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Here at Audubon, we appreciate a good Internet sensation as much as anyone (if Honey Honey Badger Don’t Care, we certainly do). From snowboarding crows to cute kittens, animals consistently creep into our inboxes and on our Facebook feeds. When these images and videos are posted, blogged, and altered enough to be considered part of the web’s consciousness, they become memes. Animal memes can be silly, offensive, or even insightful – and these are some of the greatest, with explainations of their origins according to Know Your Meme.

Image: Delancey Underground Project

From the time New York City’s High Line Park opened in June 2009, it’s caused a stir. In a city that can feel packed with people, any new nook for trees is a blessing. This park in particular was a reminder of how an aging urban space—in this case, former freight train tracks—could be reused and recycled into something new. Two new proposals for NYC could provide more inspiration.

                           Tom Munson, Idaho Fish and Game
They never said it would be easy, counting the days by birds. With four weeks in on the Bird-A-Day Challenge, I’m already feeling the pressure to hang on for at least one more day, another week, possibly another month.

If you haven’t heard of it before, the Bird-A-Day Challenge is a game played every year by birders from around the country. The objective: Count how many days in a row you can find a “new” bird. (New = recorded for the first time in this game.)

This just proves that it’s important to know your birds!

Audubon's "Blue Heron"

“Audubon’s Art & Legacy,” a panel conversation at the National Arts Club in New York City brought together three distinct perspectives on John James Audubon’s life and work: Robert Peck, a historian at the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia; Jonathan Rosen, a writer and birder; and Walton Ford, a renowned American painter.

Brown boobies atop the posts of an old pier at Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Photo: Lindsey Hayes/USFWS
 
UPDATE 1/30/12: It's time to choose the winning caption. We've narrowed it down to these three entries. Don't be a boob, vote for your favorite!

Every week we post a funny animal photo that's begging for a caption. Click "Read more" to add your suggestion in the Comments section. On Monday we'll choose our three favorite captions, and then we’ll ask you to vote for your favorite. Check out all of our previous funny caption contest pics.  

A male hooded merganser. Photo by Rick Leche (Creative Commons).

On Day 12 of the 2012 Bird-A-Day Challenge, Features Editor Rene Ebersole saw a hooded merganser, an adorable-but-goofy looking fish-eating duck. (Click here to learn more about the BAD challenge. And don’t forget to let us know that you’re participating, through Facebook or Twitter, @audubonmagazine.)

Take our quiz to determine how much you know about the hooded merganser. And by the way, check in with The Perch tomorrow—and every Friday—for a recap of the most recent Bird-A-Day challenge info.
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Follow me on Twitter, @MicheleWBerger

California's Cleveland National Forest, at 460,000 acres, accounts for just 0.2 % of the National Forest System's 193-million acres that will be affected by new rules. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)

Today, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the department’s intent to issue new planning rules for the nation’s 193-million-acre National Forest System through the release of a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule.

In other news, the U.S. Interior Department proposed a plan as well – this time to save the earth’s creatures and ecosystems from the potentially devastating impacts of climate change. Last week, the department posted the first draft of their strategy, “National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Plan,” for public review and comment until March 5.

The voice of Randall—the narrator of the hilarious viral video “The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger”—is in my head. It’s fitting, since I’m reading his new book Honey Badger Don’t Care, which features the fearless honey badger and 10 additional “nastyass” animals. Some you’ll know—the Tasmanian devil, the opposum; some sound like the sort of thing Randall would make up—like the pink fairy armadillo. If you’ve seen the video, you’ll know to expect profanities and irreverence in the book, but it’s also surprisingly informative and highlights a fascinating mix of creatures that are largely threatened or endangered.

President rides a ferry from Dauphin Island, Ala., to Fort Morgan, Ala., past a natural gas rig in 2010. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Just days after the President tackled natural gas, oil, and the environment in his State of the Union address, the Obama administration today laid out his “Blueprint to Make The Most of America’s Energy Resources."

The President will travel west to promote the plan, starting the day at a UPS facility in Las Vegas, a White House press release states, to discuss the importance of America’s workforce in increasing the country’s homemade energy. The President will then travel to Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, to further discuss his administration’s plans to promote energy security.