Rare, lost bird makes landing in U.K.
LONDON, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A bird that took a wrong turn on its way from North America to Latin America and ended up in Britain has birdwatchers there excited, observers say.
A yellow-bellied flycatcher, native to Canada and the Northeast United States, has drawn hundreds of birdwatchers to the England's Norfolk coast after apparently getting lost while migrating to Central or South America for the winter, the Daily Mail reported Monday.
The bird was first seen Saturday and news of the sighting spread through the United Kingdom's Rare Bird Alert network, the newspaper said.
"When I heard there was a flycatcher on the east coast it was almost too much to believe and I had to see it for myself," said David Norgate, 44, who made the hourlong walk from the nearest parking lot to the clump of sycamore trees where the bird has made its unexpected home.
Paul Noakes of Great Yarmouth, a birdwatcher for 45 years, managed to catch a glimpse of the wayward traveler.
"Sadly, it must have got lost and will never get back again. Very often birds that get lost like this don't survive, particularly if the weather remains bad," he said.
Study zeroes in on likely eruptions
LEEDS, England, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A study of recent volcanic activity in Africa has revealed a method to pinpoint where volcanic eruptions are likely to occur, British researchers say.
Scientists from the universities of Leeds along with U.S. and African researchers studied volcanic activity in the remote Afar desert of Northern Ethiopia from 2005 to 2009, a release said.
Looking at a sequence of magmatic events, where molten rock flowed into a crack between the African and Arabian tectonic plates, they found the location of each event in the sequence was not random.
Instead they were linked, because each event changed the amount of tension in the earth's crust, the researchers said.
By monitoring levels of tension in the ground near where each event occurred they found subsequent eruptions were more likely in places where the tension increased.
One researcher compared the linkage to that observed for earthquakes.
"It's been known for some time that a large earthquake has a role to play in triggering subsequent earthquakes, but until now, our knowledge of volcanic events has been based on isolated cases," Ian Hamling at the University of Leeds said.
"We have demonstrated that volcanic eruptions can influence each other.
"Knowing the state of stress in this way won't tell you when an eruption will happen, but it will give a better idea of where it is most likely to occur," Hamling said.
Mom's smoking may hurt child's motor skill
OREBRO, Sweden, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Smoking during pregnancy may affect the child's physical coordination, British and Swedish researchers say.
Researchers from Orebro University in Sweden looked at 13,000 children taking part in the National Child Development Study where the children -- all born in Great Britain in one week in March, 1959 -- were continually tracked and smoking habits of the mothers during pregnancy were among the factors noted. The childrens' physical control and coordination were tested at age 11 by school physicians.
The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, finds the children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy had a higher risk of poorer coordination and physical control.
"We discovered that boys' abilities may be affected to a greater extent than those of girls," Scotte Montgomery says in a statement.
Montgomery and colleagues suggest a link between nicotine and testosterone may be affecting the boys. Nicotine, they say, can influence development of the brain in the fetus -- especially since nicotine interacts with testosterone -- and could make boys extra susceptible to fetal nicotine exposure.
Australia faces record locust swarms
SYDNEY, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Australia faces the prospect of the worst plague of locusts to hit the country in 75 years, which could cost billions in damage to farms, experts say.
Prolonged warm, wet weather last summer meant that three generations of locusts were born, each one up to 150 times larger than the previous generation, Britain's The Independent reported Sunday.
After spending the winter underground, the first generation of 2010 is already hatching, and after the wettest August in seven years the climate is again perfect, the newspaper said.
The juveniles will spend 20 to 25 days eating and growing until population pressure will force them to swarm, scientists say.
Experts fear this year's infestation could be the worst in the 75 years since records were first kept.
"South Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria are all going to get hammered," locust expert Greg Sword, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, said.
A half-mile wide swarm of locusts can chew through 10 tons of crops in a day.
The New South Wales Farmers Association said an area the size of Spain was affected, and the government of Victoria alone forecasts $1.9 billion in damage, The Independent said.
