This week in birds

This week in birds - #126

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

The most ubiquitous gull along the Gulf Coast at most seasons is the raucous Laughing Gull, seen here in flight over Galveston Bay.

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According to the National Climatic Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the combined average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces for August 2014 was a record high for the month, at 0.75 degrees C (1.35 degrees F) above the 20th century average of 15.6 degrees C (60.1 degrees F), topping the previous record set in 1998.

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A new study published in Environmental Science and Technology journal states that the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf in 2010 dumped 22,000 tons of oil on the Gulf Coast, mostly on Louisiana.

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"The Prairie Ecologist" writes about the effects of fires on the prairie. The frequency of the fires determines to a large extent the effects that will result.

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A creek is more than just a flowing stream of water. Creeks and rivers are the basis of riparian habitats that provide water, food, shade, cover from (and for) predators, and breeding and nesting sites. Some of the species found there exist nowhere else.

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No one knows for sure how Monk Parakeets first arrived in New York, but it was most likely through the pet trade. However it happened, the birds have invaded the city and have adapted to life there. They seem to be thriving.

Also on the subject of Monk Parakeets, a new study details the complex social relationships of these birds when they are in captivity.

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"Birding is Fun" has a post about one of the most beautiful of our shorebirds, the American Avocet.

I photographed this small group of Avocets along a beach at Rockport, TX.

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What is fracking and what are its benefits and its dangers? We all need to understand it as that practice becomes more common. "From Quarks to Quasars" explains.

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Many birds in arid lands are in serious decline while many in wetlands are thriving due to more extensive conservation practices for those areas. This was one of the findings outlined in the State of the Birds report that was issued last week.

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Here are some striking pictures from the Bird Ecology Study Group of the Asian Glossy Starling.

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"Bug Eric" writes about an amazing insect called the blue-winged grasshopper.

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In New Jersey, a group of legislators is introducing a bill to increase planting of milkweed in the state, in an effort to aid the seriously declining Monarch butterfly.

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The Larsen B ice shelf along the Antarctic Peninsula is likely to collapse because of warming temperatures in the area.

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Around the backyard:

Warblers have been passing through on migration this week. Late Tuesday afternoon, just at dusk, I had the rare pleasure of watching a lovely little Yellow Warbler in its fall feathers enjoying a bath in my little fountain. The bird had been attracted by the sound of the trickling water and it spent several minutes splashing in and out of it. I knew there was some reason I installed that fountain!

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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