Monday, December 12, 2005

Loose Feathers #11

News and links on birds, birding, and the environment.

  • In Fairfax County, Virginia, a hiking trail was recently refurbished. It connects Great Falls with Riverbend Park. Both endpoints of the trail are known for good birding during migration, so local birders might want to check this out. It should be a good spot for combined hiking/birding trips.
  • New York City has been implementing energy efficiency measures throughout its various public agencies to relieve the demand on the city's power supply. Many of these affect wide swaths of the city, including more efficient refrigerators in public housing, light-emitting diodes instead of standard bulbs in traffic signals, and converting its buses to hybrids. In a city as large as New York, it is easy to have much wasted electricity; instead it has been leading in reducing the waste.
  • Hunting of Canada geese is causing more heartburn for animal rights groups, this time in Massachusetts. Elsewhere, geese appear to have been killed by snowmobile.
  • The Plain Dealer reports on successful surgery for a peregrine falcon with a broken wing.
  • Oklahoma has a program to help preserve habitat for grassland species like quail and pheasants. Under the program, farmers are paid by the state to preserve habitat buffers around their fields that birds can use for nesting.