Issues

Thumbnail image for The “Cripples” … or Why I Hate Wing Shooting

The “Cripples” … or Why I Hate Wing Shooting

January 28, 2012 Birds

Yesterday evening, we were photographing Snow Geese and didn’t realize that we (along with at least 10 other photographers) had chosen a field where hunters were lying in camo. I promised myself I would wait until hunting season was over before I ventured into the wilds beyond Seattle — just as I did last year. [...]

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Thumbnail image for Having a Heart for Horses

Having a Heart for Horses

January 16, 2012 Laws & Policy

In commemoration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday: “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way. ” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. I’ve [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Turkeys I’ve [Almost] Known

The Turkeys I’ve [Almost] Known

November 18, 2011 Animal Behavior

This post is a tribute to the wild turkeys who walk among us. Every year, Hugh and I Adopt a Turkey from Farm Sanctuary. And every year, I try to somehow commemorate the awesomeness of the wild turkeys I’ve been privileged to be among and photograph. The timing of this new episode from Nature on [...]

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Thumbnail image for Part 3: Flaunting Our Economic Potential As Birders & Wildlife Watchers

Part 3: Flaunting Our Economic Potential As Birders & Wildlife Watchers

November 14, 2011 Fishing & Hunting

This is Part 3 (of 3) in a series on non-hunting revenue streams for our National Wildlife Refuge system. In Part 1 I talk about the issues surrounding the current funding system. In Part 2, I interview Marlin Greene who’s been producing an alternative refuge stamp since 2006, to draw attention to this subject. Edited [...]

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Thumbnail image for Add a Voice to the Refuge Stamp Discussion

Add a Voice to the Refuge Stamp Discussion

November 12, 2011 Birds

There’s a great comment thread happening over at 10,000 Birds where Mike was kind enough to cross-link to my recent posts here on Non-Hunters and Wildlife Refuges. The 10,000 Birds site is an awesome place — a repository for all things bird and birding. It’s one of my regular stops for bird news and commentary, [...]

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Thumbnail image for Part 2: The Non Hunters’ Stamp

Part 2: The Non Hunters’ Stamp

November 6, 2011 Fishing & Hunting

In the first part of this three-part series, I posted about the funding issues that shape land-use decisions on National Wildlife Refuges.You can read that post here: Part 1: Non-Hunters and National Wildlife Refuges.In Part 3 I discuss how birders, photographers and wildlife watchers can capitalize on their economic power. Here, I interview photographer Marlin [...]

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Thumbnail image for Part 1: Non-Hunters and National Wildlife Refuges

Part 1: Non-Hunters and National Wildlife Refuges

November 4, 2011 Fishing & Hunting

This is a three part series about National Wildlife Refuge funding and how the current system affects land-use privileges for non-hunters and non-consumptive users. In Part 2 I interview photographer Marlin Greene who has created a No Hunting Stamp to promote awareness about hunting on National Wildlife Refuges. And in Part 3 I discuss how [...]

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Thumbnail image for Local Salmon & the Salmon ISA Virus

Local Salmon & the Salmon ISA Virus

October 29, 2011 Agriculture

I came upon Alexandra Morton through a link on a Facebook page — the Orca Network’s page. Morton is a biologist who, according to her brief bio statement, is “a registered professional biologist who was living in a remote archipelago studying whales when the fish farmers came to my town.” Today, she posted a revealing [...]

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Thumbnail image for Derelict Nets & Entangled Birds

Derelict Nets & Entangled Birds

October 19, 2011 Bay Flotsam

Note: All gulls pictured in this post, and other trapped birds were freed from the netting. Follow Up on 10/21/11: I phoned today and learned that an official went out to this net, confirmed what we saw in terms of bird entanglement, and holes in the net have apparently been fixed as a temporary measure, [...]

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Thumbnail image for Fly Away Home (and Safe) …. 2011

Fly Away Home (and Safe) …. 2011

October 15, 2011 Fishing & Hunting

I’m re-posting my comments from October 2010, on this the opening day of waterfowl hunting season in Washington State, and a week before California’s opener. I’ve said it before so rather than saying it again, I’ve opted to reprint my thoughts from last year, with a few tweaks. See also a discussion of non-hunters and [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Orca-Scat Tracking Dog

The Orca-Scat Tracking Dog

October 6, 2011 Endangered Species

Tucker isn’t really interested in the water. But, he spends his working days on a boat, sniffing out orca scat in the breezes of the Salish Sea. He’s a labrador mix, trained as part of the Conservation Canine program — at the University of Washington’s Center For Conservation Biology. Tucker’s ambivalence about water actually makes [...]

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Thumbnail image for If Orcas Could Buy Sofas …

If Orcas Could Buy Sofas …

October 2, 2011 Marine Mammals

Orcas can’t, of course, pick out sofas. But if they could, they would tell you that their survival may depend on the product and furniture choices we make — and the industries we support in the process. The orcas of the Salish Sea, who regularly cross the international boundary between Washington State and British Columbia, [...]

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A Train of Thought on Orcas and Captivity

August 29, 2011 Captivity

In preparation for a short trip where we may or may not encounter Orcas (again), I’m immersed in literature about the Southern and Northern resident pods and about significant issues affecting whales and other wild marine mammals — like sonar, salmon stocks and Puget Sound pollution. We’ll be out just one of those days in [...]

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The One I Couldn’t Help

May 16, 2011 Bay Flotsam

It was one of those anomalous sunny days in the midst of Seattle downpours. A Flickr friend of mine told me about a tugboat race on Elliott Bay, so I thought I’d walk the Terminal 91 bike path to the water. The “path” is an industrial slog — a cement slough leading to Puget Sound, [...]

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Thumbnail image for Watch for Towhees, Flying Low

Watch for Towhees, Flying Low

January 17, 2011 Birds

Spotted Towhees were the elusive ground foragers I never saw enough of in the Bay Area. I’d catch a glimpse as they scuttled under the scrub. Or, occasionally, snapped a photo of one heralding the morning light in the thickets of Tilden Park. My best Spotted Towhee sighting was the trusting bird who let me [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Crow Who Changed My Life

The Crow Who Changed My Life

December 13, 2010 Bay Area Faves

My thanks to Lyanda Lynn Haupt for the book that reminded me to honor my original inspiration: the crow. It’s because of a crow that I became who I am. My mother arrived home one day with a juvenile crow in a box. I was just a kid, fourteen or so. Mom was dropping my [...]

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Thumbnail image for One More Reason [for Me] to Love Starlings . . .

One More Reason [for Me] to Love Starlings . . .

August 15, 2010 Non-Native Species

. . . because they have artistic sensibilities: Related posts: The Lady Fairer How Starlings Colonized the United States

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Wolves Back on Endangered Species List

August 6, 2010 Endangered Species

I’ll let the Defenders of Wildlife release speak for me. I’m just elated the wolf hunts have come to an end. A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted illegally when it removed wolves from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana but left them on the list in Wyoming. [...]

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Thumbnail image for Seeking Justice for a Sea Otter: It’s a Small World

Seeking Justice for a Sea Otter: It’s a Small World

July 22, 2010 Bay Area Faves

I received a notice tonight from Defenders of Wildlife, asking for help in finding the killer of a young sea otter. The female otter was found along Morro Strand in June of this year — slain illegally, with the post-mortem revealing a shot to her head. In seeking additional information on this case, I landed [...]

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Thumbnail image for Lancelot-Guinevere: The Case of the Castle Pigeon

Lancelot-Guinevere: The Case of the Castle Pigeon

July 20, 2010 Bay Area Faves

Lancelot (no, Guinevere) — lost himself (no, herself) — along the coast of Scotland, where Picts and Druids and Earls and Scots laid claim to the medieval stones of her landing. Just north of these stones lie the crags and cliffs that offer sanctuary for pelagic birds, the calls of whom may have drawn her [...]

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