #Biodiversity #wildlife #Invertebrates #birds #shorebirds #MigratoryBirds #turtles #NSW #Queensland #Australia #regulation #climate #tourism

Traffic on beaches
It's the Wild West - turning beach ecology into a Woolies car park

Off-road vehicles are allowed to cause "serious ecological harm" to beaches, dunes and estuaries ecosystems. Vehicles traffic is causing "unequivocal serious and widespread damage" to coastal dune ecosystems. "All of the species had suffered negative effects caused by off-road vehicles. The four-by-fours running over them basically crush them to death."

"Professor Schlacher said the Noosa North Shore, Rainbow Beach, K'gari and Bribie Island were among the car-accessible beaches that were being "pummelled to death"". On Bribie Island "there can be 1,200 vehicles on the beach in one day, and that's ridiculous. It's just like a Woolies car park."

Ban 4WDs from beaches >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-24/call-for-four-wheel-drive-ban-aussie-beaches/104990150
#NationalParks #beaches #dunes #traffic #cars #vehicles #SUVs #4WDs #Biodiversity #wildlife #Invertebrates #birds #shorebirds #MigratoryBirds #turtles #NSW #Queensland #Australia #regulation #climate

how migrating birds use quantum mechanics to navigate

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/23/they-have-no-one-to-follow-how-migrating-birds-use-quantum-mechanics-to-navigate

#Trump moves to relax rules against killing #MigratoryBirds

The #Interior Dept suspended a #legal opinion holding companies liable for accidentally killing ducks, cranes, pelicans, owls & other bird species.

#law #wildlife #conservation #birds #USpol@
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/03/10/migratory-bird-protections-suspended/

#Spring #migration season could cause uptick in #AvianFlu

By Brooke Griffin, KIRO 7 News
March 05, 2025

"Animal experts are warning people to protect their pets and farm animals from bird flu infection as migratory birds make their way across Washington State.

"Amber Betts with the Washington State Department of Agriculture tells us there are currently six million birds migrating across the United States, many of which will fly through Washington state as they head to Canada.

"She said with this current strain of avian influenza, #MigratoryBirds and #WildBirds are the main distributors when it comes to spreading the disease.

"'There’s different species that can have the virus without symptoms and then others if they get it it’s not good for them,' Betts said.

"Betts tells us bird flu kills chickens very quickly once they are infected but many wild birds will not only survive with the disease, they may not even show symptoms.

"She says the sick wild birds will fly across states and countries, infecting entire sections of land with susceptible chickens, ducks, and birds as they go.

"'It can live on surfaces for quite some time,' Betts said. 'If there’s a shared water source and an infected bird drinks out of that and then another bird drinks it, the disease can be shared that way and through droppings.'

"She tells us there are precautionary measures that can be taken to prevent the spread.

"'Make sure the water or food we leave out for our backyard birds is under a cover and not accessible by wild birds. Make sure they don’t have access to a pond where our birds have access as well as the wild birds.' Betts said.

"There have already been at least six confirmed cases of pet cats testing positive for avian flu in [#WashingtonState].

"'That’s the reason we are concerned every time we see migration season coming upon us,' Betts said.

She said the best practice is keeping your pets from drinking any standing water and farm animals away from fields with bird droppings is the best way to prevent them from getting sick."

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/spring-migration-season-could-cause-uptick-avian-flu/4XY7RZUK7ZH3RMN3RHRV6EG7ZU/
#HPAINews #BirdFlu #AvianInfluenza #PetHealth

The annual farewell to the godwits ceremony is this evening starting at 6:30 pm at the Southshore Spit Reserve (at the very end of Rockinghorse Road) in South Brighton (Christchurch, NZ).

There's festivities and a BBQ and a chance to see the bar-tailed godwits before they leave the Avon-Heathcote estuary on their journey back to Alaska.

It's a fun thing to do if you're in the area.

https://estuary.org.nz/event/annual-farewell-to-the-godwits-ceremony-2024/

“Migratory Geese, Wetlands” Migratory geese (likely snow, Ross’s, and white-fronted) in Central California wetlands.

Our little band of photographers gathered once again on New Year’s Day to greet the new year together and photograph migratory birds and the often-foggy Central Valley landscape. This photograph holds what I think of as the main elements of this winter landscape: birds, a bit of fog, sky, trees, and grasses. (OK, cattle and crops are part of the scene, but not in this photograph.)…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/01/11/migratory-geese-wetlands/

“Wetlands, Winter Sky” — Pre-dawn light colors the sky and clouds above Central Valley wetlands on a winter morning.

Happy holidays on this Christmas morning! This is an older photograph, made on a winter morning a few years ago. I had arrived at this location well before sunrise to photograph migratory birds with a group of fellow photographers. Soon light started to come to the sky, and high, thin clouds started to pick up color in the brilliant early sky. The clouds and colors were reflected in a nearby wetlands pond as birds flew overhead…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/12/25/wetlands-winter-sky-2/

“Geese, Morning Clouds” — A flock of geese in flight against morning clouds, Central Valley, California.

Sunrise often produces remarkable light, especially when the right sorts of clouds are present. These clouds were a bit unusual for this location, where I usually either encounter thick tule fog or high clouds produced by large scale weather patterns. These morning clouds were lower than usual, but not ground fog, and having a bit of the “mackerel sky” look. I photographed them as the first light arrived and a flock of migratory geese passed overhead…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2024/12/24/geese-morning-clouds-2/