This week in birds

This week in birds - #551

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

A Black-throated Sparrow feeding on the ground, photographed during a trip to West Texas.

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Super Typhoon Mawar hit Guam this week, creating devastation over a wide area.

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A breakthrough agreement to protect the drought-strained Colorado River was reached this week.

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Orcas seem to have finally had it with us humans and they are fighting back! It started off the coast of Spain and Portugal and the behavior may be spreading.

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The current iteration of the Supreme Court seems intent on destroying our hard-won environmental protections. This week it was the Clean Water Act.

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The Bahamas are facing an existential threat as the sea levels continue to rise.

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It seems that climatologists are finding this hurricane season particularly unpredictable.

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Attempting to climb Mount Everest has always been a perilous adventure but this week has been particularly deadly.

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I confess a fondness for these (to me) lovely spiders, maybe partially because they are persecuted. They are Joro spiders and if you see one, please do not harm it.

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Deep-sea mining poses significant hazards for the environment and these activists are trying to stop it.

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Recycling plastics, thought to be a good thing, can itself carry some unintended consequences.

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Recent discoveries in northern Guatemala suggest that the ancient Maya civilization was far more advanced than previously thought.

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Meanwhile in southern Mexico, a controversial megaproject known as the Maya Train is generating significant protests.

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An armored mouse? Nature is full of marvels.

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Reducing the plastic pollution of the oceans may actually be easier than one might think.

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The spring migration of hummingbirds is just about complete and the little guys are shifting into breeding mode.

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Toronto's Don River was pronounced dead in 1969, but thankfully its obituary was a bit premature.

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We've all probably heard of saber-toothed tigers but it seems there were other saber-toothed critters wandering across the Permian landscapes.

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Certain countries are believed to be most likely to become dangerously hot during the next century.

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I love toads and I hope you do, too. They are indeed "heroes of the garden."

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America's need for green energy is running up against the need to preserve and conserve areas that are rich in ice-age fossils.

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Solar farms may solve one problem by creating others.

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Zoo Miami managed to offend the entire nation of New Zealand by allowing members of the public to pet their kiwi. And why in the world would they have ever thought that was a good idea?

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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