Earth Newz

07/12/2023

06/12/2023

06/12/2023

At one time, both bobcats and cougars were common within the southeastern states. In the tradition of the Choctaw Tribe, the last lunar months of the year were known as Hash Koinchush and Hash Koichush — the months of the wildcat (bobcat) and of the panther (cougar), respectively. The Choctaw's historic lands of southeastern North America spanned most of central and southern Mississippi into parts of eastern Louisiana and western Alabama before the tribe was forcibly relocated into what would become Oklahoma.

05/12/2023

Coast redwood along the James Irvine, Miners Ridge and Clintonia trails loop in Prairie Creek park. For scale is Richard, who used to work at Humboldt County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Cheers, M. D. Vaden www.mdvaden.com/redwoods.shtml

05/12/2023

04/12/2023

Well, well, well. Look who’s back in town. First elephant seal sighting of the season in Point Reyes,

02/12/2023

The Klamath is flowing again!!! Only a few more dams to be removed.

30/11/2023

Announcing this month’s Forest Specialist Series!
This month’s specialist is Jason Remshardt, Rio Grande National Forest Fisheries and Wildlife Program Manager. He’ll be joined by Jamin Grigg, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region Senior Wildlife Biologist. They’ll be presenting about the new residents of the forest, the grey wolf. Learn about wolf biology and identification and the program to reintroduce them.
The presentation will be held live on Zoom Wednesday, November 29th from 5pm to 6pm courtesy of our partner organization the San Juan Mountains Association.
Each month, a Forest Specialist will present on a different topic via Zoom, with a question-and-answer session to follow.
For more information and the meeting link, please check out the event below!
https://www.facebook.com/events/352318190592541/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22your_upcoming_events_unit%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22bookmark%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D
To join, please click the Zoom link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/s/89384679361

29/11/2023

This coast redwood may 3-way-tie for world's largest trunk base from ground up to 60 feet high above ground. Seems to be tied with Gen. Sherman and Grant Sequoiadendrons. All 3 have lower trunk wood volumes close to 25,000 cubic feet of solid wood in the first 60 feet. When sealed with bark and cambium it's remarkable this much wood can accumulate preserved in open weather over 2000 years. Cheers, M. D. Vaden www.mdvaden.com/redwoods.shtml

28/11/2023

The Million Dollar Highway above Ouray - Winter is here. (Photo by Reddit u/StealthyNoctowl)

🏔 Follow I Love Colorado to see more posts like this 🏔

28/11/2023

Recently, a unique sight was spotted here in Point Reyes National Seashore - a leucistic American Badger! You may think that it is an albino, but if you look closely, you’ll notice that its eyes are actually brown or black, not pink. Its nose also has some pigment to it.

Leucism is a genetic mutation where there is only a partial loss of pigmentation, while albinism is when there is a total absence of pigmentation. Albino creatures will look white (or sometimes pale yellowish) in color, with very pale pink or red eyes. Leucistic creatures can look white in patches or almost completely white, but their eyes will always have color to them. Just like this badger whose normally brown stripes are showing up more as a dark cream color!

Nature is just so amazing! Have you ever seen a leucistic animal before?

📸: Photo by David Kramer as he hastily pulled out his cell phone to get this photo while on a hike in the Seashore.

28/11/2023

One of the questions we most often get is: Where do the cranes that are in the Sacramento Valley come from? This map from the International Crane Foundation helps show some of the areas occupied by Sandhill Cranes in the Pacific Flyway throughout the year. Take special note of how small the wintering areas are compared to the breeding areas; this is one of the reasons why we focus so much on conserving crane habitat in the Sacramento Valley. Feel free to reach out to us with any other questions you may have!

27/11/2023

Though rarely seen, s**t and paw prints betray the presence of mountain lions in the El Morro area. At 7-8 feet long and 100-200 pounds, they are the second largest cat in the Americas, behind the jaguar. Despite their size, they are not considered a "big cat." In fact, a mountain lion has more genetically in common with a house cat than they do a jaguar.

But please, do not psp psp psp any mountain lions.

NPS Photo from Lake Mead National Recreation Area - National Park Service

27/11/2023

After 2000 years of isolation, a few decades of interbreeding have rendered the animal “genomically extinct”

27/11/2023

Did you know that Mount Shasta is actually a volcano?

It's true! This majestic mountain last erupted in 1786, and while it's not a threat today, it's a reminder of the amazing natural wonders all around us. 🌋

27/11/2023

They have arrived.

27/11/2023

Nectar-loving tree frog likely moves pollen from flower to flower

26/11/2023

Five Great White Sharks Swarm Surfers in San Diego (Drone Video)

https://cstu.io/205a77

26/11/2023

Upstream of Lees Ferry and the confluence of the Paria and Colorado River lies the canyon of the Paria River. Jurassic-age rocks exposed in the canyon walls (from youngest to oldest: Jn-Navajo Sandstone; Jk-Kayenta Formation; Jks-Springdale Sandstone Member; Moenave Formation & Wingate Sandstone; and Trcp-Petrified Forest Member of Chinle Formation) are largely mantled by Quaterary dune sands (Qd - Holocene), talus and rock-fall deposits (Qtr – Holocene and Pleistocene(?), and landslide deposits (Ql – Holocene and Pleistocene).
For the geologic map with contacts and additional information see Billingsley and Priest (2013) map of Glen Canyon Dam 30’ x 60’ map at https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_98793.htm

26/11/2023

Oligocene Narbona Pass Maar volcano, of the Navajo volcanic field, Navajo Nation, New Mexico.
If you are travelling along NM 134, roughly 12 miles east of the Arizona-New Mexico state line, you’ll drive through a volcanic maar at Narbona Pass. The crater diameter (N-S and W-E) is roughly 2 miles. Three prominent minette (igneous rock of largely biotite and orthoclase) plugs are located on the central-east side of the crater. Maars form as the result of magma interacting with groundwater, resulting in powerful eruptions.
Images: Top – Annotated Google Earth image of Narbona Pass maar; Bottom – Topography (left) and geology (right) of the maar volcano from Brand & others, 2009. The paper with photographs of outcrop exposures is available at https://www.academia.edu/11915494/Dynamics_of_a_Phreatomagmatic_Eruption_at_Narbona_Pass_Volcano_Navajo_Volcanic_Field_Navajo_Nation_New_Mexico?email_work_card=view-paper
NOTE: Narbona Pass volcano is on Navajo Nations lands and thus the tribes permission would be required to hike on the volcano.
CITATION: Brand, B.D., Clarke, A.B. and Semken, S., 2009, Eruptive conditions and depositional processes of Narbona Pass Maar volcano, Navajo volcanic field, Navajo Nation, New Mexico (USA). Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 71, p. 49-77.

26/11/2023

The fatal "zombie" disease causes deer, elk and moose to die following excessive drooling, listlessness and weight loss, according to officials. It is still unclear if it can spread to humans.

25/11/2023

These are the five best locations to see moose in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

Check out this blog post for more information about these areas: https://www.travel-experience-live.com/where-to-see-moose-in-grand-teton-national-park/

24/11/2023

23/11/2023

It’s been a long journey from the forests of Arizona, across the dusty high desert of central New Mexico to the edge of what is known as the Yellowstone of the Southwest for one lone Mexican gray wolf. Her paws have seen hundreds of miles now over the last five months. Having reached Valles Calder...

22/11/2023

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Take a sleigh ride through wild elk at the Hardware Wildlife Management Area, beginning Dec. 1
https://wildlife.utah.gov/news/utah-wildlife-news/1802-take-a-sleigh-ride-through-the-wild-elk-herd-at-hardware-wma.html

21/11/2023

A swarm of mafic enclaves seem to be migrating through this monzogranite. More evidence of dynamic magma emplacements and mingling magmas here in Southern California during the Cretaceous.

📍 Bernasconi Hills, CA (near Lake Perris). Part of the Peninsular Range.
•••••
#геология ́a #جيولوجيا ́ologie

20/11/2023

It's glowing mushroom season. I've been hoping to photograph these amazing mushrooms for a few years. I was tickled to death when my wife showed me this beautiful glowing mushroom growing in our field under a big fir tree. I still have a lot to learn on how to photograph these amazing mushrooms. I'm sure I will get better as I photograph more and more. 😉

20/11/2023

November 20, 2023: Where are they now??
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Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus) are continuing to report back and are moving deeper into their wintering range since our last update 2-weeks ago. We loved all the reports from followers last time; please provide us with any updates on your local Rough-legs. And have any of these movement tracks or current locations been through your local area? Let us know in the comments.
~~
Map depicts current locations (colored dots) and migratory tracks (colored lines) since 23-October for 26 Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus) in North America.