This week in birds

This week in birds - #544

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

Cactus Wren photographed on a trip to New Mexico.

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The Biden administration rather inexplicably approved an $8 billion project to drill for oil in the National Petroleum Preserve in Alaska, the nation's single largest expanse of untouched wilderness, and ConocoPhillips is moving full steam ahead on the plan.

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A mass hunt of bison on the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park has killed 1150 animals. The hunt was intended to help keep brucellosis from spreading to nearby livestock.

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Here's a commentary on planting native plants in your garden.

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Is the Tasmanian tiger truly extinct or is it just very, very good at hiding itself from human eyes?

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This is a snailfish that was filmed five miles underwater off the south coast of Japan. That is the deepest fish that has ever been recorded.

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Tulare Lake in central California has been resurrected from a parched expanse of thirty square miles by recent storms in the area. Here are some pictures that show how reservoirs have been filled by the storms.

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Conservationists and concerned citizens are opposing a plan to mine near the pristine Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia.

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Mature forests are vital to the fight against global warming so why would you allow them to be logged?

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One of the better ideas to come along in recent years is the building of wildlife corridors alongside busy roads and now $350 million in infrastructure funds can be tapped for that purpose.

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As a child, I first knew this late summer afternoon flier as the "Bullbat," but its proper name is Common Nighthawk and it is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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President Biden recently established the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada preserving some of the most biologically diverse and visually stunning parts of the Mojave Desert.

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Certain animals show a surprising capacity for solving problems. Goats, for example.

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Flying foxes cannot deal with extreme heat. When temperatures exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit, thousands of the animals die.

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An alarming crash in the numbers of salmon stocks along the West Coast has led to talk of fishing bans on the species.

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A barrage of winter storms has led to record snowpack on the high slopes of Sierra Nevada.

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This is the Akikiki, a small Hawaiian honeycreeper species that is on the brink of extinction.

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If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Southern California and Arizona you may be in for a "super bloom" show of wildflowers this spring.

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Those wildflowers would be manna for Nature's hardest workers, the bees. Not only are they hard workers, they are sentient beings.

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The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a crucial water permit for a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia.

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The official ban on incandescent light bulbs will take effect in August, after which only LED lights will be available from retailers.

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Is there any hope left for us? As Emily Dickinson assured us, it is "the thing with feathers."

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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