A Second Nominee For The Geico Rock Award -- A Day For The Birds

It looks like we have a second nominee for the Geico Rock Award: a University of Jamestown biologist. The biologist has concerns about golden eagles in the Killdeer Mountains being electrocuted by a proposed transmission line through the area. This is the first time I have heard concerns for any birds from this North Dakota biologist. North Dakota competes, among the other 49 states, for bragging rights in the number of wind farms that are directly in the fly ways of migratory birds.

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Biologists are concerned that a proposed power transmission line that would skirt the southern Killdeer Mountains in western North Dakota could disrupt nesting habitat for protected golden eagles.

A research biologist said the eagles around the Killdeer Mountains are of special concern because they exhibit rare paired hunting and group hunting behavior, never before documented in golden eagles.

Marguerite Coyle, an assistant biology professor at the University of Jamestown who has studied the golden eagles since 2002, said placement and construction of the power line could disturb nesting sites. She’s also concerned eagles could be electrocuted or be killed by striking the lines in flight.

Not one mention of all the wind farms in North Dakota. Nada. Nil. Zilch. 

The last line of the article is no longer entirely accurate. The last line:

Eagles have been protected by federal law since 1940.

Not really. Under President Obama, the Interior Department granted 30-year blanket immunity to wind farm developers whose turbines have killed any protected birds.

The hypocrisy is striking. The Geico Rock Award nomination rightly deserved. But the competition is likely to be tough this year. 

As long as we are on the subject of birds flying into wind turbines, the placement of these two headlines in The Los Angeles Times this morning was priceless:

I captured the screen shot at 5:13:13 this a.m. I was reading the iPad in bed when I saw it. I immediately jumped out of bed to get it on the MacBook Pro. I'm glad I did. Sometime between then and now (less than four hours later) the story on whooping cranes has been removed. Even the LA Times editor noted the "problem."

Neither story, by the way, mentioned the controversy over wind farms and migratory birds.