This week in birds

This week in birds - #555

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

A female (or is it a juvenile?) Ruby-throated Hummingbird rests in a crape myrtle tree in my backyard.

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Six months ago the world's nations met in COP15 and agreed to a pledge to halt biodiversity loss. How's that working out?

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If those pledges are not met, Nature is at risk of a serious breakdown.

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The Atlantic Ocean is at risk both above and below the surface because of the climate crisis.

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This week a heat dome extended across the country and is expected to last throughout the July 4 weekend.

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The extreme heat has already claimed some victims in Texas.

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An emerging El Niño event is having its effect on heating up the planet.

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The heat wave in the North Atlantic is the worst in at least 170 years.

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And in the Himalayas, the glaciers are melting.

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This heat dome event was made five times more likely because of human-caused climate change.

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The ecological tipping points may be much closer than we had expected.

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The Environmental Protection Agency is being sued over its recent approval of two toxic herbicides that contain an active ingredient used in Agent Orange.

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In California, hundreds of sick or dead dolphins and sea lions have washed ashore as a result of a toxic algae bloom.

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Confused about native, non-native, and invasive plants? Audubon breaks it all down for you.

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The Mormon crickets are back in Nevada. The state is crawling with them.

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Christian Cooper, the Black Central Park birdwatcher who unfortunately became famous in 2020 because a White woman made a racialized threat against him, has a new book about birdwatching called Better Living Through Birding.

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Stonehenge has fascinated me ever since I learned about it in school. But who actually built it?

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In Scotland, the endangered Capercaillie is making a comeback.

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In fact, the jungle is alive, even in urban areas.

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The Department of the Interior has designated nearly $4 million to protect and restore wildlife migration paths and habitats.

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A study found that protecting marine life also benefitted humans living nearby, to which I can only say, "Well, duh!"

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Human activity may be actually affecting Earth's spin.

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Tree loss is up sharply in tropical forests in spite of human pledges to halt deforestation.

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Here are some pictures from Rough Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary in Massachusetts.

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The Biden administration has moved to restore Endangered Species protections that were dropped in the administration of the previous president.

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Why does the Monarch butterfly have white spots on its wings? Rest assured, in Nature, there is always a reason!

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The Arctic Ocean is being Atlanticified.

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The beautiful Western Tanager is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Cuttlefish are remarkable creatures and they have an amazing ability to disappear right before your eyes as they blend with their surroundings so completely.

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Rhynchosaurs were the dominant reptile on the planet for a while before the dinosaurs took over. And I admit I had never heard of them as far as I can remember.

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California's iconic Joshua trees have been given long-term protection.

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The giant African land snail has been spotted in Florida, yet another invasive species for a state that is overrun with them.

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Here's the week in wildlife pictures as presented by The Guardian.

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Looe Island is a tiny Cornish island where Nature is thriving.

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Rewetting England's lowland peat could help meet emissions targets according to a recent study.

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Swapping a nation's debt burden for its spending on Nature is one idea to be discussed at a finance summit in Paris.

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Here's some good news: Some critically endangered Burmese Peacock softshell turtles have hatched and emerged from the mud of their nest in Myanmar.

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Finally, no, orcas have not declared war on humans.

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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