The Disappearance of Phoebe
As suddenly as she appears, she vanishes, and with her something inside me is lost. A void in place of the fullness she brought that first day and the days, weeks, and months that followed. Her absence is not soon forgotten in the dizzying array of pretenders who come and go in their dispassionate anonymity.
YOUNG BIRDERS: Protection of Migratory Birds Requires International Cooperation
At the northern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula in the southeast of Mexico, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird alights on a small branch. Weighing just three grams, this bird is preparing to begin its first spring migration. As dusk settles over the Yucatan shoreline, the hummingbird takes flight and heads out over the Gulf of Mexico. After flying 900 miles during the entire night without food, water, or rest, the hummingbird is exhausted, having lost almost half its body weight. Then, it sees the color that will save its life—the green trees of the east Texas shoreline. With the goal in sight, the hummingbird summons all its remaining energy to reach the shoreline, descends into a patch of flowers, and soon regains the lost energy and body weight by eating small insects and flower nectar. This incredible journey between Mexico and United States, however, is short compared to the migration of other bird species.
About Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education—LA Audubon
OUTDOOR EDUCATION: Your Tax Dollars at Work ....
INTERPRETING NATURE: Snowy Plover Retrospective
SNPL, you ask? The Western Snowy Plover has been federally listed as threatened since the 1990s, and various agencies have been monitoring it along the Pacific Coast for decades. LA Audubon has been conducting surveys since 2007. It’s estimated that just 2500 snowy plovers currently breed along the Pacific Coast.