This week in birds

This week in birds - #568

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

A Great Blue Heron stands atop a nesting box intended for the use of Wood Ducks at Brazos Bend State Park in Southeast Texas.

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In the waters of that park, a Common Gallinule takes a swim.

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And here comes El Niño once again. It is expected to bring a warmer-than-usual winter to parts of the country, and around where I live here in Southeast Texas it is likely to be a wet winter.

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In the Amazon rainforest, they could definitely use some of El Niño's rainfall. The area is experiencing a severe and prolonged drought.

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High-rise buildings are notorious bird killers and some areas are looking for ways to fix that problem.

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Fallen leaves are a treasure of Nature; let them lie!

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Hurricanes in the Atlantic are getting stronger and faster. Meanwhile, hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have been nonexistent for quite a while, at least as far as our coast is concerned.

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Warmer oceans are being blamed for the deaths of billions of snow crabs in Alaska.

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A red-eared turtle goes for a swim in waters along the Gulf Coast. It is easy to see how he got his name.

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White-tailed deer are common animals in many parts of the country but what do we really know of their lives? Not as much as we might imagine.

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A bird of the tundra is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is the pretty little Red-necked Phalarope.

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Want to see something incredibly cute? Check out the baby animal cam.

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The debate continues: Is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinct or isn't it? Based on some photographic and video evidence, the U.S. government is not ready to say that it is.

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Amphibians of the Andes like this little Im Thurn's rain frog are facing unique perils as the climate warms up.

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Project Feederwatch begins on November 1 and there are even more options for reporting wildlife sightings this year.

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Who knew? Mammals glow!

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Frank the Tank is a tortoise that was abandoned by his owner when he apparently got too big for them to handle. So now, Frank needs a new home. One with plenty of room.

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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