This week in birds

This week in birds - #604

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

The Eastern Bluebird is an always welcome visitor to my yard.

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It's that time again - time for Project Feederwatch. Sign up to document the birds around your yard and contribute to the accumulation of knowledge about their ranges. The count begins on November 1.

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Humanity has a finite carbon budget and wildfires around the world are burning right through it. In South America, huge tracts of land are being decimated by fire and the skies are shrouded by smoke.

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Meanwhile, the southwestern United States is being scorched by an exceptional heat wave. Temperatures as high as 117 degrees F. have been recorded.

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Rachel Carson's Silent Spring has had a profound effect on how the public views chemicals, creating, in some instances, an irrational fear of them.

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Colombian environment minister Susana Muhamad has been called the "Frida Kahlo of environmental geopolitics."

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Here's a good thing: In the Midwest, swaths of the prairie are being restored to reduce the nutrient runoff from croplands and to aid the birds and bees.

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The idea of restoring meadows of wildflowers and native grasses is catching on in other places as well.

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The pawpaw is a fruit tree native to the United States and it is resilient to climate change. Could its fruit become the new kiwi or mango?

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Climate change is even changing borders between countries.

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And in London, public parks are being allowed to go wild on purpose.

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This is the Southern Lapwing, a member of the plover family found throughout the grasslands and wetlands of South America. It has recently expanded its range into Central America and southern Mexico. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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On the sea turtle nesting grounds in Greece, there is very good news. There are a record number of nests this year.

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October 2 was a momentous day for California's Klamath River; it marked the complete removal of four hydroelectric dams that will restore salmon and steelhead trout habitat in several miles of the river.

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A new study has discovered the extent of Europe's once-massive oyster reefs, now exhausted.

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The fight goes on to save the much-loved Monarch butterfly.

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In a first for the Endangered Species Act list, officials are proposing to add a firefly, the Bethany Beach firefly, to the list as a threatened species.

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Magical, mystical mushrooms have uses that are only now being discovered and utilized.

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Nibi the beaver was rescued from the side of a road when she was a baby. She's now grown up and could potentially be released into the wild but there's a lot of controversy about that and now a court will decide her fate.

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On Navajo lands in Arizona, ancient practices are restoring the parched land.

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It's tarantula mating season in Colorado and that is drawing arachnophiles from far and near to witness it.

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Cuttlefish in the Mediterranean Sea are getting a helping hand from humans to boost their numbers.

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A Lesser Flamingo chick is being cared for by two flamingo foster fathers at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and it all seems to be working out quite well.

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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