Armed with binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras, and notepads, and assisted by experts who immediately can tell the difference between a Western tanager and a goldfinch, or between a Downy woodpecker and its Hairy cousin, devoted birders across the hemisphere will be heading to plots with a 15-mile radius over the next three weeks to see what they can see during the 124th annual Christmas Bird Count.
The National Park Service is moving ahead with plans to modify regulations governing the horsepower allowed by powerboats on the Jacks Fork and Current rivers at Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri.
To get to tiny Sombrero Island, you must travel 34 miles from Anguilla by sea, dart across the bow of your boat and climb a steel ladder anchored to a limestone cliff. Then, as you regain your bearings and stroll across a barren moonscape plundered by a seabird guano mining operation, the wildlife welcome party makes itself known.
How did many of Yellowstone National Park's hot springs, mud pots, geysers, and perpetual spouters come to bear their colorful and descriptive names? How do newly found or described thermal features receive a name today?
Cape Breton Highlands National Park is closing Mary Ann Falls Road to vehicles because of more frequent extreme and damaging weather events and turning it into a sustainable hiking and mountain biking trail.