This week in birds

This week in birds - #155

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

Black-throated Green and several other warblers have been passing through the area this week. They've been joined by Summer Tanagers and the last of the Baltimore Orioles in the headlong rush to get to their breeding grounds.

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The most dramatic news of the environment this week was, of course, the tragic earthquake that took so many lives in Nepal and the Himalayas. This earthquake was the result of a collision of land masses that took place 25 million years ago when India crashed into Asia. Those land masses are still colliding today at a rate of 1.5 to 2 inches a year which sets off these devastating earthquakes.

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Next Saturday, May 9, has been designated as a Global Big Day when birders around the world are encouraged to observe, count, and report the birds in their area. The objective is to list as many as possible of the approximately 10,000 bird species extant in the world today. You can participate by reporting your findings to eBird.

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A new analysis, published Thursday in the journal Science, has found that 1 in every 6 species of plants and animals on Earth are in danger of becoming extinct as a result of the effects of global climate change.

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City lights are a death trap for migrating birds. They confuse them, cause them to crash into buildings or other dangers, and result in millions of death each year. The state of New York has decided to try to do something about it. The state will turn off the non-essential lights in state buildings during the peak of migration seasons. It would be great if other states follow suit.

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Around 30 to 37 million acres of forest are lost each year which is devastating for the birds and other animals that depend on that habitat.

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The latest dinosaur to be discovered in China is unique. It was a pigeon-sized animal with wings, but the wings were made of a membrane somewhat like bat wings. The animal also had feathers, including on the leading edge of the wings; however, the body of the wings was not covered in feathers. It represented a combination of two styles of living.

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California's governor issued an executive order on Wednesday that speeds up the state's already ambitious program aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The action was taken to address "an ever-growing" threat to the state's economy and well-being posed by global warming.

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An op-ed piece in The New York Times today addresses the problems faced by migrating shorebirds and lists some of the actions that we can take to help them. The title of the piece is ominous. It is "Silent Seashores."

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Climate scientists always caution that individual weather events cannot be tied directly to the phenomenon of global warming, but a study released by scientists last Monday notes that the moderate warming that has already occurred has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes since the Industrial Revolution. They warn that a failure to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control could result in a 62-fold increase in such heat blasts.

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Project SNOWstorm tracks Snowy Owls with telemetry. Trackers are often frustrated when contact is lost and they never learn what happened to their owls. This week, though, they did get updates on two of the owls with which contact had been lost.

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A new study of Monk Parakeets shows that the birds that have colonized in North America and Europe originate in the same small area in South America and have lower genetic diversity in the invasive populations than in their native populations. The invasive birds are the result of birds in the pet trade that have been released to the wild either accidentally or on purpose.

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Moths use their middle and hind legs to jump into the air before opening their wings to take flight.

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"You're worrying about the wrong bees," writes Gwen Pearson in Wired. With all the publicity that the threat to honeybees has gotten in recent years, what has been sometimes lost among the press releases has been that the threat to native bees is even greater. Moreover, native bees are much more efficient and valuable pollinators. And they are beautiful insects.

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Around the backyard:

The Carolina Chickadees have fledged. The Carolina Wrens have fledged. Soon the Eastern Bluebirds will join them. For now, though, their beautiful parents fly themselves ragged from dawn to dusk every day as they work to keep their five little ones fed and growing. Only a few more days, parents, and then you can rest.

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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