This week in birds

This week in birds - #574

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

It's December and the Chipping Sparrows are back!

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Our sun has been putting on a show this week with the biggest solar flare since 2017.

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A robotic spacecraft launched by NASA has brought back asteroid pieces that offer clues to life's origins.

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Two men have been charged with killing more than 3,600 birds, including Bald Eagles, to sell on the black market. The mind boggles at the wanton waste.

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Are you a morning person? Then you might have Neanderthal genes as part of your makeup.

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The climate summit approved a plan to move away from fossil fuels and to ramp up the use of renewable energy. Still, climate experts were disappointed that the summit fell short of insisting on a phase-out of fossil fuels.

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The fossil of a juvenile tyrannosaurus rex showed that before its death it had recently feasted on turkey-sized creatures somewhat similar to an emu. It died with a full stomach.

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The Guardian's "This week in wildlife" features some amazing animal pictures.

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Who can take water from Nature and who decides who can do it?

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I have to admit I had never heard of this bird. It is the Golden-backed Mountain-tanager, a bird found only in Peru, and it is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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It's true - Christmas tree farms can actually be a boon to wildlife.

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The reintroduction of endangered Mexican wolves to the southwestern United States has had its ups and downs.

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The Great Lakes are suffering from a new plague - pet goldfish released into their waters.

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A 700-year-old forest has been discovered near a busy North American highway.

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Ruffed Grouse can be very elusive birds but, under the right circumstances, they can become quite friendly with humans.

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Free-ranging cats can have a quite devastating effect on wildlife.

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Cats are notoriously independent critters, but they will play fetch. When they want to play fetch.

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Here are some amazing pictures of the Northern Lights.

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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