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In China, wherever there is one real tourist attraction (like the Great Wall), the local strategy seems to be to add some fake attractions – replicas of palaces or tombs, amusement parks, shopping centers – in order to maximize the income from tourists. This included recording a total of 77,760 minutes of video.
Today, I invite you to join me, Kai Pflug, on an extraordinary avian expedition as we explore the vibrant cityscape of Shanghai, a hidden gem for birdwatchers in the heart of China. Birding Beyond the City: For the more adventurous birder, Shanghai serves as a gateway to explore the diverse landscapes of eastern China.
Quite likely, these birds are also the inspiration for Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. According to the HBW entry for this species, it “has been claimed that loss of native mammals after European settlement created shortage of nesting material, explaining this species’ penchant for taking hair from humans.”
For those with a morbid streak, I suggest checking out the paper “Genetic Characterization and Pathogenesis of Avian Influenza Virus H3N8 Isolated from Chinese Pond Heron in China in 2021″ The HBW distribution map of the Masked Laughingthrush shows it to be common in Shanghai – in fact, it is rather rare.
I am sure some people will hate this photo of a Eurasian Hoopoe , framed as it is by human artifacts. As I am sure I have mentioned before, a lot of science work seems to aim to prove the obvious – though the researchers still phrase their results very carefully. Of course, me being me, this is a good reason to show it.
It is listed as Near Threatened – the HBW cites the usual reasons that are just other ways of saying that humans do not care enough for other species, such as forest loss and degradation in its winter range. Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16 not their own).
Shanghaibirding describes the Brown-headed Thrush as “a scarce passage migrant through northern and central coastal China, including Shanghai” – given that I only saw it once on Tianmashan, that is probably correct, though the date (January 09) seems rather late for a migrant.
Maybe better not to ever meet such a “mother” (given that I have been living in China for too long to be up-to-date regarding political correctness etc., ” I can see how this line of thinking leads to all kinds of sci-fi types of thought (“would I mate with an alien if I was the last human on earth”, etc.),
According to the Post story, computer modeling conducted by Andreas Schmittner (College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University) indicates if we continue "business as usual" and do nothing to curb greenhouse gas emissions, average temperatures are likely to increase 7.0°F Most scientists agree that a 3.6°F
It seems the ones I got decent photos of are all juveniles – it generally seems to be easier to get photos of juveniles as they have not quite learned to avoid humans. Thank god that this does not apply to humans. Sometimes being a member of the human race feels very embarrassing.
In other bird science news, we should be concerned about waterfowl in China. The new H7N9 bird flu is probably widespread in birds, because it seems to be poking itself into human populations one person at a time over a very large geographical area.
I guess looking elegant during sex is difficult for most humans, too. Popular with Black-winged Stilts … … Common Redshanks … … and with Pied Avocets , though their activities look a bit dangerous. In contrast, the Common Terns present look much more elegant.
In the slightly frighteningly named journal “Science of The Total Environment”, there is a paper on organochlorine compounds in Purple Heron eggs nesting in sites located around a chloralkali plant (Ebro River). More work, less fun, all because humans introduced some stupid fish into kingfisher habitat.
The Sacred Ibis was seen as the incarnation of the god Thoth, who (with gods apparently better at multitasking than humans) was (or maybe still is, who knows?) was responsible for maintaining the universe, judging the dead, and for writing and science ( source ). Nice to encounter a quail that is not as shy as the ones here in China!
The Latin species name of the Common Greenshank , nebularia , sounds a bit like a science fiction novel to me – however, it means “misty” and apparently is derived from the birds’ misty, marshy habitat (HBW). Fortunately, they are quite common in Shanghai. If you want to signal to your environment that you a.
I visited Tengchong in late 2020 and wrote about it – but I also went there earlier, in 2017, and this post shows some photos I took during that trip, along with the usual comments that seem to be much more about ridiculing my fellow humans (especially ornithologists and the like) than providing useful information on birds.
is based on a study of specimens and tape recordings collected during one visit to each of two localities in central China in 1997 and 1998 and their own tape recordings and specimens from Nepal; in all, 196 specimens were examined. Meaning: we did real science, Martens did not. ” Meaning: we did real science, Martens did not.
Red and yellow are the colors symbolizing several different things – for example, McDonald’s, the People’s Republic of China, Mastercard, and Kodac. Being a management consultant, I am well-versed in the science and art of b *g. ” Full iteration!
The causes were the usual reasons for island extinction—deforestation by both humans and invasive plants that crowded out native plants, hunting, and invasive rats, mongoose, monkeys, and, of course, feral cats. Is it any wonder that Pink Pigeons were on the brink of extinction when humans intervened? I know, that’s harsh.
It seems that like me, Oriental Storks are not that fond of humans. A study found that in areas with intense human activity, their nests were higher, while in safer environments, the nests were lower and closer to food resources, allowing parent storks to invest more in the nestlings. Well, they are birds, not humans.
I was thinking of inventing a background story about a Chinese poet mentioning starlings (and other bird species) in one of his poems, and a rich Chinese fan of these poems pursuing the ambition of introducing all bird species mentioned therein to China, explaining the occasional occurrence of the starling in Shanghai.
Of course, the same applies to pizza services for humans. As usual in China, there are some anonymous Leaf Warbler species – but who cares, apart from Bella of Alpinebirding ? While the HBW claims that the Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher is uncommon in China, this probably does not apply to this part of Yunnan.
A study found that for Plain Prinia , egg characteristics in a mainland China location with many cuckoos make it much easier to spot cuckoo eggs than in a Taiwan location with few cuckoos ( source ). But then, maybe not – it seems to be the nature of science that the more you know, the more you want to know.
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