Or, the alternative title to this post could be “An out-of-work porcupine.”

Gov. David Paterson’s proposed cut to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund could affect a host of issues, from open space funding to money for zoos and nature centers.

To deal with the state’s financial crisis, Paterson has proposed slashing the fund from $255 million this year to $205 million next year. That’s ignoring the state Legislature’s plan to increase the fund next year to $300 million.

All of the above is the lead in to this video plea from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the parent organization of the Bronx Zoo. If you look closely, it would appear that the porcupine of some sort had a snack waiting to keep him in the chair.

Sounds like a Sesame Street segment but it’s actually two quick videos I made. The first one shows a section of the Hudson River on Saturday. You might think it’s a still photo of the ice-clogged river. There is hardly any sound. But if you look close at almost the middle of the frame, you can see the ice and water moving.

hudson.mov

Here’s a story about the U.S. Coast Guard’s effort to keep the river open.

The other video is from early December – hence the lack of snow on the ground. Crows regularly gather in the late fall and winter in the field across the road. I came home one Saturday afternoon to find them extra noisy. Turns out they were a bit unhappy with a red-tailed hawk that just caught a crow. If you look close, the hawk is sitting on the crow at the bottom of the screen. The soon-to-be-dead crow flaps a few times. For more about crow behavior, go here.

crows.mov

Want to know what effects West Nile has had on birds in North America? Wondering how bird populations have fared in general throughout the state? Or, are you just ready for spring and want to think about birds?

The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies up in Dutchess County is hosting two lectures during the next couple of weeks. One will focus on West Nile; the other will take a look at breeding birds throughout the state.

Both are free and directions and other information can be found through the above links.

Keep Rockland Beautiful runs a series of activities it calls Earth B.E.A.T., which stands for Basic Environmental Awareness Training.

The program visits local schools and helps kids learn about the environment through a variety of hands-on activities. In some cases, the program supplements what students are learning in their classrooms. In other cases, it’s the only real exposure kids get to learning about the environment in an intimate way.

KRB is now scheduling its spring round of Earth B.E.A.T. at local elementary and middle schools, Sonia Cairo, the program’s coordinator, said today. The low-cost program, which gets financial assistance from HSBC Bank, teaches kids about recycling, water and air quality, energy and other issues.

If you’re school wants to invite the program in, call Cairo at 845-893-5421. The schedule is already filling up, she said, and be advised, many of the slots closest to Earth Day, April 22, have already been slotted.

The New Jersey Audubon Society has scheduled a Jan. 17 program focusing on owls at the nearby (to Rockland) Weis Ecology Center in Ringwood, N.J.

Weis naturalists will be provide an overview of local owls, and participants can meet a live screech owl, enjoy some hot chocolate, then head outside to listen for and to learn the calls of wild owls.

The program is geared toward families, and those attending should dress for the weather.

The event runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. The cost is $9 for non Audubon members, with a maximum charge of $27 per family.

Weis Ecology Center is located at 150 Snake Den Road. Visit www.njaudubon.org or call 973-835-2160 to register or for more information.

Or stew. How about squirrel parmigiana? Anything’s possible in Britian, where North American gray (or grey) squirrels are considered tasty. Here’s a recipe for Colonial Squirrel Kebab.

The furry critters pose such a threat to Britain’s native red squirrel that there’s an effort afoot to cull their numbers by promoting them as an entree.

From a New York Times story this week:

“When the grays show up, it puts the reds out of business,” said Rufus Carter, managing director of the Patchwork Traditional Food Company, a company based in Wales that plans to offer squirrel and hazelnut pâté on its British Web site, patchwork-pate.co.uk.

Enter the “Save Our Squirrels” campaign begun in 2006 to rescue Britain’s red squirrels by piquing the nation’s appetite for their marauding North American cousins. With a rallying motto of “Save a red, eat a gray!” the campaign created a market for culled squirrel meat.

British bon vivants suddenly couldn’t get enough squirrel. Television chefs were preparing it, cookbooks were extolling it, farmers’ markets were selling out of it and restaurants in many places were offering it on the menu.

The squirrel seen above was spotted in Bronxville in 2007 by TJN photgrapher Carucha L. Meuse.

A bunch of environmental preservation and advocacy groups have weighed in on Gov. David Paterson’s State of the State speech. I’ll paste them in after the break. There’s five of them, so enjoy – Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Scenic Hudson, Environmental Advocates, New York League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Read more of this entry »

Ever wonder why we get an ice storm and not a snowstorm? And why is snowstorm one word and ice storm two?

Well, for the first question concerning what form winter precipitation will take, The Weather Channel has the answer.

As for the one word versus two issue, you’re on your own.

To your right are remnants of last summer’s Black-eyed Susans encased in a bit of ice.

I happened to shine a flashlight on one of the bird feeders last night and was very surprised to see a flying squirrel hanging onto it. In the dark and the falling snow, the critter was clamped upside down to the feeder, stuffing his mouth with sunflower seeds.

It’s apparently a somewhat common occurrence to find the gliding rodents helping themselves to birdseed. Check out this video I found on YouTube.

Here’s a whole Web site dedicated to the nocturnal creatures and my colleague Greg Clary’s column about them.

Speaking of squirrels, my days of keeping gray squirrels off the feeders seem to be over. I had been so proud of the record-PVC-pipe arrangement and it’s year-plus of success. But we now have a squirrel that seems to have super powers. He or she is able to leap upwards at a 45-degree angle from a tree onto one of the feeders.

New York and 10 other states have agreed to cooperate to develop a low-carbon fuel standard in an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions from motor and home-heating fuels.

“The 11 states . . . will work together to create an emissions-performance standard that will eventually provide incentives for energy providers to use low-carbon fuel – which will result in the use of fewer greenhouse gases and aid in the fight against global warming.”

The other states involved are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.