Return of the Black Turtle, A Success Story (Via Herp Digest)

Photographer Neil Osborne is raising funds on Emphas.is to document a success story - how one man has helped save the Black Turtle from extinction

Author: Katheine Waters, 10/28/11

Photographer Neil Osborne first became involved in the conservation project to save the black turtle when a magazine sent him to profile scientist Wallace "J" Nichols. "During that first visit, I met Julio Solis, an amazing young man who has fully transitioned from being a fisherman/poacher to a conservation professional and a community leader."

"I spent more time listening to him than I did photographing," says Osborne, "These first few introductions inspired me to start the project."

Initially he hesitated about working with Emphas.is. "They had never worked with a conservation photographer before so this project was the first with a real environmental/wildlife focus," but through the ready support offered it was an easy choice to make.

"Conservation photography is just as much about the deliverables of a project as is the imagery," says Osborne, by this he means not just the app or ebook he and Nichols are considering, nor the printed journal filled with photographs and notes they will publish, but the measurable effect the resulting material will have on raising the profile of the protection project.

"Nichols is already aligning contacts and an opportunity to put our work in front of the president of Mexico. That is the audience we want, along with the governors of various states who have roles in the conservation of the black sea turtle."

Osborne is hoping to raise $11,315 to finance the project. To help him, check the Emphas.is website.
To see video on project go to - bottom of page or go to Emphas.is

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/blog-post/2120946/spotlight-crowdfunding-return-black-turtle#ixzz1c5izFXy0

WEIRD TORRIDGESIDE: Dark doings in Braunton

http://torridgeside.blogspot.com/2011/10/dark-doings-in-braunton.html

GYNANDROMORPH Argynnis paphia

THIS side is male

THIS side is female

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GYNANDROMORPH-unmounted-butterfly-Argynnis-paphia-RARE-/310304369750?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483f94ec56

DORSET MOTHS WEBSITE

I don't think that I have mentioned this site before...

The purpose of Dorset Moths is to bring together all those interested in moths in Dorset, and to promote the importance of moths as an indicator of bio-diversity and habitat health. Although records are warmly welcomed for publication on this site, it is essential that records are sent to the County Recorders by observers each year, preferably in tabular form. Feel free to download the approved spreadsheet (latest version 2.0.2), created by Les Hill, click here.

http://www.dorsetmothgroup.org.uk/

DOES THE ORANG PENDEK HAVE A BORNEAN COUSIN?

Dear all at CFZ,

I was recently reading a book about a doomed British army 1994 expedition to be the first to drop down from the summit of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, and descend Low’s Gully, an incredibly deep and hard to access gorge. I was excited to read some sections that are exciting from a cryptozoological perspective.

This first extract was written by Sergeant Bob Mann, who was high up the mountain, above the gorge, but well below the summit of Kinabalu:

‘The others went off to their tents, fifty yards up the hill, and I put some wood on the fire before settling down to sleep. I lay in my sleeping bag, looking at the splendor of the enormous cliffs in the moonlight, and drifted off to sleep, only to be woken some time later by the sound of a boulder being moved close by. At first I thought it was Kevin getting his own back for the episode with the tea, and told whoever it was to stop pissing about playing games and get back to bed, but there was no reply. I looked at my watch; it was twenty past two. I figured that it must have been someone having a pee, so I put some more wood on the fire and snuggled down into my sleeping back again. There was a loud ‘crack’ as if something heavy had stood on a piece of wood; I got out my head torch and had a good look around. Nothing. I put some more wood on the fire and settled down again, this time pulling my bivvy bag over my head. No sooner had I made myself snug than a scratching started on the outside of my bivvy. Whatever it was sounded really big and I was completely freaked. I lay there, paralyzed by fear for at least ten minutes, listening to the scratching getting louder, before plucking up the courage to take my knife from my belt. I shot out from my sleeping bag like a rat from a drainpipe, knife in hand, shouting at the top of my voice: ‘Come on you ^&*&(!

My neck crawled as I saw a large ape-like shape disappear into the tall shrubs on my left. I’ve never been so scared in my life; I knelt there for 10 minutes, knife in hand, too petrified to move. I must have looked really stupid. Some Commando, getting spooked by an animal. My mind raced, recalling stories of Yetis and such like – did they live in Borneo?’

On the same day, Lance Corporal Rich Mayfield (who was the advance party), had abseiled by himself down a section of the gorge wall to a substantial forested ledge halfway down. He reported:

‘…I reached it and lowered myself through the initial greenery, only to be faced with thick branches barring my way, necessitating a bit of aggression to punch a hole big enough to get down.

Standing on what passed for the jungle floor I peered into the emerald depths, trying to pick out a viable route, until a loud commotion broke out in the undergrowth nearby; it was probably some fascinating example of the Kinabalu fauna, but ay aspirations I might have had to being David Attenborough deserted me as visions of tigers and water buffaloes sprang to mind and sent me prussiking back up the ropes to the open hillside. There aren’t any tigers in Sabah of course, and as far as I knew, water buffaloes weren’t particularly well versed in the art of abseiling, but whatever it was had sounded large and powerful enough to put me off the idea of solo exploration for the day.’

I have checked the mega fauna of Borneo at that altitude (approx 10,750 feet) and cannot find an explanation for this, as water buffaloes do not live at that altitude.

Could this be another variety of Orang Pedek living in the remote national park?

The book is by: Rich Mayfield and Bob Mann. It is entitled: Kinabalu escape - The Soldiers' Story. It is published by Constable, ISBN: 0 09 476970 2


Best wishes,


Sam White, Enfield, London

HAUNTED SKIES: Interesting clippings from 1971

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/ufo-clipping-1971.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's New Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1604 William Shakespeare’s play Othello was first performed.
And now the news:

Antarctic Killer Whales May Seek Spa-Like Relief i...
Study: Optical clues help flying birds
More huge ivory seizures as rampant poaching is re...
Dung beetles brought back to battle bushflies
Could legalising rhino horn trade stop poaching?
Farne Island seal research
First BTO Cuckoo crosses the Equator

Can anyone tell me whether this performance of Othello is just hijinks or if it’s ‘casual racism’ I can’t quite decide between the two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC-f0drvdmM

KARL SHUKER: Some feline fiends for Hallowe'en

http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2011/10/vampire-cats-and-devil-cats-feline.html

CORINNA CELEBRATES HALLOWE'EN: The Old Man of the Greenwood

http://cryptochick.blogspot.com/2011/10/old-man-of-greenwood.html

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

• Boggy Creek - A Book! — Lyle Blackburn's definitive study of a legendary man-beast...

From CFZ Australia:

• Cat or dog? A Western Australia conundrum — See the video and judge for yourself...
• Watch the Savage Shadow book trailer — David O'Reilly's cryptozoological cult classic...

From CFZ New Zealand:

• Naturalist and moa searcher's library up for auction — More than 600 rare books under the hammer...

CFZ PEOPLE: Paul Vella

Happy Birthday mate

DALE DRINNON: A number of new postings

New on the Frontiers of Anthropology blog and continuing the theme of Lemurian (Sundalander) Cuisine:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/10/natives-here-just-treat-them-like-big.html

And two more up today on Cedar and Willow, the first one long delayed due to technical problems:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/perils-of-paulines-part-4perils-of.html

And the other one being my most intensive critique of a series of articles posted on the Wold-Newton site by prolific WoldNewtonner Dennis Power:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/spawn-of-lex-luthor-part-1.html

--After which the forthcoming Part 2 concerns only my own inventions and does not monkey with WN or any other versions of Lex Luthor (Alexander Rossen) in any way whatsoever.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

ON THE TRACK WILL BE LATE

We always try to get our monthly webTV show out on time, but this time it will be a few days late. Why? Well we have a very valid excuse - we are putting the final touches to Richard Freeman's latest book, so please be forbearing.

In the mean time here is Mark North's fantastic cover....

HAUNTED SKIES: The Upwey Incident, March 1970

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/upwey-incident-march-1971.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween, everyone.
And now the news:
Insects Are Scared to Death of Fish
Python Study May Have Implications for Human Heart...
Environmentalists hunt wildlife-killing nurdles
Antarctic fur seals breed where they were born
Wolves 'thriving' in Germany
Imperial Woodpecker found on 1956 film but not on ...

A TALE OF TERROR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JY5sxZWUck

THE ECLECTARIUM OF DR. SHUKER: Cloudbusters

http://eclectariumshuker.blogspot.com/2011/10/who-ya-gonna-call-cloud-busters.html

CFZ NEW ZEALAND: Naturalist and moa searcher's library up for auction

A collection of more than 600 rare books dubbed the "last great private library" in New Zealand goes under the hammer in Auckland next week. The books, collected by Auckland naturalist and scholar Arthur Pycroft, who died in 1971, include a complete set of Cook's Voyages, published in the 1770s; a first edition of the first novel published in New Zealand, Taranaki: A Tale of the War by Henry Stoney (1861); and a two-volume set of Captain Scott's journals from his last expedition, published in 1914.

http://cfz-nz.blogspot.com/2011/10/naturalist-and-moa-searchers-library-up.html

CFZ PEOPLE: Rosie Curtis

Many happy returns of the day to Miss Rosie Curtis

DERBYSHIRE & NOTTINGHAMSHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY INSECT EXHIBITION

A REAL-LIFE BLINKY

http://io9.com/5854402/three+eyed-fish-discovered-near-argentinian-nuclear-facility

For those of you who do not get the pop-culture reference:

Cowabunga dudes! Read all about it

HAUNTED SKIES: HACKNEY UFO 1970 - Source Material

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/hackney-ufo-1970-source-material.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1938 a radio play version of H.G. Wells’s War Of The Worlds was broadcast and caused some New-Yorkers to panic, believing it was a real news bulletin.
And now the news:

Peckish python: 16ft-long snake found with adult d...
Leatherback turtle washed up on Cumbrian beach, Ir...
The Halifax X-Files: We reveal secret police dossi...
Python circulating fatty acids study could benefit...
BOTSWANA: Government calls off Maun crocodile hunt...
100,000 turtles sacrificed in ritual slaughter to ...

And here is the radio play that caused all the problems:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQn1IwKKgyo

DALE DRINNON: Three more posts - Jade, water horses, and it's Hallowe'en at 'Cedar and Willow'

New on Frontiers of Anthropology:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/10/importance-of-jade.html
Some basic facts about Jade you may NOT have considered before

With a Reference to a Classic CFZ Posting, Reposted on the FOZ Blog some time Back:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/10/water-horse-moose-antlers-just-out-of.html

And something for Hallowe'en on Cedar and Willow:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/wheres-buffy-when-you-need-her.html

CFZ PEOPLE: Dave Archer

Congratulations to Dave and his partner Natasha. They have had a little boy. Dave writes: '...all is well. We are calling him Flint. He was 6lb 2 oz and came along last Thursday.'

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

• Chupacabra Synchronicity — A strange coincidence while filming in Puerto Rico...
• Monstrous Ghosts? — Are cryptids the ghosts of long-extinct animals?
• Profiling The Man-Monkey — Nick dissects a notorious Bigfoot-like entity (but not literally)...

From CFZ Australia:

• Savage Shadow is in print once more — An iconic book about the search for the Australian Cougar...
• Baby wombat found in Ceduna is all white — Hairy nose wombats are rare, and white ones even rarer...
• Drivers urged to slow down, save a devil — A new initiative to reduce Tasmanian devil road deaths...
• The Hunter raises questions about ethics — Movie focuses on the issues surrounding bioprospecting...

KITHRA INVESTIGATES MYSTERIOUS RADIO STATIONS

http://kithraskrystalkave.blogspot.com/2011/10/mysterious-radio-numbers-stations.html
Mysterious Radio Numbers Stations
Or, you can read the article direct, here:
http://www.kithra.com/mysteriousradionumbersstations.html

IT'S THE WEIRDEY WOODPECKER SHOW

Yesterday I was looking for a picture of an Imperial Woodpecker to accompany an article on the recently released film from Cornell University, when I found this. It is a pale-billed woodpecker photographed in Belize. Is it just me, or is this the most peculiar-looking bird you have ever seen?

Image source

HAUNTED SKIES: Cecil Hardy, November 1970

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/cecil-hardy-case-november-1970.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1886 the first ticker tape parade takes place as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated. Who amongst us can say they’ve never wanted a spontaneous ticker tape parade in their honour?
And now the news:

How woodpeckers avoid head injury
Giant stag killed by poachers
Tears for the 'river pig'
Blue whales off California. Why aren't they recove...
Attempt to reunite rescued Bengal tiger cub with m...
Dinosaurs may have migrated: study
PETA Sues SeaWorld Under US Slavery Law

See, ticker tape parades are awesome (they probably pee street cleaners right off though):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S8hlR0y9T4

DALE DRINNON: Chinese dragons/Jade Trade

Here is the first part of a two-part article looking at the origins of Chinese Dragons:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/10/water-pigs-and-pig-dragons.html

And here is the first part of a two-part look at the early uses of, trade in, and attitudes toward the minerals collectively known as jade:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/10/jade-trade.html

GLEN VAUDREY: Whole Wide World #21

21. Belize
Today we find ourselves in the only country in Central America where the official language is English; hardly surprising when you consider that until 1981 Belize was called British Honduras. Aside from this change of name, what else do we know about the country? Well, there are reports of a cryptid: the Sisemite.

The Sisemite is at first just another example of one of those large mystery primates that seem to be found in the depths of unexplored forests. In 1915 author George Gordon would write about the creature that it was said to be taller than a man, with hair so matted that it was capable of stopping a bullet. The creature was also said to be able to reverse its feet and leave a misleading track for any hunter trying to follow it. Certainly many supernatural creatures have feet that face the wrong way but if this creature has its basis in fact could it be that the Sisimite is not a primate at all, nor a hominid; could it be founded on memories of the ground sloth?

Weird, unknown animal species found in Ahmedabad

RICHARD FREEMAN ON THE 'X-ZONE' RADIO SHOW

http://traffic.libsyn.com/xzone/20111026_seg1.mp3.

IMPERIAL WOODPECKER (Courtesy of Chad Arment)

Cornell has released online a video that is the only known photographic record of the presumed extinct Imperial woodpecker:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2314

Image Source

HAUNTED SKIES: A sighting report from October 1970

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/october-1970-sighting-report.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1948 Paul Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of DDTs insecticide properties. Unbeknownst to him this would have consequences in poisoning creatures further up food chains resulting cancer and the near extinction of many bird species.
And now the news:

Face-To-Face With an Ancient Human
Chequered Skipper – Rare butterfly numbers double ...
Reindeer pant to stay cool in fur coats
Loving the Chambered Nautilus to Death
Urgent need for action to save polar bears
Bay of Plenty oil disaster: Rare birds dying in th...
Bat killer cause confirmed as fungus (via Dawn Hol...

The bald eagle was one of the species nearly wiped out by DDT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hecXupPpE9o

DALE DRINNON: The Saga of Sundaland continued

Another New News Item on the Frontiers of Anthropology blog, continuing the Saga of Sundaland and the Survivors that went out of it:

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/10/another-tasty-menu-item-from-lemuria.html

State by State List of Herps USF&WS is Looking at (Via Herp Digest)

State by State List of Herps USF&WS is Looking at in 13 Southeastern U.S. States. Overlap of species in states is because those are the last known sightings of species. For Example Hellbender is listed in many states. But the last sighting could be 25 years old in that state. There is also an international trade in Hellbenders so while they collect information they are proposing all Hellbenders for CITES III listing. (Difference between CITES III listing and CITES II?) They need recent sightings. Recent information.

Alabama
Black Warrior waterdog Necturus alabamensis
Seepage salamander Desmognathus aeneus
One-toed amphiuma Amphiuma pholeter
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Tennessee cave salamander Gyrinophilus palleucus
Barbour's map turtle Graptemys barbouri
Escambia map turtle Graptemys ernsti
Alabama map turtle Graptemys pulchra
Black-knobbed map turtle Graptemys nigrinoda

Arkansas
Oklahoma salamander Eurycea tynerensis
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Western chicken turtle Deirochelys reticularia miaria

Florida
Florida Keys mole skink Eumeces egregius egregius
Eastern ribbonsnake - lower Florida Keys Thamnophis sauritus pop. 1
South florida rainbow snake Farancia erytrogramma seminola
Escambia map turtle Graptemys ernsti
Striped mud turtle - lower Florida Keys Kinosternon baurii pop. 1
Barbour's map turtle Graptemys barbouri
Florida red-bellied turtle - Florida panhandle Pseudemys nelsoni pop. 1
Chamberlain's dwarf salamander Eurycea chamberlaini
Georgia blind salamander Haideotriton wallacei
Gulf hammock dwarf siren Pseudobranchus striatus lustricolus
Florida bog frog Rana okaloosae
One-toed amphiuma Amphiuma pholeter

Georgia
Seepage salamander Desmognathus aeneus
Chamberlain's dwarf salamander Eurycea chamberlaini
Georgia blind salamander Haideotriton wallacei
One-toed amphiuma Amphiuma pholeter
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Tennessee cave salamander Gyrinophilus palleucus
Patch-nosed salamander Urspelerpes brucei
Alabama map turtle Graptemys pulchra
Barbour's map turtle Graptemys barbouri

Kentucky
Streamside salamander Ambystoma barbouri
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Kirtland's snake Clonophis kirtlandii

Lousiana
Pascagoula map turtle Graptemys gibbonsi

Mississippi
One-toed amphiuma Amphiuma pholeter
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Black-knobbed map turtle Graptemys nigrinoda
Alabama map turtle Graptemys pulchra
Western chicken turtle Deirochelys reticularia miaria
Pascagoula map turtle Graptemys gibbonsi

North Carolina
Neuse River waterdog Necturus lewisi
Chamberlain's dwarf salamander Eurycea chamberlaini
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Seepage salamander Desmognathus aeneus
Northern red-bellied cooter Pseudemys rubriventris

South Carolina
Chamberlain's dwarf salamander Eurycea chamberlaini
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Seepage salamander Desmognathus aeneus

Tennessee
Tennessee cave salamander Gyrinophilus palleucus
Seepage salamander Desmognathus aeneus
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Streamside salamander Ambystoma barbouri
Cumberland dusky salamander Desmognathus abditus

Virginia
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Northern red-bellied cooter Pseudemys rubriventris

West Virginia
Streamside salamander Ambystoma barbouri
Hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
West Vrginia spring salamander Gyrinophilus subterraneus
Northern red-bellied cooter Pseudemys rubriventris

GLEN VAUDREY: Whole Wide World #20

20. Guatemala
Our next stop finds us in Guatemala, another country in which impressive remains of Mayan cities can be found, but it isn’t old building we are here to look at but to have a look at reports of the Chupacabra.

In the mid 1990s the Chupacabra was well on its way to being the most famous cryptid in the world with stories of the mystery animal appearing steadily all over Latin America. The description of a mix of hairless dog, a rat and a kangaroo with a row of spines running along its back suggests that whatever the Chupacabra is its pig ugly.

The name Chupacabra is usually translated as the goat sucker but despite the name suggesting that it should just be goats that need to worry it is actually attacks on other animals that seem to make the headlines. In November 1995 in just two nights a mystery creature taken to be the Chupacabra killed some 150 chickens on the farm of Alicia Fajardo. While in 1996 in a farm 20 miles outside Guatemala City attacks took place not only on chickens but on dogs, sheep and horses with signs that the coops and cages had been ripped open, while wire mesh had been torn apart, impressive stuff. Witnesses were unsure if the creature in Guatemala was a big black dog, bat or bird. The true nature of the Chupacabra is still a mystery.

RICHARD FREEMAN: YAHOO in on the whale slaughter

131 tonnes of fin whale meat has been imported into Japan from Iceland via Yahoo! In July, the Environmental Investigation Agency report Renegade Whaling identified Icelandic company Hvalur and its multi-millionaire boss Kristján Loftsson as hunting Fin whales for export to Japan via a company he helped to set up.

Despite the The Pelly Amendment permits (that has the United States to imposing a trade embargo against any products from a state certified as harvesting or trading whales in a manner which diminishes the effectiveness of either the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), it has now been confirmed that in August a new export to Japan took place of 131 tonnes of Fin whale product with an estimated value of 209 million Icelandic króna ($1.7 million).

On September 15, US President Barack Obama stated that Iceland's whaling and trade in the meat threatens the conservation status of an endangered species and undermines multilateral efforts to ensure greater worldwide protection for whales. Stopping short of targeted trade sanctions, he nevertheless announced diplomatic measures aiming to push Iceland to halt the trade.

Yahoo Japan! sells numerous Icelandic Fin whale products, including large blocks of meat, blubber and canned products. As of September 2011, these products and many more were still available on the internet from Yahoo! Japan shopping sites; a survey by the Environmental Investigation Agency found 10 different retailers offering Icelandic Fin whale meat products for sale via Yahoo! Japan.

EIA Senior Campaigner Clare Perry said …

"At a time when the US Government is applying international pressure to force an end to Iceland's whaling and international trade, Yahoo! Japan is effectively encouraging further hunting of the species by selling endangered Fin whale meat products on its website. "It's long past due that Yahoo! put its house in order and stopped profiting from, and stimulating, this bloody and wholly unnecessary slaughter."


Make your outrage know to Yahoo, write to them expressing your disgust.

IDENTIFY THIS INSECT (A longhorn beetle I think)

HAUNTED SKIES: Source Material from a September 1970 sighting.

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/source-material-from-september-1970.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1914 the poet Dylan Thomas was born.
And now the news:

Old Jawbone Found Near Kennewick Man Site
Panther tracks found
Stag tries to impress the ladies with grass wig
Rare white wombat nursed back to health
Tortoises Yawn-But It's Not Contagious (Via Herp D...
How to Scientifically Know where to Allocate Limit...
Biologists warn species at risk from new field
Toad appeal

Anthony Hopkins reads Dylan Thomas’ ‘Do Not Go Gentle In To That Good Night’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1fTlIsUGks

ROB AYLING: The world's first commercial spaceport

Rob Ayling is an old friend of mine. Due to unexpected circumstances, he finds himself wandering about the west coast of America with a few days to spare. "Can I send in some reports for the bloggo on anything interesting I find?" he asked. "Hell yeah" I said...

I was 50 miles from Baistow before the sat nav kicked in . . .Looking for the fabled Aeroplane Graveyard. There it was right by Highway 14. To the untrained eye it just looks like an airport with a lot of planes. But in the middle of a desert.

With the aide of a 400mm lens you start to see that these planes are here because its their last port of call. All around the airfield are parts, one compound is full of landing gear, another 7 jets exactly the same, but only their bodies, no wings.

This place isn't creepy or anything. Its just not what you would expect to find in the middle of nowhere. The end of the working days for this aircraft. Yet, it is also the birth place of commercial space travel.

This is where SpaceShipOne was based when it won the fabled X-Prize. There is a little memorial towards that competition. That is what these shots are of. As you can imagine photography is limited round this facility. Stood there, you feel that you are part of something. Even though NASA manned space flights aren't happening, the next step forward started here.

KARL SHUKER: Mystery Parrot solved.

A few days ago Karl wrote a blog about a mysterious parrot picture.

Now, he has solved the mystery once and for all, and has updated the posting accordingly...

http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2011/10/whos-pretty-mysterious-polly-then.html

'Dodo and Red Parakeet' - c.1773, attributed to William Hodges

DALE DRINNON: Three new posts - Indonesian hominid, jade ape, and environmental catastrophe

Another blog has gone up at Frontiers of Anthropology about another unusual Indonesian hominid fossil:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/10/not-somodern-early-indonesian.html

And I was just informed of this other jade item for sale on Ebay that was listed as showing an "Ape" on it, and it could be a very old depiction of the Chinese Wildman or Yeren:

http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/10/another-chinese-neolithic-ape.html

And over on 'Cedar and Willow' the next installment may sound frivolous but it certainly is NOT: it concerns a very serious matter, namely, the complete ecological disaster which is taking shape as our future, although it is presented as a series of adventure stories:

http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/interlude-what-future-holds.html

CFZ PEOPLE: Nigel Wright

Back in the day (c.1998) Nigel (on right) held it all together at the CFZ. Now he lives oop t'north and we hardly ever see him. But we all wish him a very happy birthday....

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: A GIANT SNAKE IN SOUTH CHINA IN THE 1930s

Mike Hardcastle, Flying Snake`s Australian Sub-Editor found the following story on the excellent Trove Australian newspaper archive a few weeks ago. It is from the Townsville Daily Bulletin (Queensland) of August 21st 1935.

CHINA`S MONSTER

Loch Ness in the Shade

Gigantic Python

Kwangtung Province in China has now produced the “ Loch Ness” monster, for according to reports received here, says a Canton report, from Toy-Shan, a hilly district of the province, 42 villagers have been killed recently by a huge serpent which has terrorized the population of that district for some time past. The serpent was finally shot dead by a man more intrepid than the rest and this individual has now received a large reward from the local Magistrate. There are various conjectures afloat locally about the nature of the death-dealing monster, which some believe to have been a giant python of a type occasionally found in remoter districts. (!)

Well, there we are. I wonder how many other stories there were around the world in the first half of the decade of the 1930s prompted by the continuing saga of Loch Ness?

Richard

HAUNTED SKIES: Volume 4 is nearing completion

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/haunted-skies-update-on-volume-4-under.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1959 Luna 9 took the first photographs of the far side, aka the dark side, of the moon.

And now the news:

Check your bonfire for hedgehogs
Thousands of dead birds to be removed from Ontario...
Suffolk kingfisher migrated from Poland
First Ebola-Like Virus Native to Europe Discovered...
Fears raised over mitten crabs' threat to Cumbrian...
Deadly skin-lesion disease hits Alaska's seals
U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE LISTS THE OZARK HEL...

Dark side of the moon, eh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl6NfQyNLto

DALE DRINNON: The latest from 'Cedar and Willow'

These are mostly all introductions anyway, more details to be filled in as we go along. I have three more new Cedar-and-Willow blogs to send you the links for

http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/lara-croft-angelina-jolie-and-alison.html
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/perils-of-paulina-porizkova-catherine.html
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/imbd-stories-for-willow-jr-brigitte.html

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

From Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...":

• Monster Vs. UFO! — The little-known connection between Roswell and a pterodactyl...
• Real Nightmares: A New Series — True and Truly Scary Unexplained Phenomena from Brad Steiger...

From CFZ Australia:

• Queensland yowie witness shares encounter — A new video on CFZ Australia's YouTube channel...

Unknown fish species found in Vijayawada fish market

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: A SOUTH AMERICAN COELACANTH?

Dear folks

I have not had any time to study this, though I am sure that until a few days ago I had never heard of coelacanth-like fish off S.America. So it`s over to you to look into if you so desire.


Richard

CFZ PEOPLE: Jonathan McGowan

Rat stir fries and owl curries hardly sound like the stuff you would serve your friends for dinner.
But surprisingly, Jonathan McGowan's exotic roadkill dishes are a big hit with his guests.

Read on...

LATEST E-MOTH NEWSLETTER

http://www.dorsetmothgroup.org.uk/Sub%20pages/Documents/Emoth%20October%202011.pdf

HAUNTED SKIES: Sighting Report, September 1970

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/ufo-sighting-report-september-1970.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1993 Vincent Price died. Price was one of the most prolific actors of the Horror film genre

And now the news:

Petition asks for end to snapping turtle hunt (Via...
Island wolverine 'may still be around' (via Chad A...
Dead porcupine found in western Newfoundland (via ...
Scientists solve mystery of the giant armor-clad a...
Police Blotter: Woman Reports Panther in Her Yard ...
California bans sale of shark fins
Row As Firm Moves To Breed Beagles For Tests
2,000 Sharks Massacred in Colombian Sanctuary

As well as the films Vincent Price was prone to the occasional foray into music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA&ob=av2n

GLEN VAUDREY: Whole Wide World #19

19. El Salvador
After what seems like a break we find ourselves in El Salvador. What can we say about the country? Well it’s the smallest and most densely packed of the Central American countries. It is also the only Central American country that doesn’t have a Caribbean coastline, but for today’s cryptid that doesn’t matter because our mystery animal turned up on the country’s other coast in the Gulf of Fonseca.

It was reported that in June 1928 a rather large rotting lump drifted ashore, serpentine in shape and 89 feet long, so far so good. The creature was marked with black and white stripes and had a horn protruding from its head. Sadly there isn’t much more known of this mystery animal from the deep, but as the original source stated that the remains were ‘exceedingly corpulent’ it perhaps isn’t any wonder that no one got close to the beast, just imagine the smell.

DALE DRINNON: A tasty snack from Lemuria/the latest 'Cedar and Willow'

I have the Frontiers of Anthropology new blog posting up already when I notice I had left something out before-
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/10/another-tasty-snack-from-lemurian-realm.html

Richard Freeman should be happy to know that I included the Sea Shepard emblem on the next Cedar and Willow blog entry, the one featuring Brigitte Bardot:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/cookie-daughter-of-willow-and.html

ANDREW MAY: The Loch Ness Monster, a cloned sheep and a dubious dog

As mentioned in my previous post, the second half of Paul and Melanie Jackson's honeymoon was spent in Scotland. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to hear that they had an encounter with the Loch Ness Monster... or at least a reasonable simulacrum of Scotland's most famous cryptid

Read on...

KATE BUSH SINGS ABOUT WILD MAN

Dipu Marek is a person not a place, and there ain't no snow in the Garo Hills. But otherwise SHE IS SPOT ON! Kate's new song is a corker...

They call you an animal, the Kangchenjunga Demon, Wild Man, Metoh-Kangmi.
Lying in my tent, I can hear your cry echoing round the mountainside.
You sound lonely.
While crossing the Lhakpa-La something jumped down from the rocks.
In the remote Garo Hills by Dipu Marak we found footprints in the snow.

The schoolmaster of Darjeeling said he saw you by the Tengboche Monastery.
You were playing in the snow. You were banging on the doors. You got up on the roof, Roof of the World.
You were pulling up the rhodedendrons. Loping down the mountain.
They want to know you. They will hunt you down, then they will kill you.
Run away, run away, run away...
While crossing the Lhakpa-La something jumped down from the rocks.
In the remote Garo Hills by Dipu Marak we found footprints in the snow.
We found your footprints in the snow. We brushed them all away...
From the Sherpas of Annapurna to the Rinpoche of Qinghai.
Shepherds from Mount Kailash to Himachal Pradesh found footprints in the snow.

You’re not a langur monkey nor a big brown bear – You’re the Wild Man.
They say they saw you drowned near the Rongbuk Glacier.
They want to hunt you down. You’re not an animal.
The Lamas say you’re not an animal.

FRONTIERS OF ZOOLOGY: Freshwater monkeys

New blog entry at the Frontiers of Zoology with Tyler Stone as guest blogger again:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/10/tyler-stones-update-on-freshwater.html

Being an update on his theory of freshwater monkeys as accounting for Kappa-type reports (this time from North America)

HAUNTED SKIES: London Evening News 4.7.70

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/london-evening-news-4770.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/
On this day in 1901 Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to survive going over Niagra falls in a barrel. She was 64 years old when she preformed the stunt too!

And now the news:

Zebra mussels invade more Northern Ireland lakes
West Nile Virus Transmission Linked to Land Use Pa...
The birds which cannot cope with the demise of Com...
Inadequate protection causes Javan rhino extinctio...
Cornish choughs spread towards Devon border
Wales is home to 13 new sea sponge species
Indonesian tiger smuggler could escape with light ...

People are still doing the stunt to this day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m9DUUjNlTU

DAVEY CURTIS: The famous flying duck billed platypus of Seaham on sea!

Dear Jon,

I was up bright and breezy yesterday so I thought I'd take some photos of the pier and lighthouse at sunrise.The seagulls were milling about so I fed them some bread I had taken with me.

Then lo and behold the legendry famous flying duck billed platypus swooped down and picked up some bread in it's bill.Legend says that if you see the flying platypus within 3 days you'll be carted off to the funny farm!

Regards Davey C

RICHARD FREEMAN: Sea Shepherd squares up to whale murderers once more

This month Japan has confirmed its whaling fleet will be returning to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to slaughter whales again despite international disgust and condemnation. In an act of cowardice that beggars belief the Japanese government has boosted security for the fleet by 17 million pounds! This makes no financial sense and it seems to have been done just to spite other countries.

Sea Shepherd's Captain Paul Watson says…

“It now seems the Japanese government is simply obsessed with killing whales not for need, and not for profit, but because they believe they have the right to do what they wish and kill whatever they wish in an established international whale sanctuary, just for the sake of defending their misplaced ‘honour’. It's a disgrace”.

Anyone can see there is no ‘honour’ from the people, who at an international meeting on whaling last year tried to buy the votes of delegates from third world countries with bribes of money, alcohol and women.

Sea Shepherd will return to the remote waters for their Eighth Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign with a stronger anti-whaling fleet in early December 2011 to protect the whales.

Sea Shepherd will return to the remote waters for their Eighth Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign with a stronger anti-whaling fleet in early December 2011 to protect the great whales.
‘They will have to kill us to prevent us from intervening once again,' said Captain Watson. ‘Are the Japanese people ready to take human lives in defense of this horrifically cruel and illegal slaughter of endangered and protected species of whales? Do we have to die to appease Japanese honour?

'If so, my answer to the Japanese government is "hoka hey" - Lakota for ‘it's a good day to die' - and we will undertake whatever risks to our lives will be required to stop this invasion of arrogant greed into what is an established sanctuary for the whales.'

Operation Divine Wind will send more than 100 volunteers to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to defend the whales. ‘We intend to stop them and we will stop them - that's a promise,' said Peter Hammarstedt, first officer on Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker.

800 whales were saved by last year’s Se Shepherd operation.

CFZ PEOPLE: Jess Heard

Happy Birthday to my dear adopted neice-oh

LATEST ON DALE DRINNON'S 'CEDAR AND WILLOW' BLOG

Dale has been working hard. There is a new and improved homepage for the Cedar and Willow Blog, and some more stories:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/

The Cedar and Willow Blog now has a couple of short paragraphs on the page headers which explain what the basic concept and setup is all about.

The two Blog entries on Clara Bow are now up:
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/beech-clara-bow-filmography.html
and
http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2011/10/perils-of-betty-boopclara-bow.html
Both of which deal with different aspects of why Betty Boop is based on Clara Bow.
That Betty Rubble=Betty Boop, Wilma Flintstone=Wilma Deering, and that Wilma=Blondie Boopadoop as sister of Betty Boopadoop are all my own inventions since the mid-1970s.
The basic concepts are from a self-published comic book series I would put out occasionally, Adventures On That Strange Planet Called Earth.