This week in birds

This week in birds - #591

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is one of the most handsome of the heron/egret family in my opinion. It is the Black-crowned Night Heron, a bird found in wetlands all over North America.

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There have been shark attacks on humans along the southern coast from Florida to Texas recently.

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My favorite visit to the Houston Museum of Natural Science was when we went to see Lucy, the ancient hominin discovered in Ethiopia fifty years ago, when she was on her world tour. Lucy remains one of the most notable discoveries in human paleontology.

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Homosexuality is not something that exists only in humans; it has been widely observed in animal behavior as well.

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Cave paintings found in Indonesia have been dated to 51,200 years ago, making them the oldest known such paintings.

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Flying hippos? Yes, that is really a thing!

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In order to protect endangered Northern Spotted Owls, California is planning to kill Barred Owls that compete with them.

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A Bronze Age shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea offers clues about life and trade in that era.

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Dugongs are endangered everywhere they exist and that includes around the South Pacific islands.

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California's Jurupa Oak is 13,000 years old and may be facing its greatest peril from modern-day business and housing development.

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The Biden Administration has denied access to a portion of the Alaska wilderness for the purpose of mining and drilling.

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Neuston is the name given to sea creatures that make their home on the ocean's surface and we need to know more about them in order to preserve and protect them.

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Global warming is a well-known phenomenon but it seems that we are also cooling the planet and that needs to be better understood.

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The fossil of a giant salamander that predates the age of dinosaurs has been found in Namibia.

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Carpenter ants have been observed performing amputations on their wounded members in order to save their lives.

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Burrowing Owls, the only North American raptor that lives underground, are coming in conflict with humans over their housing.

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Orphaned elephants are being returned to a Kenyan sanctuary after being raised by humans.

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Gulls as big as turkeys? Apparently Britain has them.

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The nonprofit Skydog Ranch and Sanctuary adopts wild mustangs and reunites them with their herds.

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Coastline lights are a danger to small fish, luring them to shallow coastal waters and making them easy targets for predators.

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Researchers have found that Egyptian scribes suffered work-related injuries.

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Yes, there are veterinarians that specialize in diseases of aquarium fish.

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A fossil bed in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco is yielding new insights into arthropods that lived a half-billion years ago.

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Our Supreme Court in its present makeup has proved itself not a friend of the environment.

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There is evidence that Anglo-Saxon warriors traveled very far afield to fight with other armies.

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Protecting the Peregrine Falcons of Scotland can be a hazardous job.

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Cat tours? In Minneapolis that is a yearly event!

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In California, Diesel the donkey is living his best life with a herd of elk.

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Here are The Guardian's pictures of the week in 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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