Monthly Archive
 Rob Palmer’s stunning photo of a pair of bald eagles appears on our Jan-Feb '10 cover and is our photo contest's Grand Prize winner. |
This past summer, Audubon hosted its first-ever photo awards contest in association with Nature’s Best Photography magazine. Inspired by the theme, “Birds in Focus,” some 2,500 entrants submitted an impressive 16,000+ images. The result? A spectacular mixed photo flock of birds in a variety of poses, from chinstrap penguins frolicking on turquoise ice to a newborn snowy plover nuzzling its mama. From those entries, our panel of judges selected five prizewinners—which you can now see online and in our January-February 2010 print issue, along with some of our staff’s other favorites, including a dozen shots that will surely make you chuckle (c’mon, who wouldn’t grin at an oxpecker getting, er, up close and personal with a zebra’s hiney?).
At Audubonmagazine.org, you’ll also find a bonus gallery of 100 images you shouldn’t miss. Just roll your mouse over the photomontage to see those shots in bigger sizes...(click "read more")
An animated series aired on Build-A-Bear’s website featuring polar bears, penguins, and Santa warned that climate change could melt the North Pole before Christmas. While company executives say that the webisodes were meant to educate children, some conservative bloggers are arguing that the series was inappropriate and is calling for consumers to boycott the business.
The purrfect gift: a jaguar
12/24/2009
Looking for a gift suitable for giving not only during the holiday season, but year-round? May I suggest a jaguar. The cat, not the car.
Michael Woodruff, Idaho State Fish and Wildlife Service
White-throated sparrow. Listen to his wavering whistle here.
Adelie penguin (photo by robnunn, Flickr Creative Commons)
As you probably know, Audubon’s 110th annual Christmas Bird Count is taking place right now—right now!—and there’s still time to participate because you can collect data can through January 5, 2010. (Read our earlier Perch blog post about it, and visit the Audubon CBC news room for more info.)
In the mean time, check out this cool story: The CBC truly reached all ends of the earth last year during the 109th count when a team of energetic birders/researchers counted species in Antarctica. Their results are in: Click 'read more' below to see their results.
From an eastern forest enshrouded in powdery snow comes the melodious song Old-Sam Peabody-Peabody… Old-Sam Peabody-Peabody.
What bird is it?
(Hint: Some might say he is singing Oh-Sweet-Canada-Canada.)
Please don’t give the answer away with a comment. Instead E-mail your best guess to rebersole@audubon.org with the subject “Bird Trivia #2.” Then check back here at 4:00 for the correct answer and the names of those who got it right. Good luck!
 Photo by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid |
Are you a birder in need of a new set of binocs (or are you looking for a last-minute gift for a birder you know)? Audubon’s own Wayne Mones walks you through every important binocular spec, from which magnification and diameter to buy, to how to adjust your pair to actually see that bird everyone else is ogling.
A few of his tips:
- A wide field of view makes it easier to find birds and to follow them when they fly.
- If you pay more than $200 for binoculars, make sure they’re waterproof and nitrogen purged, so they don’t get fogged up in humid conditions.
- Don’t clean your binocular lens with tissue, toilet paper, paper napkins, paper towels or newspaper—they will all scratch and eventually destroy the lens coating crucial to your binoculars’ optical performance.
For more recommendations from Mones, including what to do with old binoculars and which binoculars to pick if you wear glasses, check out this pullout from the November-December issue of Audubon.
