Agencies Plan to Reduce Canada Geese Population in New York State by Two-Thirds

By ISOLDE RAFTERY

Photo courtesy NYCPhotoNews.com

According to the NYC Department of Health, as of 4/29/2010, more than 100 raccoons have tested positive for rabies in Central Park and the surrounding area. It would seem we have a full-blown epidemic on our hands. Why is there not more reporting on this?

Saturday, April 24, 2010

This from Ardith Bondi via ebirdsnyc:

"Ca. 9:30, one rabid raccoon was walking around the Harlem Meer trying to  drink, and the other was walking around the west side of the Reservoir ca. 11, and I saw it attack a woman. I pointed out the first one to a passing police officer, ...
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After more than six years with the same design and layout I finally redesigned my personal Web site. Using Joomla as the core technology (only thing I use now for Web sites) I designed a cleaner, simplier navagation scheme using brighter, warmer colors.

The next job to tackle is the photo gallery itself but it will probably be three or four months until I get to that. Take a look and see what you think: http://www.calvorn.com

A photo essay about my book "Birds of Central Park" is featured in the August 2007 issue of the National Wildlife Federation's magazine "National Wildlife."

The article by NWF editor Laura Tangley is entitled "Images from an Urban Oasis" and begins, "More than 200 bird species are regularly spotted in New York’s Central Park, and one remarkably patient photographer has spent thousands of hours capturing their behavior..."

My friend Rita McMahon and her partner Karen Heidgerd have a new Web site with information about the Wild Bird Fund that they sponsor. Below is from their site:

Rita McMahon and Karen Heidgerd are the key rehabilitators for New York City's wild birds. Rita is a television consultant who lends her time to save local birds. Karen is the Practice Manager at Animal General. Both of these caregivers are licensed to rehabilitate wilds birds by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. They have received a Federal Migratory Bird Permit License issued by the Department of the I...
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When Ben Stiller goes into a book store to learn more about history in the movie, "Night at the Museum," he is seated right next to my book.

My book is a movie star!

Thanks to my eagle-eyed friend Christine for picking-up on this one and thanks to my good friend Ben Stiller for placing the book in the shot. Just kidding about Ben Stiller--he's not that good a friend.

If you're like me, vast numbers of catalogs start arriving in late October and early November, filling my mailbox and recycling bin to capacity. I do all of my shopping online so rarely, if ever, do I look at a catalog. Besides, catalogs are an environmental nightmare. According to catalogchoice.org , 

• Over eight million tons of trees are consumed each year in the production of paper catalogs.
• Nearly half of the planet’s original forest cover is gone today. Forests have effectively disappeared in 25 countries, and another 29 have lost more than 90% of their forest cover.
• Deforesta...
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This Google Map I created pinpoints many of the birding locations referred to in bird reports from Central Park. Most of these locations are not listed on any other maps.