Author Archives: MadelineBodin

White Nose Syndrome in Missouri

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little brown bat with white nose syndrome on cave wallWhite nose syndrome has been confirmed in three bats from two caves in Lincoln County, in northeast Missouri. Both caves are public, but their exact location has not been disclosed to prevent human disturbance of the remaining bats in the cave, the The Missouri Department of Conservation press release says.

The fungus that causes white nose syndrome was found in two locations in Missouri during the winter of 2009-2010, but did not cause bat mortality. The three bats in this most recent report are confirmed to have the disease caused by the fungus.

Read more:
Missouri Department of Conservation press release

So far news reports have not added to the information in the press release.

White Nose in Delaware

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Fort Delaware

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced on Friday that white nose syndrome has been detected in bats at Fort Delaware State Park.

White nose fungus had been detected at maternity colonies of bats in Delaware in 2010, but this is the first time bats showing symptoms of the disease have been found. Because the bats were discovered in a popular state park with a Civil War fort and prison, the emphasis will be on educating visitors and limiting the spread of the disease when the park opens on May 1.

Read the DNREC press release, here.
Read the article in DelawareOnline.com, here.

Fort Delaware photo courtesy of Delaware State Parks

Return of a Classic Beetle

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“The last documented American burying beetle in Missouri was collected from Newton County (southwest Missouri) in the mid-1970s,” says a US Fish and Wildlife press release. “Historically, It was recorded in 35 states, including 13 counties throughout Missouri, and was most likely found throughout the state.”

In June, the federally endangered beetle will return to the Missouri prairie, with the reintroduction of American burying beetles bred at the St. Louis Zoo. The zoo-bred beetles will be released on The Nature Conservancy’s Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie (link to more info about the reintroduction).

Local news reports seem to be focusing on the fact that this population has been declared “experimental,” so the usual Endangered Species Act protections don’t apply.
Springfield News-Leader
St. Louis Public Radio

Photo courtesy of US Forest Service

When the Weather is for the Birds

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Black vulture range lags behind climate change

The Black Vulture has expanded its range northward and now occurs in parts of Massachusetts where the minimum winter temperature is similar to that in Baltimore, Maryland in 1975. Photo by Liz Malyszek

Citizen scientists noticed the impact of a mild winter in the United States and Canada this year, reflected in the species composition of the birds tallied during the Great Backyard Bird Count, reports an article in ScienceNow, the online news service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). You can also read the press release from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

However, birds are not responding quite so quickly to overall climate trends, says a paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology (fee or subscription required to view entire article). It’s more work from the Cornell Lab of O, but this time the press release is from Cornell University.

Chronic Wasting Disease Update

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CWD risk in Ontario

Three more cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) were confirmed in wild white-tailed deer in Missouri last week. These deer had been killed within two miles of the free-ranging deer found to have CWD last fall.

Read the Missouri Department of Conservation press release, here.

The situation in Virginia is similar. “Two new cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) have been detected very close to where CWD-infected deer were found in 2009 and 2010,” the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries press release says.

CWD has been found in mule deer in New Mexico for 10 years, but this year it was detected in deer not far from El Paso, Texas, which has the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on alert. Read an article about this in the Lonestar Outdoor News.

There’s no CWD in Ontario, Canada yet, but they are keeping an eye out for it, since it has been found in the neighboring US states of New York, Minnesota and Michigan. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources recently released a seven-page report about its surveillance program. (Be forewarned, that link will pop up a sizable PDF.)

Happy Bird Day to You

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No, today is not your Bird Day. International Migratory Bird Day is typically on the second Saturday in May, with adjustments encouraged to make sure birds are migrating through your area on the day you celebrate. (It’s the second Saturday in October, south of the equator.)

This year, the second Saturday is May 12, but the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, for example, will be celebrating on May 5.

The day is organized by Environment for the Americas, and it was founded by Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. The Bird Day website as event ideas, sample press releases and more.

It’s as good an excuse as any to shine the spotlight on your department’s migratory bird research.

March Roundup of New Research

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Spring is here and a bunch of wildlife surveys are underway around the country.

In Delaware:
-It’s the fifth and final year of the Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas.
-A special effort is being made in 2012 to tally owls as part of the atlas.
–Horseshoe crabs are being tallied again, and volunteers are being trained.
-The annual osprey count is offering a volunteer training for the first time since 2007.

Maryland is two years in to four years of surveys for an amphibian and reptile atlas and is looking for volunteers.

In Kansas, they are searching for lesser prairie chicken breeding areas, or leks, from the air with helicopters. Field crews will train on March 29-31 and conduct official survey work across all of western Kansas until the middle of May. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is also asking people to report leks. The survey is part of a five-state effort, and the survey technique will be evaluated.

In North Dakota, the Game and Fish Department has launched a two-year study of white-tailed deer in intensely farmed agricultural areas.

In Maine, biologists at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have visited up to 100 dens each winter for 37 years, making the survey in the nation’s oldest radio-collar monitoring program for bears. This year the Maine Sunday Telegram wrote a story about it, with lots of pics. Read it here.

And in Washington, commuters have been reporting wildlife sightings for over a year on the I-90 corridor in anticipation of road improvements. The project’s first annual report was released recently, generating articles in the Everett Herald  and The Seattle Times, and coverage other media.

Photo of I-90 Wildlife Watch billboard by Paula MacKay/Western Transportation Institute, used by permission.

Federal Wind Project Guidelines Finalized

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It has taken five years, but a new set of guidelines to protect wildlife from the impacts of  land-based wind energy projects was announced by the US Fish and Wildlife Service today. If, looking them over, they seem familiar, that is because the draft guidelines were made available for comment last July.

The guidelines were developed by a committee made up of representatives from the wind power industry, non-government environmental organizations, and state wildlife departments. (There was also one representative of native tribes.)

These are just guidelines, with no regulatory teeth.

You can find the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s landing page for the wind guideline information — which includes a press release, a fact sheet, and the guidelines themselves, here.

Photo credit: Joshua Winchell, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Wind Project Guidelines Finalized

Posted on by
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It has taken five years, but a new set of guidelines to protect wildlife from the impacts of  land-based wind energy projects was announced by the US Fish and Wildlife Service today. If, looking them over, they seem familiar, that is because the draft guidelines were made available for comment last July.

The guidelines were developed by a committee made up of representatives from the wind power industry, non-government environmental organizations, and state wildlife departments. (There was also one representative of native tribes.)

These are just guidelines, with no regulatory teeth.

You can find the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s landing page for the wind guideline information — which includes a press release, a fact sheet, and the guidelines themselves, here.

Photo credit: Joshua Winchell, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

4th International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop

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Didn’t make it to the sold-out 4th International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop, that started on March 20 and ends today in Missoula, Montana? The Missoulian has a brief round up, aimed at general readers. (Who knew that round doorknobs could be such a successful bear deterrent?)

If you want more info on human-bear conflicts, an excellent summary of the 3rd International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop (November 2009) is on-line.

More on the conference from the Missoulian: an article on a presentation on electricity (fences, mats) as a bear deterrent. Read it here.

Photo: Black bear courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service