This week in birds

This week in birds - #567

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

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds continued passing through my yard this week on their migration south. Until the last couple of days, I had only seen females and immatures, but on Friday afternoon there was an adult male at one of the feeders.

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It's that time of year again; it's Fat Bear Week! The winner of the competition this year was a female grizzly named Grazer.

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And speaking of grizzlies, you might not think the big bears would be interested in moths as food but apparently they find them to be quite tasty.

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And continuing with news of bears, black bears have become much more widespread in recent years until it is not altogether uncommon to see them in backyards.

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Northern Spotted Owls are an endangered species and in order to protect them biologists are sometimes faced with the choice of having to kill Barred Owls, a much more aggressive and successful species.

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Birds in migration face many hazards but one of the most intractable in high-rise buildings in cities. One such building in Chicago recently killed 1,000 birds in one day.

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A new LNG plant being built off Canada's west coast poses a dire hazard for whales in the area.

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The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the flamboyantly beautiful American Flamingo.

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Deforestation in Bolivia has increased by an alarming 32% in only one year.

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In other tree news, there is an ancient cedar in British Columbia that stands 151 feet tall and is about 17 feet in diameter.

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Whales can be playful creatures and one of their "toys" is kelp. They enjoy rolling in it, rubbing against it, and just generally tossing it about and playing with it.

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Here's a diary featuring the insects of a park in Mississippi.

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Native Americans in Nevada are fighting plans for a lithium mine on one of their sacred sites.

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This is the Sora, a secretive resident of coastal areas.

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Scientists say the largest solar storm ever to hit Earth likely occurred about 14,300 years ago.

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A bipartisan coastal protection bill is making its way through Congress.

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In September, the Biden administration announced plans to strengthen protections for America's fragile Arctic region.

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Across much of the planet, thin, wildly interconnected filamentous structures called mycelium are holding the earth together. The humble fungi are the stuff that makes all this possible.

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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