Tuesday, July 11, 2006

You should spend a few hours birdwatching up Mount Moosilauke

In the end, I did not hike up Mount Moosilauke. The planned trek up the 4,802-foot mountain in rural New Hampshire was meant to be an exhilarating taste of local color for a group of journalists visiting New England.

There were three options.

You could spend a few hours bird watching in the dense forests with a local bird expert. You could take a slightly challenging 3.7-mile trek up an easier trail on the mountain. Or opt for the thrill-seeker's delight and spend six hours hiking miles and miles up the steep and rocky mountain.

...connecting with nature and birdlife, sounds ideal to me...

Hattiesburg American - www.hattiesburgamerican.com - Hattiesburg, Miss.

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Curtis birdwatches

Curtis Peterson. Circulation Marketing Manager

After a lifetime of experiences with daily newspapers, I joined The Lutheran magazine in April 2005. My role is to develop ways for us to increase our circulation and help more people enjoy and enrich their lives with the content provided in The Lutheran magazine.

In my tenure, I have already learned to appreciate the courage and conviction our editorial staff demonstrates tackling tough worldwide issues, as well as local ones — providing readers a way to explore our Christian faith through the stories that educate, inspire, and provide an open forum for discussion.

While my wife and I raised three daughters, the oldest scored points big time with our first grandson. One of my new hobbies is teaching him new words! The rest of my free time is either committed to remodeling, some type of wood project, birdwatching, reading, or just doing nothing (which does require some skill).

...birdwatching is for everyone...

thelutheran.org | meet our staff

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Wildlife sanctuaries and birdwatching opened in India

Bhopal, Making an all-out effort to check poaching, Madhya Pradesh government plans to open its wildlife sanctuaries for ecotourism to attract visitors for trecking, camping, bird watching and adventure sports through its newly formed ecotourism board.

Though wildlife tourism will continue to be the strength of ecotourism, the board will ensure that visitors in future will experience trekking, camping, bird watching and adventure sports, State Forest Minister Himmat Kothari told reporters today.

Initially, ecotourism would be promoted around nine national parks and 25 wildlife sanctuaries, including five tiger reserves, he said adding new locations will soon be opened to offer diversity of choices to tourists and the board, formed last year, will collaborate with tourism department for the task.

...it's good to see education encouraged with wildlife and birds...

Zee News - MP to open wildlife sanctuaries for ecotourism

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Paul Newman's Grand Prix Ambitions halted by Sparrow

By LEON NEYFAKH - Special to the Sun

The Savannah Sparrow, a rather small bird, seems to have triumphed over the Grand Prix ambitions of the rather large screen actor Paul Newman.

At least for now, Mr. Newman's proposal to throw a yearly, 10-day auto-racing festival at historic Floyd Bennett Field, where the Savannah Sparrow likes to hunt, has come to a halt because of the sound that would come from the cars and impact the festival would have on activities at the park, such as hiking, bird-watching, and archery.

...well it's on hold for now...

Paul Newman's Grand Prix Ambitions Foiled by Sparrow - July 11, 2006 - The New York Sun

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Birds Going Extinct Faster Due to Human Activities

by laura kujawski. PNN online

Human activities have caused some 500 bird species worldwide to go extinct over the past five millennia, and 21st-century extinction rates likely will accelerate to approximately 10 additional species per year unless societies take action to reverse the trend, according to a new report.

Without the influence of humans, the expected extinction rate for birds would be roughly one species per century, according to Stuart Pimm, professor of conservation ecology at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, who is one of the report's principal authors.

"Extinction rates for birds are hugely important, because people really care about birds," he said. "People enjoy them, and bird watching is a big industry. So we know the rates of bird extinctions better than the rates for other groups of species."

Of the 9,775 known species of birds, "an estimated additional 25 would have gone extinct during the past 30 years if it were not for human intervention," Raven said.

Despite conservation efforts, "some 1,200 more species are likely to disappear during the 21st century," he warned. "An equal number are so rare that they will need special protection or likely will go extinct, too."

The forecast may be even bleaker for other types of animals, the researchers said.

...birds will become rarer, harder to spot and watch...

Birds Going Extinct Faster Due to Human Activities :: PNNOnline ::

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Maryville festival is a crowd pleaser and includes bird-watching

Norma Mendoza,Edwardsville.

The annual Maryville Firemen's Homecoming took place Friday and Saturday with a parade on Friday that was repeated on Saturday.

Children rode in to catch the candy thrown from the floats which illustrated American pastimes. Each float was decorated to represent activities such as sailing, fishing, racing cars, watching Blues hockey, playing basketball, dancing, Zodiac rafting, tennis, canoeing, and bird-watching.

...the weather was ideal for the festival and for bird-watching...

Edwardsville Intelligencer - Maryville festival is crowd pleaser

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