This week in birds

This week in birds - #538

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

"You lookin' at me?" These three Wild Turkeys seem very curious about what I'm doing with that camera!

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Central Park Zoo officials have thrown in the towel. They've given up - at least for now - trying to recapture their escaped Eurasian Owl, Flaco.

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And back in D.C., the pair of Bald Eagles known as Mr. President and Lotus (for Lady of the United States) have moved into a new nest at the National Arboretum and Lotus has laid at least one egg.

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In war-torn Ukraine, activists are putting their lives on the line to rescue animals that have been injured or displaced by the conflict.

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An outbreak of the H5N1 virus has killed thousands of birds and over 700 sea lions in Peru's Natural Protected Areas.

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A French-born conservationist living in the Brazilian Pantanal has dedicated his life to saving the giant armadillo from extinction.

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Here are some of the early results from last weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count.

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This is the beautiful little Lark Bunting, the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Did you ever wonder what dinosaurs sounded like? Well, scientists say that some of them sounded quite like birds.

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Getting separated from their mothers would have been disastrous for two young mountain lion cubs, but Hazel and Holly got lucky.

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Genetically modified trees are being planted in U.S. forests. The hope is that they will be better able to handle climate change.

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Here's a report on the wildlife of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.

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We tend to take birds for granted as ubiquitous parts of the landscape around us but here are ten species that have changed the world.

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Why were some animals so much bigger in the past and might they become bigger once again?

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A new study shows that a stronger El Niño Southern Oscillation (Enso) event might have the effect of speeding up the irreversible melting of Antarctic ice.

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Recent derailments of trains have brought home the fact that hazardous materials move through communities on those rails every day.

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New York's sea turtle rehabilitation center is currently treating a record number of sick patients.

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Earth continues to yield up its secrets. The latest is a previously unknown core that has been discovered at the center of the planet.

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Here's how Europe is leading the way with renewable energy.

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Botswana is reporting that an enormous increase in rhinoceros poaching has taken place in the past five years.

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Jane Goodall has long been a hero of mine and I am not at all surprised to learn that she has a wicked sense of humor!

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Could Lake Mead actually dry up?

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An irresponsible person recently abandoned a four-foot-long alligator in Prospect Park Lake in New York. It could have been fatal for the alligator but his story had a happier ending.

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: 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. ...

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 ...

The Nature of Things

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