This week in birds

This week in birds - #543

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

White Pelicans enjoying a rest by Galveston Bay.

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The Gulf of Mexico is abnormally warm which could mean a very active tornado season.

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Freshwater biodiversity does not always get the respect it deserves in discussions about conservation but we rely on it for many essentials.

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The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is considering sanctions on Mexico for failing to provide sufficient protection for the vaquita marina, a small porpoise that is the world's most endangered marine mammal.

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DDT has been found in high concentrations on the ocean floor along the California seacoast that once served as a dumping ground for the material.

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Former governor of California Jerry Brown can now rest on his laurels; a beetle has been named for him!

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Do you suffer from a brown thumb as a gardener? Never fear; here are some plants that even you can't kill!

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As birds go, this one is rather inconspicuous but he takes his place on the throne as the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is the sweet little Savannah Sparrow.

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The wild salmon population along the West Coast has plummeted resulting in a ban on fishing for the species.

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There was an unusual parade of five planets - Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars - available for viewing in the western sky this week.

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Bats can't seem to catch a break. They are threatened everywhere, but there is one surprising threat to the species: hunting.

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This can't be good. A study has found that thousands of pounds of PFAS "forever chemicals" have been injected into gas and oil wells in Texas.

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Tiny ponds play an outsized role in promoting and maintaining biodiversity.

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Here is a collection of photos of the birds of Southeast Arizona.

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Fracking is a threat to the Allegheny Plateau and its biodiversity. Here is why it is so important to protect this place.

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Here's a bit of good news: For the first time production of U.S. electricity from renewables has surpassed the production from coal.

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One way to fight global warming is to save and protect wild animals who are our allies in helping to sequester carbon.

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A 10-year-old girl with a sand bucket helped to save the life of a giant octopus that was stranded on a mud flat. Could his name have been Marcellus?

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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