A black bear was struck by several cars on Route 22 in Southeast Tuesday night and died. You can read about it here.

Here’s information about bears in New York.

Cars, apparently, aren’t the only vehicular threat to bears. Here’s a story about a Wisconsin black bear that was run over by a combine.

“Mass extinction is the mother of all issues,” according to Michael Tobias, a global ecologist, filmmaker and producer of “Hotspots.”

Hotspots is a two-hour documentary that takes an up-close look at efforts to stop the Earth’s 6th mass extinction. To find out about the other five, go here.

“Explorer and conservationist Dr. Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International, serves as the documentary’s optimistic field guide on a 3-year tour of conservation solutions emerging in hotspots around the world, places that if lost will result in the extinction of half of the plants and vertebrates alive today.”

Here’s the trailer.

According to the movie’s Web site, it airs locally on Dec. 15, although checking out WNET’s Web site, I only see it on WLIW on Monday morning. But it definitely looks like it’s worth seeing.

Scenic Hudson, which works to preserve and protect the Hudson River and its landscapes, will benefit from the sales of “The Hudson River A Great American Treasure.”

The book – photographs by Hudson Valley resident Greg Miller – features more than 150 images of the Hudson River and its shoreline. Read more from Scenic Hudson after the break.

Looks like a coffee-table book.

Read more of this entry »

The weight of all of the zebra mussels in the Hudson River is greater than the combined weight of all other animals in the river, according to David Strayer, an aquatic ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook in Dutchess County. Considering zebra mussels are an invasive species, that’s a scary statement.

Strayer pointed out that fact while writing about the threat posed by ships and their ballast tanks, which are essentially transports for alien invaders.

“Modern ships use large ballast-water tanks to control their stability and safety. Typically, ships take on ballast water in one port, and release the water and its inhabitants at the ship’s destination, hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Unfortunately, large volumes of untreated water in ballast tanks are huge floating aquariums that are very efficient at moving aquatic species around the world. Many of the world’s most troublesome invaders have hitched a free ride in ballast water and are now causing economic and ecological problems far from their native homes.”

To counter the threat posed by ballast water, Strayer points out, the state wants to require ships to exchange or treat their ballast water before entering NY waters. It also wants to set limits for allowable levels of creatures in ballast water entering the state.

Here’s a state Department of Environmental Conservation press release with further information.

Zebra mussels in the Hudson, according to Strayer, “have reduced plankton populations by 80 percent, killed hundreds of millions of native mussels and contributed to the catastrophic decline of the American shad in the river.”

They also can damage infrastructure, such as water-intake pipes. The photo from the Poughkeepsie Journal shows zebra mussels clinging to power-plant equipment on the Hudson.

Michelle Turoczi spotted this moose, presumably a female, along Route 9 in Garrison on Sunday. She lives in Wappingers Falls.

“Today (Sunday December 7, 2008) at 10:30am while traveling southbound on RT 9 in Garrison, NY, much to our surprise we spotted a Moose. It appeared to be a female as it did not have antlers. (*please see attached photo) After a few minutes of running northbound along side a chain link fence it then crossed the road and headed into the woods. I did read online of a sighting of a female moose near the Taconic in the RT 301 area in early November, perhaps this is the same one.”

Read about the Taconic State Parkway moose here.

Moose in general seem to be doing very well in New York, according to this story I found.

“In 1980, you could count on one hand the total moose population in New York. Today there are between 300 and 400 moose in the Adirondacks alone, estimates Ed Reed, a wildlife biologist for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Until recently, says Reed, “moose hadn’t been a high priority. But we’re going to need to start paying attention to them. The population is going to grow exponentially in the next few years.”“

I had seven of the gray, furry creatures on the ground below my bird feeders this morning, fuzzy tails curled over their backs as they dined on fallen sunflower seeds.

So far, I haven’t had any squirrel problems. Last year and this year (to date), the critters seem unable to overcome the records and PVC pipes that bookend my feeders. (See last year’s photo.)

But if I did (have squirrel problems, that is), I would definitely want to borrow Sandy Morrissey’s squirrel deterrent. Head over to the In the Garden blog to see who took care of at least one of the squirrels at her feeders.

Here’s a roundup of various approaches to squirrel control.

Want to know who’s up and who’s down when it comes to the birds in New York? Then check out the The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State.

It’s good news for Canada geese, turkeys, and Carolina wrens, among others. But other species, such as red-headed woodpeckers and Canada warblers, not so good. Read the Associated Press story.

“Breeding bird atlases provide a valuable tool for research and conservation, with information on the distribution of birds and how it’s changing over time.

The information can be used to identify critical habitat for rare species, set priorities for habitat protection, document the effectiveness of conservation efforts, and guide land-use decisions.”

Here are some facts from the atlas.

Like the Hudson River, the Connecticut River is a big draw for bald eagles in the winter and those that want to see them. For almost a decade, the Connecticut Audubon Society has held a festival each February along the river to showcase the wintering birds. Lectures, birds-of-prey demonstrations and boat tours rounded out the very-well-attended event.

But not this year. The economic downturn is to blame, the society’s president recently explained.

“This year, the national economic downturn has prohibited the depth and breadth of support that we usually enjoy from our corporate sponsors,” President Robert Martinez said. “This corporate support is what allows Connecticut Audubon Society to offer festival visitors the opportunity to see Bald Eagles in the wild, enjoy live birds of prey demonstrations and attend environmental lectures from noted experts—all free-of-charge to the public. We are grateful for the enthusiasm that all of our constituents feel for this, the largest birding festival in North America, and we look forward to continuing and revitalizing this popular event the moment the economy allows.”

The photo shows my daughter looking out over the Connecticut River.

Closer to home, the Hudson River EagleFest is still a go, Teatown Executive Director Fred Koontz told me this week.

One last bit of eagle news: Check out this story about a Missouri farmer who was just pardoned by President George W. Bush. The farmer pleaded guilty in late 1995 to federal charges in the deaths of three bald eagles.

Turns out there is a reader in Germany who is interested in beavers in the Lower Hudson Valley. So says the e-mail I received from Alex Hiller who lives near Frankfurt. He had watched the video and read my story about beavers in Patterson that ran on Friday.

“Thank you for your hint where to find beaver activity alongside county roads in Putnam County:

As a true beaver enthusiast from Frankfurt area in Germany I traveled three consecutive years
starting 2005 to the Lower Hudson Valley just for the reason to observe beavers in their natural
setting. I was so pleased to find beaver made ponds with easy access and was marveling on
watching beavers in broad daylight.

Regarding your video shown on Lohud TV I would like to remark that the culvert protections seem to be poorly done. If the so called beaver deceivers were designed and installed professionally no risk of road flooding should occur anymore.”

Hiller went on to explain he also went to Colorado to check out beaver management there in 2006.

He shows up in a 2007 Denver Post story that I found about a woman who is licensed to trap and relocate problem beavers.

Beavers, apparently, aren’t as numerous in Europe as they are here.

And, they’ve just been reintroduced in Great Britain.

Hiller supplied the photo and said that it shows a beaver-proofed culvert in Rocky Mountain National Park.