RenoVous

  Following an attack in the Big Bear Valley, Jackie has unfortunately succumbed to her injuries. She died yesterday after three weeks of intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center. The medical team referred to her "packed cell volume, or PCV" having dropped to 6%, which is the percentage of blood volume made up of red blood cells.   Anemia happens often with traumatic injury, due to acute blood loss and subsequent surgeries.  There is a strong inflammatory response that suppresses the body's ability to produce new red blood cells. Jackie was hatched in Big Bear Valley back in 2012, born to Ricky and Lucy. She and Shadow started mating in 2018, and have had 6 fledglings over their years together, including this year's pair. Shadow will continue to defend the nest territory, and he may be waiting for Jackie to return...but instinct will eventually have him move on.

 Today celebrates one of the tallest and rarest birds in North America. They are currently endangered, but conservation efforts have improved the populations. Back in the 1800's, habitat loss and hunting drastically reduced their numbers.  By 1860, there were only 1,400 - but the all time low was just 15 birds in 1941. They were all from one flock, which migrated between Canada and Texas, so local, federal, and international governments were involved in protecting them. Scientists realized they couldn't rely on just one flock, so they tried introducing the cranes in Idaho, but that didn't work.  A flock set up in Florida did succeed, but would not migrate. The International Whooping Crane Recovery Team determined they had to teach the chicks, so they used an ultralight aircraft and led them from Florida to Wisconsin. In 2002, the first wild Whooping Crane since 1939 was hatched.

  Those eggs we last checked in on are now little eaglets! They hatched in the beginning of April, so they're expected to fledge sometime around mid-June. The names were chosen by the 3rd grade students at Big Bear Elementary. There's a nesting pair with their own eaglets nearby here in Washoe Valley.  No live cam, but some people have shared photos.  Responsibly. Apparently there is also an owl nest out there. FLOOFS!

You may have heard that Jackie and Shadow lost their first clutch of eggs. But it was early enough in the season that there was a chance for a second. On the 24th, Jackie laid an egg. The Friends of Big Bear Valley are looking to purchase an area of land that is being proposed for luxury residential housing.  It is less than a mile from the nest, and would have a "significant detrimental impact" to the eagles as well as endangered plant life. Save Moon Camp

 Jackie and Shadow have returned to Big Bear Valley, and as of Monday, we have two eggs. I follow a Nevada Photographers page, and someone shared an undisclosed location here in Washoe County.

The planet's largest land migration, an estimated six million antelope, in South Sudan.  Photographer: Marcus Westberg. Beavers could be the secret to winning against wildfires.  Photographer: Ronan Donovan  Meerkat running in the Kalihari Desert.  Photographer: Thomas Peschak Polar bear rolling in the snow in the Arctic Circle.  Photographer: Roie Galitz The Japanese Giant Mantis devouring a lizard.  Photographer: Takuya Ishiguro A ray-finned fish uses a tube anemone larva, a stinging critter, for protection.  Photographer: Linda Ianniello

  It is both Global Cat Day and National Feral Cat Day. This is Burroughs, he's not mine, but he's family.  I haven't had a cat since I was a kid. But in our current neighborhood, we have some free range cats. One in particular seems to like our tree and isn't too scaredy cat when we come outside, or when the dogs give slight chase.  Maybe it's helping with field mice.  I think he has a home, he just likes to wander. If you know of actual feral cats though, it's best to report to your local humane society.  There are programs in place to help control and support these populations. Community Cats

  Jane Goodall passed away yesterday at the age of 91. In October 1960 she was in Tanzania's Gombe National Park observing chimpanzees. In fact, she witnessed them using tools and making tools - behaviors previously thought to be exclusive to humans. Goodall revolutionized the study of chimpanzees and forced science to reshape its views, thus forcing us to change the way we see animals. She remained in Gombe, more or less, until 1975.  Her assignment had come from paleoanthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey.  He wanted to better understand how humans' Stone Age ancestors may have behaved.  Goodall was not formally trained, had no college degree, but Leakey believed this would lead to more open-minded research, as she wasn't biased by traditional scientific wisdom. A global advocate for the environment, conservation, and peace - she spent the majority of her life dedicated to helping all wild animals. Thank you, Jane.

  Some of the largest brown bears on Earth make their home in Katmai National Park, and they're looking to get even bigger for their winter hibernation. Voting!

On this day in 2000, the peregrine falcon was removed from the endangered species list. On the Great Spirit Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in Minnesota, four were hatched in May. Falcons will stay in the nest for 5-8 weeks before fledgling.  They remain dependent on their parents for another 4-6 weeks for food and to learn hunting skills. So this cam isn't actually live anymore, but it seems to be playing through different stages. The banning of DDT helped play a role in the recovery of peregrine populations.  The pesticide accumulated in their bodies through the food chain, which led to thin-shelled eggs that would break during incubation. Peregrine Fund

 My Mutts! Mighty is Boston Terrier, Border Collie, and Chocolate Lab.  He loves to herd cattle and fetch. Bowie is a Golden Retriever and Alaskan Klee Kai.  He loves to watch the water and play with everything. It's a day to love your mutt, or maybe consider adopting one from your local shelter!

  Meet the Denali Sled Dog Pups! They were born on May 3 of this year through the National Park Service.  They provide the most effective means of patrol for the vast areas of wilderness during the winter season. Mushing is a cultural tradition across Alaska, and the Denali kennels date back to 1922. There is a  Puppy Cam  live through the site, and feeding time is at 11:45 AKST.

 The two eaglets have been named! Sunny is the eldest, by four days.  He has been engaging in wing-flapping and standing exercises. Some play was witnessed with a baby pine cone. And here they are!

  If you remember from earlier this month, Jackie and Shadow had three eggs, and all three hatched. However, after a serious storm this weekend, one of the eaglets did not survive. The log reports that they both treated the chick with care in their process of releasing and letting go.  First being moved from the nest bowl to the side before mom flew it off. Nature is beautiful, and painful.

Jackie and Shadow have returned to Big Bear Valley and have three eggs in their nest. As of last night, one is hatching and a second is showing some cracks.  The third is still early. This is their first eaglet since 2022.

 One of the most common animals that people see on a regular basis, it's the Western gray squirrel here in the Sierra, and we saw a few on Saturday while walking in the park. We also saw lots of acorns - a critical food for squirrels as they are high in oil and moderately high in carbs.  They make numerous caches of food, using their sense of smell and memory to locate when needed.  This scatter-hoarding contributes to seed dispersion. Did you know? Squirrels can turn their ankles 180 degrees while climbing, and can leap 10 times the length of their own body. An Arctic squirrel can lower its temperature to below freezing to help survive the longest hibernation, over 8 months. Assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Colorado State University has been studying these squirrels for the past 15 years in Alaska, and says their hibernation patterns are changing with the changing temperatures though. "Our data shows that the active layer, the soil layer above the perm...

  Beginning in 1900 as an alternative to hunting, Frank Chapman of the Audubon Society started the Christmas Bird Count.  27 people across 25 locations tallied 18,500 birds from 90 species. Today, it's the longest running  community science  project in the world. Results for the Stellar's Jay (2009-2021) Black-tailed Gnatcatchers are popular around here apparently. What's a bird you see around your home?

 Peach and Blossom were just pardoned by President Biden ahead of this year's Thanksgiving holiday. This is a fairly new tradition though, with Kennedy being the first to dismiss the gift from the Turkey Federation in 1963.  They had been delivering turkeys to the president since 1947, when Truman happily ate his. Nixon and Carter then sent their turkeys to petting zoos, and Reagan was the first to say "pardon." So with H.W. Bush, it became an officially sanctioned White House event. Peach and Blossom are from Minnesota, and will live out their days at Farmamerica, an agricultural interpretive center in Waseca. The site includes two historic farmsteads, a native prairie, as well as an old one-room schoolhouse and other structures.  Visitors are taught how agriculture has evolved and how it plays a role in our lives today.

The Katmai bears have gone into hibernation after fattening up on salmon, which we missed this year, my apologies. But I found a tundra cam with a polar bear chillin'.

 The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial in the world, but they only live in Australia. There are also eastern and western grey kangaroos, the antilopine (northern), and a couple tree kangaroos that are also found in New Guinea. Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo. The tree kangaroos are most threatened by hunting and deforestation, while the other populations are considered stable. There are about 50 smaller macropods closely related to kangaroos, such as wallabies. The word kangaroo comes from the Guugu Yimidhirr language, gangurru.  This may have more specifically referred to the Eastern Grey, but James Cook applied it et al. Many aboriginal people consider the kangaroo to be a totem, and of course different groups had different names for it.  The Eora called them patagorang  and the Arrernte referred to kere aherre. One suggestion for celebrating kangaroos today is to watch an old Australian TV show.