This week in birds

This week in birds - #385

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

Greater Yellowlegs photographed at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Coast.

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A conservative estimate of the number of animals killed in the Australian wildfires is over one billion.

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So it turns out that 2019 was only the second hottest year on record, just less than one-tenth of a degree Fahrenheit cooler than 2016.

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While the apocalyptic Australian wildfires have dominated the environmental news, Indonesia has been suffering some of the worst floods in its history. At least 66 people have been killed and thousands more have been forced to flee their homes.

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Here is a listing of species declared extinct in 2019, although some of them had actually probably been extinct for years.

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And still, the good fight goes on to save species from extinction. Lebanese conservationists are working to provide protected areas for migrating birds where they will be safe from hunters and they are trying to instill in the younger generation the values of protecting endangered wildlife.

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An aquarium and an engineering firm in Massachusetts are working on a project to better protect whales by monitoring them from space. It is hoped that the project will help with the effort to save endangered right whales.

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Detroit is experiencing an invasion by magical and magnificent Snowy Owls. Lucky Detroit birders!

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There are estimated to be about 435,000 plant species on Earth. About 36.5% of them could be considered extremely rare. The rarest are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

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There are steps that could be taken to reverse the insect apocalypse. These include phasing out synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

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The shift from the use of coal to gas in the U.S. has saved more than 300 million tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide. And a study has found that the shutdown of coal facilities has saved over 26,000 lives over the period of a decade.

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A treasure trove of ten previously unknown species and subspecies of birds has been found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

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One of the world's oldest, most resilient species, the Monarch butterfly could be decimated relatively soon by climate change.

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The American Kestrel, North America's smallest falcon and once the continent's most common and widespread, is declining in numbers at an alarming rate. The reasons for the decline are not entirely clear.

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Highways are an existential threat to the genetic diversity and indeed the survival of wolverines as a species for an unusual reason: It seems that female wolverines refuse to cross them. Although young males will cross them as they seek new territories, the females will not follow.

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New York City has conducted its first census of squirrels. It found that there were 2,273 of the critters in Central Park.

Not a Central Park squirrel enjoying its treats in my yard.

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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