Danielle Brigida (starfocus on Bsky)

Curious naturalist.🌱 Staying positive is more productive. Here to appreciate wonder & beauty.

[International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) @IBCA_official]

eDNA Reveals #SnowLeopards in Bhutan’s Highlands

High in the Eastern Himalayas, near Mount Jomolhari, scientists collected water from the Paa Chhu River.

Through environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, these samples revealed genetic evidence of 19 mammal species, including the elusive snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul), among others, the first detections of their kind in this region through river-based eDNA.

This achievement underscores the power of water as a carrier of biodiversity information, and eDNA as a transformative, non-invasive tool for monitoring wildlife in remote, high-elevation landscapes.

https://t.co/JUWjf4TEpo

PC: DoFPS, MOENR Bhutan

[Scott Taylor @ScottTaylorTV]

I've discovered @DominionEnergy is back to cutting down trees along the W & OD trail in Virginia.

It's chopping down another 132 trees.

It says it's emergency maitenence to protect its electrical towers from trees.

@NOVA_Parks disagrees & says the removal of more trees should wait until Dominion agrees to a new vegetation managment agreement.

Dominion has not supplied any documentation that a tree along the trail has caused a power outage with one of it's electrical towers or anywhere in Virginia in the past 20 years.

It does point to a tree causing massive power outages along the east coast in 2003 that took place in Ohio which also included a faulty First Energy alarm that didn't alert the energy company to sagging lines that came in contact with a tree.

Dominion in a June letter to Nova Parks says it's only selectively pruning or removing trees that are dead, invasive or directly underneath the transmission lines.

Plus, removing some invasive trees and vegetation at the request of the county and NOVA Parks.

Dominion says most of the trees and vegetation in the right of way are not being touched. A vast majority of the trees being removed are considered undesirable under the old MOU with NOVA Parks.

I am working on an update on what type of trees the energy company is cutting down and when it will sign a new deal with Nova Parks that has been on the desk of Dominion since April.

[Danielle Brigida (starfocus on Bsky) @starfocus]

This #livestream of a bald eagle nest is the entertainment I need ❤️ https://t.co/9hI57eFIRS 🦅

Thanks @USFWS

[PBS News @NewsHour]

Harry Stewart Jr., a decorated World War II pilot and one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, has died. He was 100 years old.

After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Stewart enlisted as soon as he turned 18. He joined what was considered an experiment to train Black pilots in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Stewart went on to fly 43 combat missions. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for downing three German aircraft during a single dogfight. Stewart retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1950, but later returned to the skies to give rides to aspiring young pilots.

“I did not recognize at the time the gravity of what we are facing. I just felt as though it was a duty of mine at the time. I just stood up to my duty,” Stewart told CNN during an interview about World War II in 2024.

Photo by Monica Morgan via Getty Images

[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service @USFWS]

"It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever." - President Jimmy Carter

📸 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by Danielle Brigida/USFWS

[Wildlife SOS @WildlifeSOS]

Grateful and ready to #GiveBack this #CryptoGivingTuesday?  YOU can give #BabyBani the best chance for healing and dignity - the chance to be an elephant and live her best life.   https://t.co/8ThA3ZHm1L #CryptoForGood

Calling all HODLERS - you can help too!  LIKE/RT if you LOVE Bani and help us win $10,000 from @TheGivingBlock

#BonkForBani @Bonk_Inu @BonkForPaws $Raju #BTC $BONK #ETH #SOLANA @Solana @EpicElephants

[WWF News @WWFnews]

New in @TIME, WWF's @DrRebeccaShaw writes about the catastrophic loss of wildlife revealed in the Living Planet Report. "The decisions we make in the next five years will determine if we can reverse these trends or watch them spiral out of control." https://t.co/8TmxLNdejh

[GoNatureForward @GoNatureForward]

Great photo by @starfocus!

[Danielle Brigida (starfocus on Bsky) @starfocus]

@GoNatureForward Thank you! ❤️

[Danielle Brigida (starfocus on Bsky) @starfocus]

Found a cecropia moth under a streetlight in Virginia. What an amazing moth! It circled under the street light until it landed on the road. I gently moved it to a nearby tree.

[Beth Pratt @bethpratt]

Don’t Stop Believing! That’s always been my theme song for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing! We did it! I get emotional everytime I drive UNDER this bridge knowing what it will mean for wildlife.

[Danielle Brigida (starfocus on Bsky) @starfocus]

Happy Birthday, Rachel Carson!
Her lessons of fostering endless and durable wonder in our natural world act as my North Star. ⭐️

“One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?”

[World Wildlife Fund @World_Wildlife]

Happy World Bee Day! Bees rarely receive the credit they deserve for their integral role in fighting climate change. Learn more about these unsung climate heroes: https://t.co/Sd01rDVyCJ.

[Carl Safina @carlsafina]

Owls and hawks and many other natural hunters of rats and mice are feeding young now. So now's a good time not to use rodent poisons. Let our natural hunters eat clean and raise their babies. The more of them, the less we need poisons and traps.

[Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation @OKWildlifeDept]

A SINGLE MOM WHO WORKS TWO JOBS,
WHO LOVES HER KIDS AND NEVER STOPS,
WITH GENTLE HANDS AND A HEART OF A FIGHTEEEERRRRR

[WWF-Bhutan @WWFBhutan]

Highlights from SFTCL Day-1: Her Majesty the Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck led the inauguration of the Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Conference at the majestic Dungkar Dzong, Pangbisa. Joined by HRH Prince Hassanal Shah, Crown Prince of Pahang, Malaysia.

[World Wildlife Fund @World_Wildlife]

Our planet isn't single-use. Thank you to @U2 for making Beautiful Day the anthem of our new Plastics PSA: https://t.co/4vk8MKguyJ.