Audubon articles from July 2008

Audubon archives from July 2008

Audubon view.
July 1, 2008... Modern conservation history is filled with continuing conflict and temporary resolution. Time and again we battle in judicial and legislative arenas to protect wildlife and wild places. Our victories are glorious but can rarely withstand...

Heart warmers.(Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I find particular joy in the last page of your magazine--not simply because it means I've completed another wonderful issue and learned a great deal but for that always-incredible final image. May-June's One Picture...

Rolling the dice.(Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... Has the killing of raptors by roller pigeon people reached the point that raptor survival is being threatened ["Fowl Play," Incite, May-June]? If not, are they likely to reach that point soon? Is this going on in all states, or just those...

Tear down this wall.(Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... Thanks for keeping us informed on destructive acts involving billions of taxpayer dollars ["No-Man's Land," Field Notes, May-June]. After Ronald Reagan received so much positive press for his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech about...

Saving polar bears.(Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... The Bush administration has much to answer for, not the least being its ability to twist or ignore science that interferes with its plans, especially when it comes to energy. I have had the opportunity to see some of the Arctic problems, both...

Squeaky wheel.(Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... Doug Fine ["Go, Greased Lightnin'," Off the Grid, May-June] claims to have nearly eliminated his carbon footprint by using his wood-fired hot tub and burning vegetable oil in his truce It's true he is using less fossil fuel, but he has done...

Rattled up.(Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... Thank you for the article on the timber rattlesnake ["Ambush," Journal, May-June]. A year or so ago I was hunting in a remote section of Yegua Creek, here in Texas. As I rounded a bend, there lay a very large timber rattler. It was stretched...

Beetle juice.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the world's weirdest bugs, infamous for its method of self-defense, may soon be helping asthma sufferers, car owners, and firefighters. When threatened, the bombardier beetle produces a powerful blast of...

Jelly jam.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... A bizarre event at a salmon farm in Ireland last winter brought business to a standstill. A large bloom of jellyfish, 10 miles square and 35 feet deep, invaded pens in both Glenarm and Red Bay, wiping out the farm's entire stock, worth $2...

They Walk the line.(native american lands and environmental rights)
July 1, 2008... Dennis Banks is already on his fourth pair of shoes. On February 11 the Native American activist and author left San Francisco on foot, bound for Washington, D.C. He's one of the leaders of a 4,400-mile, five-month cross-country trek designed...

Hook, line, and dinner.(consumer education on seafood)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... You're scanning the fresh red snapper at your local fishmonger's, your mouth watering at the thought of a dish that would be perfect for tonight's dinner. But before ordering a couple of fillets, you whip out your phone, log on to the Internet,...

Burnout.(wildfires)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wildfires in the West are becoming hotter and burning longer as a result of global warming. Half of the worst wildfire seasons on record in the United States occurred in the past decade, and millions of acres were...

Flipper the frat guy.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Macho men aren't the only animals to strut their stuff in front of the fairer sex. A new study shows that male Amazon River dolphins in Brazil, Venezuela, and Bolivia wave branches, punch their friends, and toss...

Urban flight.(bird migration)
July 1, 2008... Biologist Mike Balistreri pads along the sandy bottom of an arroyo in Rio Rancho, B a development that sprang from the desert 40 years ago and is now New Mexico's fourth most populous city. From the terrace above his head, subdivisions stretch...

Minting the eagle.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... While bald eagles have long adorned U.S. coins, a famous 19-year-old member of the species named Challenger now has his name and beak on 750,000 U.S. half-dollars, too, thanks to legislation he helped pass in 2004. At the time, Challenger and...

A titanic challenge.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The cruise ship deftly maneuvered around the icebergs as it made its way to open ocean. But in the early morning hours last November 23, an iceberg punched a hole in its hull. As water started pouring in, the 154...

Audubon's field guide to birding trails: Westward Ho!(First in a Series: West)(Directory)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When I trekked among the stark cactus gardens of the Arizona borderlands for the first time, I saw a dozen new birds for my life list in the first half-hour: quirky roadrunners, noisy cactus wrens, sleek...

Teen wolf.(WolfQuest)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... It's a common lament: Kids spend more time playing video games than they spend outdoors. Well, maybe there's a compromise of sorts. A new video game called WolfQuest, developed by the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota, is targeted to...

Leave it to beavers.(field notes)(beavers can create up to nine-fold increase in the amount of open water)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Who knew that a hairy, flat-tailed rodent might be the answer to our water woes? According to new research from Canada's University of Alberta, the animal long considered a pest can create an up to nine-fold increase in the amount of open water...

Micro-size me.(PROFILE)(Fergus Drennan)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... Last spring the English countryside became Fergus Drennan's pantry: No farming, no hunting--just gathering. He drinks water from a natural spring, retrieves sea salt from Herne Bay, and even eats roadkill. To challenge himself and encourage...

Green guru: advice for the eco-minded.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] What are your recommendations for keeping a garden quenched without wasting water? --Rachel Carter, Ludlow, VT You can forget juicy tomatoes this summer if you don't give your plants enough to drink, but...

A tale of two habitats: one of nature's true miracles occurs every spring and fall. And it presents a double challenge: to protect birds at both ends of their incredible journeys.(Migration)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE MYSTERIOUS MOVEMENTS of the birds that fill our forests with a mezzo forte of flutes, chirps, and whistles each summer have intrigued us for centuries. Aristotle postulated that redstarts vanished in autumn...

Vermont: each spring thousands of migrating wood thrushes fill the eastern forests of the United States with the reedy tunes of vitality and new notes of uncertainty.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] In late spring the hillside forest along Thatcher Brook in the central Vermont town of Granville is damp and dark: damp from the bubbling tumble of water over rocks, and dark where the brook has driven a tunnel...

Belize: in late summer, as the days get shorter, wood thrushes head to Central America's forests, seeking refuge in ancient strongholds that are facing modern pressures.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "WOOD THRUSH!" pronounces Glenn Crawford in his melodic Caribbean burr. "Here we call that 'Jumping Joe.'" Crawford draws two plastic chairs from under a pink-flowering shrub, tips one toward me and drops himself...

Creature comforts: using high-speed photography and a pure white background, a new book makes a visceral connection between us and our fellow beings' beauty and emotion.(Photo Essay)(Andrew Zuckerman's 'Creature')(Book review)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are moments in all people's lives when they click with someone else. A locking of the eyes can do it, as can a shared emotional experience. And when it happens, it's revelatory. Now, think back. When was the...

Gentle giant: on the centennial of Roger Tory Peterson's birth, most of the attention will center on his classic field guides. But a protege and friend also celebrates him as a temperate activist who inspired generations of birders and naturalists to protect the creatures they watched.(Tribute)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] August marks the centennial of the birth of a man who helped to change the ways humans relate to birds and to the rest of the natural world. Roger Tory Peterson's genius was making natural history accessible and...

Washing away war: while visiting family that survived Lebanon's bloodshed two years ago, a writer discovers firsthand an experiment to protect nature that may well be a model for the world.(Journal)(Personal account)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's not every day that you can fly halfway around the world from your own home to see birds where bombs once flew, and be guided by men and women who share your surname. The black storks, great snipes, and Syrian...

Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming.(+++00)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming By Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn W.W. Norton & Company, 256 pages, $24.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If we're serious about bringing down the earth's...

Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying).(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying) By David Bach with Hillary Rosner Broadway Books, 192 pages, $14.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Still not turning off your computer at night? Get this:...

Best Western: Wallace Stegner immortalized the West in literary classics and helped inspire the 1964 Wilderness Act. But as a new biography reveals, this iconic figure was also bothered by professional slights and personal demons all through his storied life.(Essay)(Wallace Stegner and the American West)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wallace Stegner and the American West By Philip L. Fradkin Alfred A. Knopf, 384 pages, $27.50 In the half-century following World War II, Wallace Stegner--novelist, historian, conservationist, and...

The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations.(Book review)
July 1, 2008... The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations By Brian Fagan Bloomsbury Press, 304 pages, $26.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bet you thought global warming was your biggest environmental worry. You know,...

Art of the wild.(Forest Defenders )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] They're a gritty breed of environmentalists, willing to live in trees and barricade logging roads to guard what's left of the nation's oldest forests from the timber industry's insatiable appetite. In Forest...

Frogs.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Frogs By Nic Bishop Scholastic, 48 pages, $17.99 (4-8) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Step aside, Kermit. Other frogs deserve some time in the spotlight, too. Frogs touches on everything from how these amphibians breathe (through...

Osprey Adventure.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Osprey Adventure By Jennifer Keats Curtis Illustrated by Marcy Dunn Ramsey Tidewater Publishers, 32 pages, $13.95 (preschool-7) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Based on the work of Pete McGowan, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

True blue.(One Picture)(blue sea star)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The underwater photographs of tropical reef life that we see in books and magazines are often astonishing. And sometimes they are truly beyond belief. That's certainly not the case with Birgitte Wilms's close-up of a...