Tag Archives: eagle

Understanding Owls – Jemima Parry-Jones

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Understanding Owls

Biology, Management, Breeding, Training

Jemima Parry-Jones

Genre: Nature

Price: $7.99

Publish Date: October 1, 2012

Publisher: F+W

Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC


Sharing expertise gained from a lifetime’s experience of working with birds of prey, the author provides “an entirely different way of looking at owls.” ( Booklist )   Owls. With their glowing, unblinking eyes they seem to notice everything—and to have the wisdom to understand it all, too. From biology and taxonomy, to housing, feeding, incubation, and rearing to training and flying, a master breeder and trainer of owls shares her extensive knowledge of these nighttime creatures—both in the wild and in captivity. A general overview covers their anatomy, and a morphology details the various subfamilies of owl. Find out about the role their specially adapted—and extremely beautiful feathers—play in aiding their “silent flight”; the incredible variety of noises they make (and how these can help you identify a breed); the intricacies of their behavior patterns; and the way the babies are hatched, fed, and nurtured. Here’s what you need for those first attempts at breeding and to train and hunt with your birds of prey. Dozens of remarkable full-color photos provide a close-up look at barn owls, Eagle owls, tawny owls, and snowy owls.

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Understanding Owls – Jemima Parry-Jones

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Gifts of an Eagle – Kent Durden

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Gifts of an Eagle

The Remarkable Story of a Bird and Her Family

Kent Durden

Genre: Nature

Price: $7.99

Publish Date: September 11, 2012

Publisher: Open Road Media

Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC


New York Times Bestseller: The “extraordinary” true story of a golden eagle adopted by a California ranching family, and how she changed their lives (Delia Ephron). In 1955, Ed Durden brought a baby golden eagle home to his ranch in California, where she would stay for the next sixteen years. As her bond with Ed and the Durden family grew, the eagle, named Lady, displayed a fierce intelligence and strong personality. She learned quickly, had a strong mothering instinct (even for other species), and never stopped surprising those who cared for her. An eight-week New York Times bestseller, Gifts of an Eagle is a fascinating up-close look at one of the most majestic creatures in nature, as well as a heartwarming family story and “an affectionate, unsentimental tribute” ( Kirkus Reviews ). “Superb . . . an outstanding story of one of the grandest creatures of nature, written with rare knowledge and understanding of the subject. It combines keen observation with a remarkable intimate relationship, so seldom found in studies of wild creatures. It should become a ‘classic.’” —Joy Adamson, author of Born Free  “A glad adventure into the fierce free world behind those golden eyes. Mr. Durden has found a way to hand us the friendship of a proud creature, and that’s a gift rarely given . . .” —Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull Kent Durden (1937–2007) was a wildlife photographer, documentarian, and writer best known for his acclaimed book Gifts of an Eagle (1972), an account of his family’s sixteen years caring for a golden eagle named Lady. In a column for the Wall Street Journal ,Delia Ephron named the memoir among the five greatest books about animals. Durden also wrote the novel Flight to Freedom (1974) and the memoir A Fine and Peaceful Kingdom (1975). A native of Southern California, Durden toured with the Audubon Society for many years, giving lectures and screening his film about Lady, which included original footage of many of the events from the book. It is available at giftsofaneagle.com. His daughter, Krissy Durden, lives in Portland, Oregon, and contributed a new foreword to Open Road’s edition of Gifts of an Eagle .

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Gifts of an Eagle – Kent Durden

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Wind farms seek federal OK to kill eagles, pissing off both left and right

Wind farms seek federal OK to kill eagles, pissing off both left and right

Watch out!

It’s not easy to unite the right-wing Heartland Institute and bird-loving environmentalists.

But that’s what some wind energy developers appear to be doing by proposing to the federal government that they be allowed to kill bald eagles and other protected species with their turbines.

Across the country, 14 wind projects have applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for permits that would let them “take” — aka harm or kill — a certain number of eagles each year. That includes four wind farms in California, one in Minnesota, and one in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma project could be the first in the nation to actually receive such a permit. The company behind it, Wind Capital Group, wants permission to kill up to three bald eagles every year for 40 years on its proposed 94-turbine wind farm. A Native American tribe in the area is protesting, as are some conservation groups. The Daily Ardmoreite reports:

Osage Nation Principal Chief John D. Red Eagle expressed his deep concern and opposition to killing eagles in Osage territory from a cultural standpoint.

“The eagle is a sacred and symbolic figure to the Osage people, and the area targeted for this project contains a high bald eagle population,” Red Eagle said. “While the Osage Nation does not oppose wind energy or alternative energy, we do oppose the specific area for this project. It all comes down to siting projects in appropriate places, and this is not an appropriate place for a massive wind energy project.”

Reuters reports that the Obama administration has been working to loosen wildlife rules to facilitate wind development:

The fight in Oklahoma points to the deepening divide between some conservationists and the Obama administration over its push to clear the way for renewable energy development despite hazards to eagles and other protected species. …

It is illegal to kill bald and golden eagles, either deliberately or inadvertently, under protections afforded them by two federal laws, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

In the past, federal permits allowing a limited number of eagle deaths were restricted to narrow activities such as scientific research.

But the Obama administration in 2009 broadened such permitting authority to include otherwise lawful activities like wind power developments.

Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking to lengthen the duration of those permits from five to 30 years to satisfy an emerging industry dependent on investors seeking stable returns.

As we’ve reported previously, the Obama administration has never prosecuted a wind farm for killing a protected bird, and it recently assured a California wind farm and a luxury real-estate development that they wouldn’t be prosecuted for accidentally killing endangered California condors.

The prospect of eagle “take” permits has angered some folks on the left and on the right — and in between. This despite conditions that would be attached to such permits compelling wind companies to contribute to eagle conservation efforts.

Of course, conservationists and right wingers don’t actually see eye to eye on this issue. The conservationists don’t want bald eagles, golden eagles, or other protected birds to be killed in the name of energy. “If they kill two birds, I think it’s a crime,” Steve Groth of the Minnesota-based Coalition for Sensible Siting told Minnesota Public Radio.

On the other hand, the Heartland Institute, whose funders include ExxonMobil, is opportunistically seizing an excuse to slam a fast-growing alternative to planet-baking fossil fuels.

The wind industry, for its part, says worries about eagle deaths are exaggerated. Again from Reuters:

Fewer than 2 percent of all human-caused deaths of golden eagles occur at modern wind farms and only a few bald eagle deaths have been documented in the history of the industry — far less mortality than is attributed to such causes as poisoning or vehicle collisions, said the American Wind Energy Association spokesman Peter Kelley.

The American Bird Conservancy thinks that birds and wind energy can exist in harmony — it’s just going to take hard work, careful research, and federal regulations. From the nonprofit’s website:

American Bird Conservancy supports wind power when it is bird-smart, and believes that birds and wind power can co-exist if the wind industry is held to mandatory standards that protect birds.

Bird-smart wind power employs careful siting, operation and construction mitigation, bird monitoring, and compensation, to reduce and redress any unavoidable bird mortality and habitat loss. These are issues that the federal government should include in mandatory wind standards.

The bald eagle is a symbol of freedom and an iconic beneficiary of America’s environmental movement, which saved it from extinction by banning DDT and passing laws to protect endangered species. No climate activists would want it to become the new face of opposition to the renewable energy revolution.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Wind farms seek federal OK to kill eagles, pissing off both left and right

Posted in alternative energy, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, solar, Uncategorized, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Wind farms seek federal OK to kill eagles, pissing off both left and right