This week in birds

This week in birds - #427

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

The Rufous Hummingbirds have arrived. We usually have one or two of the little birds that spend the winter in our yard. That's why we keep our nectar feeders hanging and filled all year round.

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The global pandemic and global climate change are two problems that are not completely unrelated. Here is an explanation of that and some thoughts on how a Biden administration might tackle both.

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The current administration is rushing to try to auction off leases to drill for oil and gas in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before Biden takes office. Conservationists are planning ways to continue their fight to protect the refuge in court, hoping to be able to stall the actions until after the January inauguration.

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What will happen to border wall construction after the change in administrations? Border advocates and conservation groups are hoping that it and many of the onerous immigration actions of the past four years will be quickly reversed.

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Here's an exploration of the trauma and possibly irreversible damage that has occurred along the Texas border because of the wrongheaded wall construction.

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Photo courtesy of The Audubon.

The winter irruptions of White-breasted Nuthatches are often disguised because the little birds are already resident in many of the areas to which they migrate.

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U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are expected to drop by 9.2% this year to the lowest level since 1983. This is a result of the lower economic activity due to the global pandemic. That is somewhat offset however by the massive western wildfires.

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A famed scientist who played a key role in saving Galapagos tortoises and other species has some advice for the next generation of biologists.

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A previously unknown primate, the Popa langur, has been discovered by scientists in Myanmar, and, of course, it is already critically endangered.

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Remember the hungry caterpillar? Well, it turns out hungry caterpillars can be quite aggressive with each other when food is scarce.

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A tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl was found hiding in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The bird was dehydrated and was taken to a wildlife rehab facility to be nursed back to health. Of course, they named him Rockefeller.

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Maryland is to begin a sediment dredging and reuse project behind the Conowingo Dam which is famous primarily for its large population of Bald Eagles.

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Bolivia has approved the Barba Azul Nature Reserve as a private natural heritage preserve that will be a sanctuary for the endangered Blue-throated Macaw.

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Florida coral reefs have lost nearly 98% of their coral and the prospects for their survival are dire.

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A new marine sanctuary in the waters around Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean will become the fourth largest such sanctuary in the world.

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Some scientists argue that wolves are essential in curbing Chronic Wasting Disease that afflicts deer because they pick off the weaker animals. (I remember this as a part of the plot of Nevada Barr's Winter Study featuring Ranger Anna Pigeon.)

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The diversity of bird species to be found in urban areas is determined by the availability of food, particularly prey species of insects.

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Margaret Renkl writes about how we have shaped the world that has produced the COVID-19 virus and how animals suffer because of it. But neither can humans escape their accountability for the world we have created.

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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