This week in birds

This week in birds - #581

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

A convention of doves of the White-winged variety, meeting on my bird feeder posts.

*~*~*~*

If you hurry outside, you can still see the Snow Moon tonight.

*~*~*~*

It looks likely that February will break an unprecedented number of heat records.

*~*~*~*

More evidence that trees are our friends: Reforestation of the eastern United States is helping to stall the effects of global heating.

*~*~*~*

Recurring atmospheric rivers are bringing lots of rain and resultant flooding to California.

*~*~*~*

It took a massive effort but a 65-foot-long whale that washed up on a beach in China was rescued and towed back to sea.

*~*~*~*

Did ADHD survive in the human race because it gave an evolutionary advantage to those who possessed it?

*~*~*~*

Monarch butterfly - a representative of a genome that may look fragile but is actually very resilient.

*~*~*~*

Corals are bleaching and dying along more than 1,000 kilometers of the Great Barrier Reef.

*~*~*~*

The Pyrrhuloxia, also called the Desert Cardinal, was the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week for last week.

And the Bird of the Week for this week is...

...the Red Crossbill.

*~*~*~*

Why do poison dart frogs tap their toes?

*~*~*~*

Louisiana's coastal wetlands are being slowly inundated by rising seas.

*~*~*~*

It turns out "natural gas" is not so natural.

*~*~*~*

Lobbyists who are supposedly representing the interests of the victims of the climate crisis are also often representing the perpetrators of the crisis.

*~*~*~*

How exactly do we define what a species is?

*~*~*~*

The El Niño weather system is causing major problems in South America.

*~*~*~*

How do baleen whales communicate by vocalizing?

*~*~*~*

Is the killing of Barred Owls in the Pacific Northwest justified in order to help the endangered Northern Spotted Owl?

*~*~*~*

Another amazing Maya tomb has been discovered in Guatemala and it is filled with "extraordinary" funerary offerings.

*~*~*~*

California's redwoods are once again proving their resilience by recovering from the wildfires of 2020.

*~*~*~*

Here is a week's worth of amazing wildlife pictures.

*~*~*~*

Though some find them a nuisance, I thoroughly enjoy watching the antics of the gray squirrels that call my yard their home.

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

Search This Blog