Waterways Paved with Plastic ???

No matter where on earth you live, I encourage you to make a family resolution for 2015 and resolve to find ways you can help keep plastic out of our waterways. There’s many reason why this is so important but this stat alone should be enough.

Living in Oregon many of us are huge recyclers so it sears my brain to learn 77% of plastic water bottles are not recycled, and that plastic makes up 80% of the trash that ends up in the ocean. And more than 9.5 million plastic bottles have been collected in coastal cleanups worldwide over the past 25 years. Without a doubt plastic water bottles are having a devastating effect on our ecosystems along our shores and beyond, and the worst part is, it could all be prevented!

 

Local Teen Takes On River Trash

Local teen, Amber Harvey, cares about river health.

She established a summer program that has been well received by rafters, fishermen and landowners on the Clackamas River. With the help of her peers Amber put up stands that held empty trash bags for river users to STASH TRASH in. Amber and her friends frequently returned to refill the stands and cart out any full bags that were left behind. They also spent long hours at put-in points educating rafters. The teens handed out bags and educated river users where they could find additional Stash The Trash bags along the way. Carver Park established a dedicated dumpster where users could deposit the trash they collected. Way to go Amber!

 

Cornell Labs Sponsors Free Bird ID Download

Attention Birders!!!

Do you follow Cornell Lab eNews? It rocks! Seriously. They just keep chirping out great info and are leaders in the world of Citizen Science.

Look what just arrived in our inbox this morning from Cornell labs. Now we really must upgrade our Apple operating system! Kipling Rock Farm often has new birds sited. Being located along a major river means many species pass through.
Download free Merlin Bird ID app for iOS7 and Android OS4 & higher:

http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/

Answer Five Quick Questions and Find Out Which Bird You Just Saw
Merlin Bird ID—available for iOS devices and just released for Android—is a revolutionary new app for identifying common birds of North America. What’s so revolutionary?

It asks you five simple questions about the bird you saw and then gives you a short list of the most likely possibilities
That short list is a smart list—Merlin uses data from our eBird project to tell you which birds are most likely to be seen near you, right now
It’s loaded with 2,000 top-quality photos and 1,000 songs and calls to help you confirm your ID
It’s completely free

The app now covers 400 species and is available for iOS 7 devices and Android OS4 and higher (it’s not available for Kindle, Nook, or Windows phone). It is a large download (630 MB), so please use a wifi connection when you download it. Thanks to Pennington for sponsoring the creation of the Android version.

Merlin is a great tool for beginning birders or anyone who wants to help share their love of birds. Download the free app now.

Do you know the name of this yellow bird with the pointy bill?
Do you know the name of these handsome hoverers? Click through to find out on our Citizen Science blog. Photo by Walter Nussbaumer.
Which Species Is This?
Some birds are so small and fast that we usually just see them as blurs—and in such cases we can be grateful for fantastic photos that freeze the action. This is the smallest bird in North America and a resident of the West, where the males perform staggering aerial feats when displaying to females. Do you know what species this is? Check your guess and learn more.

Does this quiz have you humming for more? On our new Citizen Science blog you can explore a map of where they occur, try to match speeds with their wingbeats, and get a feel for how much nectar they drink in a day.