Critter News

MARCH 13, 2010

We hear about the problem with charismatic land species. It's those species that either have a powerful personality or a cute face that endear people to them and garner news attention. It's easier to motivate people to save them as opposed to other species that are vital, but either boring or ugly. They don't invoke the pathos of the tragic salmon or the merriment of a playful porpoise. Tags: marine life marine animals endangered species

2010 100

2010 Porpoises Pandas Otters 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2015

But, I did take many photos, and used the book, in spurts during the trip and more closely afterward, to identify three seabird species, two expected (Sooty and Black-vented Shearwaters) and one a surprise. It does not include near-shore, coastal species, like Brown Pelican, Elegant Tern, and Harbor Seal. Rarer species are also not included, though each main chapter has a subsection on “rarer” species. That’s 22 Marine Mammal species and 43 Seabirds.

2015 56

2015 Dolphins Porpoises Whales 56

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

I searched the entire northern end of the park, including the golf course, the reflecting pool, the open water by Porpoise Bridge, and every open grassy spot I could find. What a marvelous sight my seventh goose (and 313th species) for Queens was! Back on Friday, 12 February, I was dismayed when I read the weekly New York City Rare Bird Alert email. You see, someone had reported a Greater White-fronted Goose at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens.

2016 50

2016 Puerto Rico Porpoises Geese 50

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2013

Leaving from the harbour on boats were tours to swim with one of New Zealand’s most endangered mammal species, the Hector’s Dolphin. This is one of the smallest dolphin species in the world, not much bigger than the common Harbour Porpoise Americans might be familiar with. The routine for swimming with Hector’s Dolphins is slightly different to other species, however.

Dolphins 58

Dolphins 2013 Sharks Albatross 58

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

And besides, it’s nice to see something that isn’t the same 12 (now 13) species of seabird (plus Molly Meep Meep, a Black Brant ) There may not be as many as in October, but they are there, and they can be cool. California Sea Lions porpoised through the clear water. Autumn, or fall, as Americans persist in calling it, is not a season I am experiencing at the moment.

California 55

California 2013 Sharks Porpoises 55

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2011

As far as I can tell it is the most northern breeding record for the species. The bird rears up, calls and splashes, it thrashes around on the surface and dives and porpoises about. The bird landed just to my side, puffed up and fluttering with its wings down dragging the ground. It was a Baird’s Sandpiper and it was obviously in distress. Or was it? I was making my way towards a Pacific Loon nest that I have been monitoring when the Baird’s Sandpiper appeared.

2011 69

2011 Porpoises Eggs Family 69

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2012

It was a Benguela Nino year, and pelagic seabirds were in super-abundance in the south eastern Atlantic, with the total of species by variety and number exceeding all expectations for the birders on the inaugural trip as we pitched and wallowed about in the rolling swells on our way out to the trawling grounds. Birding has been an all-consuming interest for Patrick Cardwell since boyhood days spent in a wildlife-rich environment.

2012 70

2012 Albatross Dolphins Penguins 70

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

Eighteen-hour trips are the rule and only about four or five hours are spent in the prime area to see the species most birders are hoping to see. This explains why I did not see any Craveri’s Murrelets , a missed lifer, and didn’t get as good a look or as good a photo as I would have wanted of some other species. Here in New York we are at quite the disadvantage when it comes to pelagic trips.

2016 48

2016 Whales Whaling Albatross 48