Avoiding Airliner Bird Strikes Using Warning Lights

Keeping birds away from airliners may be getting some help from a model airplane.

Robert Benincasa at NPR reports:

"When US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River in January after hitting geese, it turned the spotlight on so-called bird strikes — a longstanding problem of aircraft colliding with birds in flight. Airports try a lot of tricks to keep birds away, but now some researchers are shining light on a possible solution. At Plum Brook Station, a 6,000-acre, high-security government campus near Sandusky, Ohio, scientists are literally flying a plane at groups of geese and watching how they react. It's a radio-controlled model plane — a 9-foot wingspan aircraft that looks like a miniature Cessna. The plane has white, pulsating LED lights mounted on the front, to test the idea that aircraft lighting can signal birds to get out of the way of an approaching plane." See full article.

Rare Swift Foxes Being Returned to Montana"s Fort Peck Reservation

In September, swift foxes will be returned to the Assiniboine and Sioux Fort Peck Reservation in Montana after a long absence.

The Missoulian reports:

"Declared extinct in Montana in 1969, the swift fox is already back on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation by way of an unusual reintroduction effort funded by the tribe and a private conservation group. Now the fox is bound for the Fort Peck Reservation as well. The smallest of the canids, swift foxes are no bigger than a house cat." (Photo: Defenders of Wildlife)

See full article.

Woodstorks Make Rare Appearance In Arkansas

Wood stork populations have been increasing in Florida and other gulf states but they also seem to be moving up to Arkansas these days.

Joe Mosby at the Cabin.net reports:

"The main levees along the Mississippi River and along the lower Arkansas take adventurers into areas off the beaten path, yet the exploring can be done in relative comfort – in your vehicle. For fans of levee drives, August is special because it brings some unusual visiting birds. Wood storks and roseate spoonbills are just two of the species that sometimes can be found. But there are no guarantees to seeing them." See full article.

Bird Travels 8,000 Miles -- One Way!

Some birds give new definition to the term "migration."

RedOrbit.com reports:

"A bar-tailed godwit, a bird banded near Victoria, Australia, was found more than 8,000 miles away in the western Arctic area of Alaska, wildlife experts said. While tagged birds are sometimes seen in the region where they were released, it's rare to see them so far from a release site. Wildlife Conservation Society scientists [reported] 'While we know that birds from all over the world come to the Arctic to breed, to see a living example first hand is a powerful reminder of the importance of this region,' said biologist Steve Zack, who spotted the godwit with biologist Joe Liebezeit. The ... godwit, a shorebird, was sighted this year while Zack and Liebezeit were searching for dunlins and semipalmated sandpipers tagged three years ago in nearby Prudhoe Bay, Alaska." See full article.

Help For The Declining Bee Population -- New Plastic Beehive

In the UK they have launched a public program (using uniquely-designed boxes) to encourage homeowners and a gardeners to help raise bees to offset recent declines in their population numbers.

Physorg.com reports:

"There's no reason why our towns and cities should exist as wildlife deserts -- wildlife can thrive when we design our urban areas with nature in mind and the 'beehaus' is a great example of how easy it is for anyone to bring the natural world closer to their doorstep." Its makers Omlet claim that at one metre wide and 0.5 metres high (three feet wide and one foot eight inches high), the 'beehaus' is twice as big as a traditional beehive, giving plenty of room for the colony to grow in comfort. See full article.