Natural History Wanderings

Updated 1/11/11

Are The Bird Deaths At Beebe And Fish Deaths In Maryland Creating A Big Story That Maybe Isn’t That Big After All?

The death of over two million fish in Chesapeake Bay is believed to have been caused by cold weather.  Read more about this and how large die-offs of animals are  not really that unusual at Wired Science  East Coast Fish Die-Offs Linked to Extreme Cold Snap | Wired Science | Wired.com.

NPR ran a story about the role of the media in making the bird and fish deaths as well as other stories of danger and death bigger than they are.  The story talks about how the media, bloggers (including me) and the public can get sucked into what sounds like an extraordinary event.   However, when more carefully studied or researched they turn out to be relatively normal occurrences. Read the full story at:   Falling Birds, Killer Wasps, Killer Wi-Fi And Other Perennials : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR.

And now in California

Also Audublog (Audubon blog) reports that the bird die-offs are not that rare and makes note a new one near Geyserville, CA where 100 birds were found dead. See Now one in California and in the Press Democrat Sonoma County mystery: What killed 100 birds near Geyserville?