Monthly Archive
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In the Great North Woods, 1,000-pound moose plagued with arthritis wander Isle Royale National Park in Michigan, a wilderness area where biologists have been conducting research for 50 years on the animals and the wolves that hunt them. The scientists’ recent research published in Ecology Letters shows that arthritis, known as osteoarthritis (AO), is not just a human affliction, but it is also found in animals and can be the result of malnutrition early in life.
Take a Winning Shot, Score a Dream Getaway. Enter the Audubon Magazine Photography Awards Now
08/25/2010
Dreaming of a vacation getaway? How about the Galapagos? Or the Peruvian Amazon? Belize? If you're a photographer who fancies birds, or a fancy bird photographer, enter the Audubon Magazine Photography Awards (held in association with Nature's Best Photography) for a chance to win a trip to one of these exotic locales. Winners will also be featured in our magazine.
The deadline is September 7th, so don't miss your chance to snap up this opportunity. Click here to learn more.
A young Brown Pelican balances on boom still strung around the island where it was hatched and grew up. Melanie Driscoll/Audubon
As thousands of young Brown Pelicans and other birds leave their nests and seek a new place in the world, they face an uncertain future. Over 650 miles of coastline are still oiled, and oil is likely to remain in some places for years, if past spills are any indication.
Isabella Rossellini: Actress, Director, Writer, and Rachel Carson Award Winner
08/24/2010
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Here’s the fourth and final post on the four Rachel Carson Awards winners honored this year by National Audubon Society for following Carson’s tradition as environmental leader and forward-thinker. At the Women in Conservation Luncheon this past May, actress Isabella Rossellini, Suzanne Lewis, superintendent of Yellowstone, Tiffany Foundation president Fernanda Kellogg, and Disney’s Beth Stevens earned accolades.
Empire State Birding Bob
08/24/2010
On top of the Empire State Building, while tourists scramble for a view from which to gaze down on the cityscape at sunset, Robert DeCandido AKA "Birding Bob," stands out in the crowd, aiming his binoculars up into the sky spying for birds.
"Winds are northwest now," he says, "not so good."
Slime Mold, Algae, and Hundreds of Other Species Unearthed at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
08/23/2010
 Ramsey Cascades, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Image: NPS. |
This isn’t a Central American cloud forest or some other tropical haven for animals and plants, but rather a habitat right in our back yards, along the eastern coast of the U.S.: It’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the focus of Kurt Repanshek’s article “The Mother Lode” from the July-August Audubon.
Suzanne Lewis: Yellowstone National Park’s First Female Superintendent and Rachel Carson Award Honoree
08/23/2010
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Here’s the third of four Rachel Carson Awards winners honored this year by National Audubon Society for following Carson’s tradition as environmental leader and forward-thinker. At the Women in Conservation Luncheon this past May, actress Isabella Rossellini, Suzanne Lewis, superintendent of Yellowstone, Tiffany Foundation president Fernanda Kellogg, and Disney’s Beth Stevens earned accolades.
Image taken from the Public Domain
Though most people have a favorite tasting animal, aside from an occasional fundamentalist vegetarian, the consensus is that animal crackers would not be nearly as good if they were shaped like a boring old ritz. Same thing goes for Teddy Grahams, Gummy Worms/Bears, Chocolate Moose, etc. This was the sort of philosophy behind Southern Sudan’s recently unveiled civic ambitions to remake its capital cities in the shapes of animals and fruit, but some find the idea tasteless.
Oil spill update from the field: Thick oil still oozes beneath a forgotten stretch of Grand Isle Beach
08/20/2010
I head to a forgotten stretch of Grand Isle beach, where thick black oil still oozes out from beneath the sand. The issue highlights a concern many conservationists have had with the spill response; that it was heavy-handed and near-sighted, environmental guidelines were scrapped and environmentalists themselves were chided as being too soft and too slow.
