This week in birds

This week in birds - #299

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

A trio of Wild Turkeys that I photographed at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Coast.

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Planting native plants instead of exotics in the garden has become something of a movement among gardeners in recent years and there are good reasons for it. As far as the gardener is concerned, a native plant is adapted to the environment and is more likely to survive and do well. But native plants also are more likely to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects and those insects in turn attract birds, amphibians, and reptiles that feed on them. It's a win, win, win. You can't beat that!

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If you were attending - or watching on television - the Minnesota Twins opening day game against the Seattle Mariners, you might have gotten more than you were expecting when a Bald Eagle landed on the shoulder of Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton. If you just saw the picture without the context, you might have thought the eagle was trying to abduct Paxton! Well, actually it wasn't a wild eagle, it was a tame, trained eagle who was part of the opening day ceremonies, but he became confused. There is an explanation, of course.

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A new study published this month in in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences makes the case that maintaining biodiversity is an important tool for staving off extinction.

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The Gulf Stream, the warm current in the Atlantic that has historically caused dramatic changes in climate, is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown because of the effects of a warming climate and may be less stable than had been thought. This could have dramatic and severe consequences for the climate.

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The Kirtland's Warbler is one of those success stories of the Endangered Species Act. Once headed for an early extinction, the bird has made a good comeback. So good in fact that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove it from the endangered list. The agency is now taking public comments on the proposal.

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North American climate boundaries are shifting because of climate change. Scientists have recently determined that the boundary between the humid eastern part of the continent and the arid west is shifting eastward. It is a change that could have significant implications for farming in the mid-western area.

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The Eastern indigo snake is the country's largest native snake and it is an apex predator. It feeds on other snakes - snakes that, in turn, feed on birds. So reintroducing the indigo snake to areas where it no longer exists could help songbirds since it would prey on one of their predators.

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Sea turtles return to their birthplace beach to lay their eggs, but how do they do that? How do they find the exact beach where they themselves hatched? They use Earth's magnetic fields. Clever critters!

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Moths are the Lepidoptera that work the night shift. They are more abundant and diverse than daytime-flying butterflies and they deserve more attention than they get.

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I was utterly delighted to learn this week that I share this world with a turtle that has a punky green Mohican "hairstyle" and that can breathe through its genitals!

Image from The Guardian.

And here it is. It is the Mary River turtle that is found in Queensland, Australia. Isn't it wonderful? The bad news is that it is endangered and is featured on the list of most vulnerable reptile species as compiled by the Zoological Society of London.

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Atlantic Puffins have beaks that are fluorescent and glow under UV lights.

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Satellite imagery confirms the drastic retreat of two large glaciers on Greenland's northwest coast.

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The Hihi is a sugar-lapping bird of New Zealand that, like many others on the island nation, is threatened with extinction. Part of the problem with the Hihi is its small population leading to inbreeding and dodgy sperm which makes breeding even more difficult. Scientists are studying the problem for the best way to help the bird survive.

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Rapidly rising seawaters are threatening Louisiana's vanishing wetlands. There is a plan to redirect the Mississippi River to assist in rebuilding some of the wetlands, but there may not be time left to save the threatened lands from the fast rising seas.

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Many, probably most, serious birders are obsessive listers, but what of those who are somewhat - um - less obsessive? Birders like myself. I love birds and I love watching birds and, yes, I do keep a life-list. Sort of. Matthew Miller is a birder after my own heart and he writes about "Birding For People Who Do Not Like Lists."

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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