This week in birds

This week in birds - #398

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

Male Baltimore Oriole on feeder.

The spring migration has continued in full swing this week. When I stepped outside on Monday, the first sound I heard was the unmistakable call of the Yellow-breasted Chat. There seemed to be several of them all around the yard giving their whistles, chuckles, rattles, and squawks. It always makes me smile to hear them. The Great Crested Flycatchers arrived the same day, but the stars of the show had to be the Baltimore Orioles. It's always a thrill when they pass through. Some years the yard has been filled with them, but I've only seen a few this year so far. They do love their oranges as the one in the picture shows.

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For Earth Day, The New York Times offered a crash course on climate change on the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day.

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As the price of crude oil collapsed this week, producers were forced to shut down rigs. The shale oil industry is expected to shrink. This would seem like a good time to wind down dependence on fossil fuel and switch to cleaner sources of energy.

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Blue Tit image from The Guardian.

This little bird is a Blue Tit and something very bad is happening to its species in Germany. More than 11,000 instances of sick or dead birds have been reported within the last couple of weeks. A bacterial infection seems to be the cause.

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One of the unexpected effects of climate change is an alteration to Nature's soundscape.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that there is a 75% chance that 2020 will be the warmest year on record, beating out 2016.

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A global study has found that there has been a 25% decrease in insect populations since 1990. Since insects are a vital link in the food chain, this is a very worrying statistic.

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Red Knots will be arriving in the Mid-Atlantic area over the next few weeks on their long migration route. Although they come in fewer numbers these days, their migration is still one of the wonders of Nature.

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A study of outdoor domestic cats using tracking collars found that they do not stray far from their homes, but they have an enormous impact on wildlife in that area, killing more than their owners are aware of. They have a bigger impact, in fact, than wild predators.

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Decades of dam building and water extraction have had an effect on the ecosystem of San Francisco Bay. The ecosystem is collapsing under the weight of the demands made on it.

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Would you be surprised to learn that the groups protesting stay-at-home directives are financed by the same people who have been financing climate change denialists? Incidentally, some wags on Facebook have dubbed the protestors the "Flu Flux Klan" or the "Branch Covidians." Seems about right to me.

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About 40 million years ago, frogs lived on Antarctica. Of course, it was a lot warmer then. A fossil frog has been found from that period and it appears to be related to modern-day frogs in South America.

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A new study traces the evolution of bird brains from tyrannosaurs to modern crows. The study found that those birds that evolved later, like crows and parrots, have bigger brains.

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The side-effects of the pandemic on Nature offer a vision of an alternative future of the possibility of a healthier relationship with the natural world.

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Tiny primates called tamarins are one of the more charismatic and beloved symbols of conservation in Brazil, where they are building an overpass over a major highway for the little critters to keep them safe from traffic.

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A large tree fell in Panama in October 2015 and it took a lot of its neighbors with it. After the clearing of the area, the number of hummingbirds there has increased.

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Not all pigeons, or more accurately, Rock Doves, are from the same gene pool. Along the Atlantic Coast, for example, researchers found that there were two distinct populations, the New York branch and the Boston branch separated by Connecticut.

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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