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The European Christmas Bird Count

10,000 Birds

A Great Egret , a few Pygmy Cormorants and, by the middle of the Danube, about a hundred Greylag Geese. Two hundred yards further, the first Common Goldeneye and Smew started to appear and, while counting Smew and geese, a Great Bittern took flight from one stand of reeds to another, right in front of us.

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The Self-Refreshing Rarity

10,000 Birds

These, however, were as wary as lawn geese. One of the rangers at the refuge had some photos showing an injury on the bird’s breast, likely from a gunshot wound as the refuge is a popular site for waterfowl hunting, including hunting the thousands of Tundra Swans in the area. The other birds took some doing to find.

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From Today's New York Times

Animal Ethics

The vast number of meat eaters brake for geese, call the A.S.P.C.A. if they see a mistreated dog, and shudder to see a wounded deer in the road. Yet not mentioned is a simple step that will go a long way toward ensuring compliance with our already lax slaughterhouse requirements: Place video cameras throughout the kill process.