This week in birds

This week in birds - #520

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

Birds come and go through my yard throughout the year but the Northern Mockingbird we always have with us.

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The big environmental news on this continent this week has been Hurricane Ian which continues to wreak havoc as it passes up the eastern coast.

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Meanwhile, next door in New Mexico a huge wildfire has been raging causing many problems for residents, one of which is a severe shortage of drinking water.

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In California, one of the efforts involved in trying to prevent or control wildfires has been to remove drying and dying plants from the landscape.

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This may only be tangentially related to environmental news but is a very important story: In Zimbabwe more than 700 children have died of measles, a disease easily prevented by immunization. Why didn't their parents have them immunized? Because of the influence of a n evangelical church that preaches against vaccinations.

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Urban "heat islands" put city residents at risk of injury to their health from the heat.

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Human activities have imperiled waterways and the species that make their homes in and around them.

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The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is this little beauty, the Blue-headed Vireo.

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Here's a story with a photo album of animals that have been added to the National Zoo in Washington since March 2020.

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The Department of Agriculture is encouraging climate-smart farming techniques and practices. They have $20 billion earmarked for the effort.

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And many gardeners across the country, like this couple in Los Angeles, are embracing the idea of drought-friendly gardens.

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The State of the World's Birds report warns that fully half of the world's avian species are in decline.

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Here are some incredible pictures from an animal sanctuary in Bolivia.

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In efforts to reach an agreement on a global plastics pollution treaty, the U.S. is reaching out to other countries in hopes of creating a coalition to drive negotiations.

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And then there is noise pollution which is particularly deadly in the world's oceans.

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The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to address the disproportionate harm that climate change is doing in low-income areas and communities of people of color.

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Cephalopods are little known and understood by much of the public. One scientist is working to correct that.

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Rather than creating a manicured landscape around your house, how about creating a "wildscape" like this family in Connecticut?

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The sinking of a fishing boat off the shores of the state of Washington created potential dangers for the orcas that frequent those waters.

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Here are pictures from the bird paradise of Ghana.

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In Germany, this little wild boar piglet has been adopted by a herd of cows. Will he perhaps grow up to be bilingual?

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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