Wildlife

Janet S. McKegg, whose career with the Department of Natural Resources spanned nearly three decades, died Friday from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Elternhaus, a Dayton assisted-living facility. The former West Friendship resident was 58. The daughter of a tool-and-die inspector and a seamstress, the former Janet Sponaugle was born in Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown. She was raised in Pleasant Valley near Boonsboro. A nature lover since she was a child, she often cared for the baby groundhogs and squirrels that her father had brought home to be raised.

Maryland's threatened little bog turtles may be getting some extra help from the state's farmers, under a new federal conservation initiative. Obama adminstration officials are slated to unveil today (3/8) a $33 million bid to make more farmers and other landowners partners - instead of potential adversaries - in efforts to save seven rare and endangered critters, including North America's smallest turtle, which in Maryland is found here and there in marshy spots in Carroll, Baltimore, Harford and Cecil counties.

Dr. Richard Ruggiero, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will make a presentation at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Blue Heron Room at Quiet Waters Park on "The fight to save African elephants, rhinos, hippos, chimpanzees and gorillas: The amazing story of a U.S. biologist's quest to preserve Africa's wildlife. " Before that, he caught up to answer five questions about the topic. Let's start with the question you will pose: is it possible to save that part of the world?

Birders are always on the lookout for unfamiliar avian visitors, and this past weekend was no exception. The weather was great for two-legged and winged creatures alike to be out and about. And though no excuse was needed, really, the Great Backyard Bird Count  has been under way. Veteran birder Kurt Schwarz spied some "neat ducks" that he says don't usually show up in Howard County. The pair of  Redheads and a Greater Scaup pictured here that he photographed were in among some Canada geese on a pond by Clarksville Middle School - proof you don't have to go to a wildlife refuge to spot some interesting wildlife.

Ronald M. Tillier, a retired Ford Motor Co. executive and longtime Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge volunteer, died Sunday. He was 72. Mr. Tillier, who enjoyed competitive clay and skeet shooting, was attending a meet Sunday afternoon in Kennedyville on the Eastern Shore when he was stricken. "He was just preparing to call for targets to be thrown by the trapper when he simply dropped where he was standing," said his wife of 48 years, the former Margaret "Peggy" Clare.

Wildlife Visitor Center in Laurel hosts Film Festival The National Wildlife Conservation Film Festival runs Nov. 4-6 in the Aldo Leopold Auditorium at the National Wildlife Visitor Center at Patuxent Research Refuge, 10901 Scarlet Tanager Loop. The festival offers more than 20 short and feature natural history and wildlife documentary films representing nations across the globe. Films are screened in a two-hour series, with each series showing from two to five films. Friday's films shown between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday showings begin at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. Cost for each series is $8 per adult and $6 for students and seniors.

They pulled, scraped and snipped, chatting about the satisfaction of giving nature a boost as well as the task of checking themselves for ticks. In a little more than two hours on Tuesday morning, these dozen volunteers working alongside Howard County parks staffers had offered TLC to about 300 young trees and shrubs, planted eight more saplings and removed invasive plants in a low-lying section of the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area. A similar event takes place once a month for much of the year in the 1,051-acre parkland under a longtime Conservation Stewardship Program coordinated with the county's master gardeners, volunteers who are part of the University of Maryland Extension Service.

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge - home to migrating ducks and geese along with the bald eagle and Delmarva fox squirrel - will be taken over by a bunch of sweaty bicyclists when the USA Triathlon National Long Course Duathlon Championship comes to the 27,000-acre preserve in Cambridge next June. "It's a great place to hold an event," said TriColumbia president Robert Vigorito, whose organization also hosts the Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon as well as the the Ironman 70.3 EagleMan, a qualifying event for the world's most famous Ironman event in Hawaii This marks the second time that Vigorito's organization has held a duathlon in the refuge.

A new whooping crane observatory at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center will allow the public to see the endangered cranes up-close and year-round for the first time. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the observatory was held at the research center's 75th anniversary celebration and Wildlife Festival Saturday, Oct. 15, while live footage of the cranes streamed from the observatory. "Only a handful of people have seen whooping cranes," Greg Smith, director of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, said.

Bill Alwine , an avid angler from Sparks, writes: I have approximately 1,000 yards of used monofilament line. What is the best, and most eco-friendly way, to dispose of this without harming any wildlife or the environment? Outdoors Girl applauds your decision to rid yourself of nasty fishing line in a responsible manner. Plastic monofilament takes more than 500 years to decompose. Carelessly discarded line can kill seabirds, fish and other wildlife. Many Maryland state parks have white receptacles near fishing spots for anglers to dump old line.