This week in birds

This week in birds - #492

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

Most winters our bird feeders are constantly covered in these hungry little birds. They are Pine Siskins, noisy, active, argumentative, and always fun to watch. This winter I have not seen a single one. Where are they? I have missed them.

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As Russia has pressed its invasion of Ukraine, the main concern has been the fate of the humans caught in its path. But what about Ukraine's environment? War inevitably brings environmental destruction and this one is no exception.

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In all the squawking about high gas prices, conservatives have been quick to point the finger at the country's conservation policies, implying that we would be energy self-sufficient if we just "Drill, baby, drill!" But this report says we can't drill our way out of the problem.

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The Pacific Flyway of migrating birds is in serious danger of collapse because of the water crisis in the Klamath Basin, one of the continent's most important wetlands.

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Gray wolves are making a comeback in California, but, predictably, not everyone is thrilled about that.

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The Smiley-Woodfin Native Prairie Grassland is the largest remaining section of tall-grass prairie in Texas. It is considered a living museum, but its continued existence is threatened by plans to install solar panels there.

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An ice age painting on a rock in Colombia depicts giant sloths and other animals now extinct in the Americas.

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Scientists say that the Amazon rainforest is near the "tipping point" from which it would be impossible to recover. This would have dire implications for the planet.

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Long ago, FDR had called for the establishment of an international park with Mexico that would encompass a great transboundary conservation area spanning the Rio Grande. That dream is still alive and maybe its time has come.

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Redlining which allowed for federal discrimination in housing based on race was outlawed more than half a century ago, but it still has a negative impact on people's lives.

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The endangered Hill's horseshoe bat that was feared to be extinct has been found still clinging to life in a dense Rwanda forest to the delight of conservationists.

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Birds possess a magic that is even able to capture the imagination of teenage boys.

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Salmon are suing the city of Seattle. More accurately, the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe is suing in the name of the salmon as part of the "rights of Nature" movement. They hope to force the removal of three dams that impede the salmon's ability to spawn.

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The state wildlife resources commission in North Carolina has voted to allow bear hunting in three bear sanctuaries, provoking an outcry from local residents and animal rights groups. The commission's justification of the action is that there have been "increased human-bear interactions."

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You'll never hear the call of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the wild but thanks to recordings, you can listen to the voice of the woodpecker and many other extinct birds.

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The EPA plans to allow the use of toxic pesticides that paralyze bees, butterflies, and other insects in spite of moves by the European Union to ban the use of the toxins that have been blamed for a serious decline in insect populations.

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The last intact forest in Tallahassee, Florida is threatened with destruction as the private owners of the forest want to cut it down and build a housing development.

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The White Ibis is the iconic bird of Florida's Everglades, but it is moving to the suburbs in search of food handouts from humans.

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Scientists say there are five common personality traits in animals and that they are important to study in understanding the roles that the animals play in their particular ecosystems.

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It's easy to feel helpless and overwhelmed when faced with a problem as big as climate change but here are six steps that one can take in one's life that will help to reduce the carbon emissions driving the change.

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The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the Red Phalarope, female pictured here. It is a shorebird that nests on coastal tundra and winters at sea.

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Even with all the terrible problems in the world, it is still possible to find joy in the imminent arrival of spring and the new beginnings that it promises.

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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