This week in birds

This week in birds - #554

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

A Little Blue Heron searches for its dinner among the reeds along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

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There was an incredible sight along the Gulf Coast of Texas this week as thousands of dead fish washed ashore.

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The Antarctic is in trouble from the effects of climate change and we are making it worse.

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There are three living equid species of which the strikingly beautiful Grevy's zebra is the most threatened.

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Surprisingly, there is some good news regarding the endangered Red Knot.

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Will humans' time on Earth be known as the fire age, or pyrocene?

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"It's an ill wind that blows no good," says the old aphorism, and proof of that may be found in the fact that the drought has actually helped to restore an ecosystem.

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Could there actually be life on a moon of Saturn? There are tantalizing hints.

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Do wolverines occasionally like to snack on fish?

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And could this be the hottest year on record? It seems to be headed that way.

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This is the beautiful Yellow Oriole, or Gonzalito, a bird of South America and the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Last month was the warmest May for the world's oceans since records began to be kept in 1850.

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Here are some wonderful wildlife photos from this past week. And here are even more.

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Could the answer to a shortage of potable water be to desalinate ocean water?

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Wildcats are being reintroduced in secret locations in the Scottish Highlands.

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Moths don't get the acclaim they are due but they are VIPs (very important pollinators) maybe even more so than bees.

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Illegal reintroductions of rare butterflies to the United Kingdom pose a potential threat to other species.

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Animals have rights, too, and it is important that we recognize and respect that.

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Dinosaur bones in Australia? "They're bloody everywhere."

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Warblers are on the move, passing through to their breeding grounds.

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A Kemp's ridley sea turtle has laid her eggs on the shore of Galveston for the second year in a row.

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Feral hogs are no joke and there are now millions of them in the United States.

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Lions are returning to parts of Africa from which they had long been absent.

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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