This week in birds

This week in birds - #557

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

The perky and energetic Carolina Wren - always a constant in my backyard.

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The environmental news this week has been dominated by stories of the extraordinary heat dome that continues to linger over the northern hemisphere. Three continents are in its grip. The heat is shattering records and there is no immediate relief in sight. Even in Siberia, the temperature has reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In some places, the heat has been near the limit for human survival. Here in Texas, all we can say is thank goodness (and science) for air conditioning!

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Al Gore warned us about all this 17 years ago.

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A core sample collected fifty years ago highlighted the Greenland ice sheet's vulnerability to a warming climate.

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In the world of Nature, beavers are heat wave heroes in helping other species.

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The best way we can help birds to survive this heat is to get a birdbath and keep it clean and filled with fresh water.

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A pond in a Manhattan park has been covered in toxic algae for years.

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As climate change increases the incidence of wildfires, there are at least five animals that have uniquely adapted to cope with that environment.

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Bison are wild and dangerous animals and tourists who get too close to them often learn that to their peril.

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Invasive snakes have been a plague in Florida for years but this Burmese python may have set a new record.

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And what is an invasive species? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has the definition right here.

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There have been several reports of orcas attacking boats recently but we need to beware of bogus narratives that have arisen about the events.

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A fossil found in China in 2012 appears to show a battle between two species.

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I remember the late summer evenings of my childhood being populated by swarms of fireflies but I seldom see that anymore.

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In Italy, a brown bear that had fatally attacked a jogger has been given a reprieve from a death sentence by the courts.

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This little beauty is the Blue-eyed Ground Dove from eastern Brazil and there may be no more than sixteen like it left in the wild. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Speaking of invasives in Florida, this may be the cutest one yet although some Floridians apparently disagree.

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A giant stingray caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia was tagged and released and is providing information to help the river and its ecosystem.

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Conservationists are attempting to save Florida's reefs by planting coral gardens.

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The bog buck moth is a strikingly beautiful insect that has just been given Endangered Species protection but its habitat is still disappearing.

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It appears that the right whale of the North Atlantic may be in even worse decline than had previously been thought.

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In Borneo, linking patches of wilderness is helping to save wildlife.

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Is invasive Japanese knotweed taking over the world?

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The geological entity that now calls itself Texas has been here for a very long time and its paleontological plenty could fill a museum.

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In California, a wildlife detective is striving to help ranchers and mountain lions coexist.

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Another potential victim of climate change and extreme weather is the art of the ancient Silk Road.

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To restore the Great Plains, the American Serengeti, it is necessary to restore its wildlife.

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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