This week in birds - #689

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

This is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is the 'A'o (Newell's Shearwater), a bird of aquatic habitats and forests in Hawaii. It is nonmigratory. This bird's population is decreasing and it is now considered critically endangered. It faces threats from many sources - cats, rats, mongooses, as well as degradation of its environment by invasive plants and animals such as pigs and goats. The 'A'o is a nighttime flyer and it is sometimes disoriented by artificial lights and can collide with powerlines and other structures. Conservation organizations are working to get a predator-proof fence built around Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge as one means of protecting the remaining population. 

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This year's El Nino is still growing and that is not a good thing.

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So the current administration is considering giving up part of Yosemite National Park to a private developer. One suspects this is only the beginning.

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When fruit is scarce, the bearded capuchins of northeastern Brazil hunt animals. Researchers believe this may provide a clue to the origins of humans' own meat-eating habits. 

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Snails are able to tweak the texture of their slime in order to suit their need of the moment.

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Forests did not fare well in an ancient global warming event and that does not seem to bode well regarding today's climate change.

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Climate change raises the risk of more disasters like the recent Nepal floods.

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Saving old trees is good for us as well as the trees.

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Anti-data-center sentiment is growing across the country. It turns out most people don't want them in their communities. 

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The administration is shortening the period for review for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. That is not a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. 

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"Save the microbes!" is a new rallying cry from microbiologists.

Poetry Sunday: Ode to Kool-Aid by Marcus Jackson

And now for something completely different...

I remember so well the summers when my kids were growing up and their beverage of choice was always Kool-Aid. I wonder how many gallons of that stuff I mixed over those years. Well, Marcus Jackson understands and he thinks that beverage deserves to be celebrated.

Ode to Kool-Aid

by Marcus Jackson

You turn the kitchen

tap’s metallic stream

into tropical drink,
extra sugar whirlpooling
to the pitcher-bottom
like gypsum sand.
Purplesaurus Rex, Roarin’
Rock-A-Dile Red, Ice Blue
Island Twist, Sharkleberry Fin;
on our tongues, each version
keeps a section, like tiles
on the elemental table.
In ninth grade, Sandra
employed a jug of Black Cherry
to dye her straightened
bangs burgundy.
When toddlers swallow you,
their top lips mustache in color
as if they’ve kissed paint.
The trendy folks can savor
all that imported mango nectar
and health-market juice.
We need factory-crafted packets,
unpronounceable ingredients,
a logo cute enough to hug,
a drink unnaturally sweet
so that, on the porch,
as summer sun recedes,
Granddad takes out his teeth
to make more mouth to admit you.

This week in birds - #688

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week for last week was the Koloa Maoli (Hawaiian Duck), an endemic nonmigratory Hawaiian species whose population is vulnerable but increasing.

The Bird of the Week for this week is The Black-necked Stilt, a long-legged shorebird that inhabits wetlands. Their population appears to be stable but they are vulnerable to the threat of habitat loss and pollution.

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Europe is enduring heat wave after heat wave this summer with temperatures expected to soar to 109 degrees Fahrenheit this week. Meanwhile the United States suffered through its hottest month on record in July according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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Rising temperatures make pesticides a greater danger to farmworkers whose work brings them in contact with them.

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In more climate news, this year's El Niño is huge and it is already having an effect on the weather and on crop failures.

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In the Chicago area, an extremely rare half male, half female Bobolink has been causing a stir among birders.  

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A global web of subsea cables is able to detect whales even when they are silent.

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The current administration is moving ahead with plans to end the roadless rule for national forests over the strong objections of environmentalists.

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Arborists are working to save a three-hundred-year-old live oak that lived through the Revolutionary War in South Carolina.

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In Minnesota, the Monarch butterflies have begun their migration south to their winter home in Mexico.

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When predators are around, deer tend to avoid roads, thus making being hit by a car less likely.

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This is a Himalayan salamander. They are an ancient species and the people of Darjeeling are working to ensure that they are also present in the future. 

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British Columbia is logging the last of its old-growth trees. Protestors are sleeping in the roads in a desperate attempt to stop it.

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Sowing wildflowers on land scorched by wildfires in California is an attempt to shore up the land and heal the mess that has been left behind.

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Why do narwhals' tusks grow the way they do? Scientists are studying that question in an attempt to find the answer. 

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Do monkeys keep pets? Evidence certainly suggests the possibility.

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A coral reef that was presumed dead has been found to be teeming with life.

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The world's first rewilded sharks are bing raised by shark nannies.

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Kazakhstan has released its first tiger into the wild in more than seven decades. More are on the way.

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California is phasing out the use of paraquat, an herbicide that has been linked to Parkinson's Disease. 

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is showing one of the oldest surviving copies of Homer's "The Odyssey."

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There are actually a few dinosaur "mummies" that exist and they are avidly studied by scientists.

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Some octopuses are extremely smart and, of course, scientists want to know why.

No TWIB this week

It's been a busy week and I haven't had a chance to gather topics for This Week in Birds. Next week should be a little less hectic and I hope to be able to participate once again. Happy Saturday! 

Jackie

                                                                                       Jackie:  2012 - 2026

With the aid of a livestream of her nest high in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake in California, millions of viewers have watched Jackie, the Bald Eagle, and her mate, Shadow, since 2018. I was among those millions since 2019 when I discovered the online site.

We watched as Jackie laid her eggs and incubated them. We experienced disappointment and sadness when, often, the eggs didn't hatch or they were destroyed by the ever-present Common Ravens. And we experienced joy on the occasions when those eggs did hatch and Jackie and Shadow devoted themselves to feeding and caring for their chicks until they fledged.

That's what happened every year since their bond was formed and it is what happened this year. But then things went wrong.

In mid-July, Jackie was found weak and unable to fly on the north shore of Big Bear Lake. She had been attacked by two younger eagles but authorities do not think the attack is what caused her grounding. Had she been left there, she would undoubtedly have been killed and eaten by a coyote or mountain lion, but the decision was made and permission was obtained to capture her and try to save her. She was taken to Ojai Raptor Center where she was treated until her death.

Veterinarians who treated her found that she was emaciated and had likely been ill from some as yet undetermined disease for quite some time before she was rescued. She had severe anemia and was given a blood transfusion from another eagle. She initially showed some slight improvement but then her condition regressed and she died Monday morning at the raptor center. And around the world, all those millions of viewers, her fans, mourned her loss.

How can one even begin to explain what these two eagles have meant to us and how much we have learned about life in the wild through watching them over these past years? How can one explain the tears shed over the death of a wild animal who never knew we existed or knew how much we cared about her and how much we were hoping for her recovery? It was not to be.

But life around Big Bear Lake continues and it is now protected from development largely because the fame of Jackie and Shadow helped to raise the $10 million that was needed to save the area from a housing subdivision that had been planned. Life goes on for Shadow and for the two chicks from this year's nest that have now fledged and moved on to find and establish their own territories. 

Shadow remains and, when the new breeding season begins, he will likely find a new mate and perhaps they will build their nest and raise a family in view of the cameras. It is possible they could even use the now empty nest that Shadow continues to guard. And perhaps by then our hearts will have healed so that we can enjoy watching this new family. But I can guarantee that Jackie will not be forgotten by any of us and that we will continue to treasure her memory and be grateful for the years we had together.   

Poetry Sunday: In Summer Time by Paul Dunbar

Paul Dunbar's poem describes the kind of summer that I remember from my time of growing up on the farm. It was indeed a time which lulled the senses and made for drowsy indolence when all one really wanted to do was take a nap in the shade of an oak tree. But since it was a farm, there were animals and fields to be cared for, so no time for napping. Still one could enjoy the "birds' songs," the "bees' low monotone," and the "waters' drone" while one took care of those necessary chores. The music of summer.

In Summer Time

by Paul Dunbar

When summer time has come, and all

The world is in the magic thrall

Of perfumed airs that lull each sense
To fits of drowsy indolence;
When skies are deepest blue above,
And flow'rs aflush,—then most I love
To start, while early dews are damp,
And wend my way in woodland tramp
Where forests rustle, tree on tree,
And sing their silent songs to me;
Where pathways meet and pathways part,—
To walk with Nature heart by heart,
Till wearied out at last I lie
Where some sweet stream steals singing by
A mossy bank; where violets vie
In color with the summer sky,—
Or take my rod and line and hook,
And wander to some darkling brook,
Where all day long the willows dream,
And idly droop to kiss the stream,
And there to loll from morn till night—
Unheeding nibble, run, or bite—
Just for the joy of being there
And drinking in the summer air,
The summer sounds, and summer sights,
That set a restless mind to rights
When grief and pain and raging doubt
Of men and creeds have worn it out;
The birds' song and the water's drone,
The humming bee's low monotone,
The murmur of the passing breeze,
And all the sounds akin to these,
That make a man in summer time
Feel only fit for rest and rhyme.
Joy springs all radiant in my breast;
Though pauper poor, than king more blest,
The tide beats in my soul so strong
That happiness breaks forth in song,
And rings aloud the welkin blue
With all the songs I ever knew.
O time of rapture! time of song!
How swiftly glide thy days along
Adown the current of the years,
Above the rocks of grief and tears!
'Tis wealth enough of joy for me
In summer time to simply be.

Another trip around the sun

My family is celebrating my birthday today, so no "This week in birds." If I survive the celebration, TWIB will return next week. Happy Saturday!