This week in birds

This week in birds - #270

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

Black Skimmer flying over Galveston Bay.

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Though the rains of Hurricane Harvey moved on this week, our region will long be dealing with the multi-pronged environmental disaster created by the storm. Air pollution, chemical and gas spills, as well as the dirty floodwater pose a continuing threat to public health as well as to the survival of wildlife, including some endangered species, such as the Attwater's Prairie-Chicken.

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Although scientists always caution that specific weather events cannot be directly tied to the effects of climate change, the record floods around the world in 2017 certainly do not seem coincidental. As of this week, more than 1400 people had died in floods in South Asia. In mid-August, flooding in Sierra Leone and resultant mudslides killed hundreds. In all of these cases, the damage to infrastructure and property and the economy is incalculable.

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It's time to count your shorebirds. The fourth annual Global Shorebird Counting is underway, running from September 1-7. Results of counts can be reported to eBird. World Shorebirds Day, a day to celebrate shorebirds and those who protect them, is September 6 every year.

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Hurricanes are a mixed bag for bays and estuaries such as those of the Aransas Wildlife Refuge on the Southeast Texas coast to which the endangered Whooping Cranes will be returning in a few weeks to spend their winter. Although the storms can cause widespread destruction, as Harvey certainly did, they also bring an infusion of fresh water which can be beneficial and life-giving.

Unfortunately, in the case of Harvey, the extensive damage caused when it came ashore at Rockport as a category 4 hurricane included the destruction of the International Crane Foundation's office there. They are seeking donations to help rebuild.

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Bobolinks are grassland birds. In the past, there was a fairly stable population of the birds in New England, but with continued development there, that population declined. Now they are seldom seen there, but The Bobolink Project is seeking to reverse their decline.

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Certain animals, such as the snowshoe hare, change their colors to match the seasons to make it easier for them to hide from their predators. What will happen to these animals when the seasons do not change as they have in the past, when summers get longer and longer and snows don't come as frequently? Will they be able to adapt to climate change? Experiments are being conducted that it is hoped will give some data to answer that question.

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This Cooper's Hawk, which sought refuge in a man's taxi during Hurricane Harvey and whose image subsequently went viral on social media, is now safely in the care of wildlife rehabilitators. He was, inevitably, dubbed Harvey.

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The NRA-friendly administration in Washington is backing legislation which that organization has proposed that would restrict the National Park Service from regulating hunting and fishing within park boundaries. The Park Service objects to the legislation and has tried to make those objections known but the administration has prevented it from voicing concerns.

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Because so many of them nest in the Arctic, which is changing rapidly due to warming caused by climate change, shorebirds are already being adversely affected by the heating up of the planet.

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The Eastern Bluebird's range once extended into the Bahamas, but it is one of seventeen bird species that were endemic to the islands but which disappeared from them during the last ice age. They no longer live there today.

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As winters become milder, pests like the southern pine beetle are moving farther north.

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Conservationists are attempting to create a new colony of Laysan Albatrosses on Oahu as a hedge against their current colony being flooded by rising sea water.

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Birds, in general, are not known for their great senses of smell, but a new study of Scopali's Shearwaters indicates that seabirds do use that sense to help them navigate over open water.

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Corridors for animals to travel through human habitats make their daily and seasonal commutes through those areas safer, less likely to end in tragedy.

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Bicknell's Thrush may hold the unenviable distinction of having the smallest population size of any migratory songbird within the contiguous United States.

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Energy companies continue to shut down their old coal-fired plants and convert to more sustainable and cleaner sources of energy production such as wind, solar, or natural gas.

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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