This week in birds

This week in birds - #310

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

Common Gallinule preening itself at Brazos Bend State Park.

*~*~*~*

All-time heat records have been set around the planet over the last week. Numerous places in the Northern Hemisphere, even places that normally have mild summers, have witnessed their hottest weather ever recorded.

*~*~*~*

One of those places is Canada where the sweltering combination of heat and humidity has been linked by health officials to the deaths of 33 people across southern Quebec.

*~*~*~*

Republicans in the Senate are seeking a massive revision to the Endangered Species Act. The bottom line of their overhaul would be to shift responsibility for the protection of endangered species to the states, so we could theoretically end up with 50 different sets of laws, with some states potentially choosing to have no protections for threatened species.

*~*~*~*

The current administration in Washington is also seeking to revise protections for the endangered red wolf. Their plan would allow the wild population of the wolves to fall to 15 individuals. This could be a fatal blow to a species that already could face extinction within eight years, according to scientists' estimates.

*~*~*~*

Nutrient run-off from agriculture and urban sewage have caused the oxygen levels in the Baltic Sea to sink to a 1,500 year low. This causes "dead zones" that curtail habitats for creatures that live on the sea floor, affecting fish stocks and often leading to blooms of toxic algae.

*~*~*~*

Thirty years ago, NASA scientist James Hansen testified to Congress that the age of climate change had arrived and urged action to combat it. Hansen's warnings were prescient and his predictions have proved eerily accurate, but still our Congress refuses to act while every county in every state has heated up since then, sea level is rising, heavier rains and stronger storms are happening, and countless species of plants and animals are struggling to adapt.

*~*~*~*

A year and a half into the tenure of the current president, there still have been no nominees to head the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. The lack of leadership has grave consequences for the future of public lands. One could almost conclude that this administration doesn't give a flying fig about the care of public lands.

*~*~*~*

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put out its annual list of threatened and endangered species called the Red List. It has found that more than 26,000 of the world's species are now at risk of extinction.

*~*~*~*

The northern white rhino, which is already essentially extinct, could potentially be brought back from the dead by the miracle of science. The first rhino embryos have been created in a test tube and the two surviving female rhinos (the last male died in March) could have the embryos implanted through in vitro fertilization. If the procedure works, the species might be saved.

*~*~*~*

One of the last and largest populations of the beautiful Yellow-naped Parrot live on an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Ornithologists are seeking to protect the charismatic bird from the pressures of habitat degradation and threats from the illegal pet trade.

*~*~*~*

It's been a tough three months for whales along the coast of Washington and Oregon. Since April 3, there have been 16 cases of whale strandings along the coast according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Protected Resources.

*~*~*~*

Barn Owls look out at the world in much the same way that humans do. Although possessing simpler brains than primates, they process information about things moving in their environment in a similarly complex way.

*~*~*~*

America's cash-strapped national parks are plagued by delayed infrastructure repairs and upgrades. Now, the administration in Washington is proposing to slash funding for the parks even further.

*~*~*~*

Inbreeding presents an additional challenge for the already endangered Northern Spotted Owls. Scientists are searching for ways to increase genetic diversity and prevent further decline of the species.

*~*~*~*

Let's end the week on a note of beauty: Here are some wonderful pictures from "This Week in Wildlife." Enjoy!

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

Search This Blog