This week in birds

This week in birds - #529

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

The beautyberries are ripe and the American Robins and other fruit-eating birds are grateful. Interestingly, I have a couple of bushes that produce white berries and those have already been stripped. Apparently, there is something about the white berries that tastes particularly good to the birds. There are plenty of the purple berries left to help feed them through the winter.

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Let's start this roundup with a positive story: In a report published this week, the International Energy Agency says that renewables will overtake coal to become the main source of electricity generation by 2025.

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At this point, is it even possible to save Nature? That is a question being considered at the COP15 meeting in Montreal this week.

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One writer believes that a good way to save Nature and the planet is to focus on saving wild cats.

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The continuing eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano has given scientists a rare look into the Earth.

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Here's the latest from the American Bird Conservancy, including news of the rediscovery of the Black-naped Pheasant Pigeon, a bird that had been presumed extinct.

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If the Rediscovering America's Wildlife Act successfully makes its way through Congress and becomes law, it will offer some hope for the survival of Florida's perilously endangered panthers.

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In other news of Florida's wildlife, an invasive iguana got into an electricity substation in Lake Worth Beach this week and in the process committed suicide and caused a large-scale power outage.

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Peyote is important to the religious practices of some Native American groups and its continuing existence is being threatened by land development and over-harvesting.

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A bill curbing private ownership of big cats is expected to be swiftly signed into law by President Biden.

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Hurricane erosion of a Florida beach has uncovered a shipwreck dating back to the 1800s.

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Greenland is no longer very green but evidence has been uncovered that shows it was quite the lush environment a couple of million years ago.

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The Ankylosaurus had a sledgehammer-like tail club that was capable of delivering bone-cracking blows. Apparently, it was deployed against its own kind as well as against predators.

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A volcano erupting on Java forced the evacuation of around 2,000 people this week.

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The Texas Public Policy Foundation is all about protecting the high-carbon lifestyle and trying to make it even more dominant in the world. Who cares about climate change!

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Is an underground greenhouse actually a thing? Well, yes, it is.

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Park rangers in Mozambique are getting sneaky; they are using silent offroad ebikes to catch poachers.

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This little beauty is an Allen's Hummingbird and it is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Illegal gold mining in Venezuela is destroying a sacred mountain in a protected national park. Obviously, that "protection" is not being taken seriously by Venezuela's government.

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The world's wildlife is disappearing primarily because it is running out of places to live.

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Here's that famous picture I never get bored with looking at - the view of Earth as captured by the crew of Apollo 17 as they headed toward the moon.

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The Steller's sea cow has been extinct for almost 200 years but it may have been instrumental in shaping California's kelp forests.

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It seems that not even a war and the threat of mines and unexploded projectiles can keep Ukrainians from hunting mushrooms.

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The city of Port Townsend, Washington, has proclaimed that Southern Resident orcas have legal rights. One can only hope that this is an idea that will spread to other areas and species.

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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