Jamaica Bay BioBlitz 2010 to be Held @ Floyd Bennett Field on June 11th thru June 12th..!!

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Rebecca Boger and John Marra of Brooklyn College, City University of New York (CUNY), along with the National Park Service (NPS) and Jamaica Bay Institute (JBI), are conducting a Bioblitz of Gateway National Recreation Area’s Jamaica Bay Unit from 3 p.m. Friday, June 11, through 3 p.m. Saturday, June 12, 2010. This Bioblitz is part contest (racing against the 24-hour clock), part educational event, and part scientific endeavor. Experts, amateur naturalists, and volunteers will work 4-hour shifts to observe as many plants and animals as possible in order to create a biodiversity snapshot of one of the most urban national parks in the country.

Having supported previous Bioblitz’ in 2007 and 2009, the Jamaica Bay Research and Management Information Network (JBRMIN), hosted by the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII)'s Northeast Information Node (NIN) at the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), is the official Web site of the 2010 BioBlitz and is handling online registration as well as dissemination of forms, information packets, schedules, data sheets, programs, and press releases to participants and the public. If you wish to participate in this intense scientific survey or related public programs, just visit the 2010 BioBlitz page at jamaicabay.ciesin.columbia.edu/bioblitz. You can also follow the Bioblitz on Twitter at twitter.com/GatewayNPS.

To see links to the BioBlitz which I participated in 2007 on my blog...(click here)

"Extinct" Bird Seen, Eaten by Christine Dell'Amore - National Geographic

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A rare quail from the Philippines was photographed for the first time before being sold as food at a poultry market, experts say.

Found only on the island of Luzon, Worcester's buttonquail was known solely through drawings based on dated museum specimens collected several decades ago.

Scientists had suspected the species—listed as "data deficient" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2008 Red List—was extinct.

(See related bird photo: "Rare 'Smiling' Bird Photographed in Colombia.")

A TV crew documented the live bird in the market (above) before it was sold in January, according to the Agence France-Press news agency.

Michael Lu, president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, told AFP the bird's demise should inspire a "local consciousness" about the region's threatened wildlife.

"What if this was the last of its species?" Lu said.

However, the buttonquail is from a "notoriously cryptic and unobtrusive family of birds," according to the nonprofit Birdlife International, so the species may survive undetected in other regions.

—Christine Dell'Amore

Photograph courtesy Arnel B. Telesforo


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Bird Suspected to Be Extinct Photographed for First Time ... Then Eaten

A bird suspected to be extinct was reportedly photographed for the first time in the Philippines, and then sold to a poultry market as food.

Worcester's buttonquail was known only through illustrations based on decades-old museum specimens until a television crew documented the live bird in the market before it was sold in January, NationalGeographic.com reported.

Scientists had suspected the bird, found only on the island of Luzon, to be extinct, according to NationalGeographic.com.

Wild Bird Club of the Philippines President Michael Lu, told the Agence France-Press news agency that it’s unfortunate that the locals aren't more conscious of the threatened wildlife around them.

"What if this was the last of its species?" he said.