The Nature of Things

  A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : This is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week . It is the nectar-sipping Masked Flowerpiercer , a bird of the mountain forests of the northern and central Andes. It is a common resident in its range but its numbers are decreasing primarily due to habitat loss from deforestation.  *~*~*~* Measles was declared eliminated in the United States twenty-five years ago, but the disease has made a comeback. Cases have now reached a record high since that elimination. *~*~*~* A study suggests that as glaciers melt it could lead to more volcanic eruptions . *~*~*~* Minnesota has a new official state fossil : the bear-sized giant beaver that roamed the Twin Cities area more than 10,000 years ago. *~*~*~* Scientists have been able to sequence the entire genome of an ancient Egyptian man.  *~*~*~* Here are the fifteen species of hummingbirds that are at home in the United States. *~*~*~* Those in this country w...

Searching for a poem to feature this week, one that might express the zeitgeist of the moment, I came across this one. It was first published in 2002 but it seemed to perfectly fit this moment in 2025. See if you agree. We Are Not Responsible by Harryette Mullen We are not responsible for your lost or stolen relatives. We cannot guarantee your safety if you disobey our instructions. We do not endorse the causes or claims of people begging for handouts.  We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.  Your ticket does not guarantee that we will honor your reservations.  In order to facilitate our procedures, please limit your carrying on.  Before taking off, please extinguish all smoldering resentments.  If you cannot understand English, you will be moved out of the way.  In the event of a loss, you’d better look out for yourself.  Your insurance was cancelled because we can no longer handle your frightful claims. Our handlers lost your luggage and w...

  A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the beautiful James's Flamingo , one of the three flamingo species that make their home high in the Andes Mountains of South America. The others are the Andean and the Chilean . The James's is the smallest and rarest of the three. It frequents shallow saline lakes and wetlands in all seasons and its population - thankfully - is stable for the time being. *~*~*~* Earth reached its aphelion for the year - its greatest distance from the sun - this week on Thursday. Now we'll be moving ever closer. *~*~*~* In honor of Independence Day, how about some fun facts about our "National Bird," the Bald Eagle ? Here are eighteen   such facts. *~*~*~* The shuttering of the U. S. Agency for International Development by the current administration in Washington is probably illegal and could result in fourteen million human deaths over the next five years....

I received a comment today that reminded me of this book that I read and reviewed five years ago. Its message still seems pertinent - maybe even more so - today. *~*~*~* Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo May 11, 2020 I have to admit up front that I read this book in a state of fury. It's easy to see why it caused such a stir in South Korea when it was published there in 2016. No doubt it struck a chord with many Korean women, probably every one who read it and it soon became a best-seller, selling more than a million copies. The reviewer in  The New York Times  compared its effect there to  Uncle Tom's Cabin  in this country. It sparked a feminist wave in South Korea and I can certainly understand why. The book has now been translated into 18 different languages and is an international best-seller. And now we have the English version. The book tells the story of a young woman who suffers from dissociative episodes and is driven to psychosis because of the stresse...

Shasta daisies have been in bloom in my garden this week and I've been enjoying them while they last. They don't last long, but while they do, their hearts of shining gold and rays of shining whiteness are a joy to behold. They gladden my own heart with their beauty. This little poem by a poet I'd never heard of expresses that joy. Daisy Time by Marjorie Pickthall See, the grass is full of stars, Fallen in their brightness; Hearts they have of shining gold, Rays of shining whiteness. Buttercups have honeyed hearts, Bees they love the clover, But I love the daisies' dance All the meadow over. Blow, O blow, you happy winds, Singing summer's praises, Up the field and down the field A-dancing with the daisies.

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment :  This little guy is the well-named White-browed Tit-Spinetail . It is only found in threatened Polylepis forests in the Andes of southern Peru. Its numbers are decreasing as its habitat is under attack. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week .  *~*~*~ Of all the outrageous acts of our current administration in Washington, there are few that appall me more than the destruction of the Rose Garden . Apparently it is to be paved over. *~*~*~* The battle over a mine to be built next door to the Okefenokee Swamp has ended in a victory for the conservationists who opposed it. *~*~*~* But in a defeat for conservationists, the administration is planning to roll back the 2001 Roadless Rule that prevented roadbuilding and logging on roughly 58 million acres of federal forest and wildlands. *~*~*~* A runestone found in a Canadian forest in 2015 may be the oldest such artifact yet found in North America. *~*~*~*...

Yes, yes, I know I've used this one here before. It's a personal favorite of mine:  "I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention..."  When the next summer comes, assuming I'm still here, I'll probably use it again.            Tell me, what is it you plan to do            With your one wild and precious life? Enjoy! The Summer Day by Mary Oliver Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean-- the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-- who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel i...

  A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : Gray Catbirds are among my favorites of the birds that visit my yard throughout the year. Here are ten interesting facts about these lovely critters. *~*~*~* The pangolin is often referred to as the most trafficked animal in the world, traded for its scales and meat. Pangolins are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species And now they  may be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as well. That is currently being proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. *~*~*~* Bird conservation is an important part of the federal budget. It is essential that those federal programs continue . *~*~*~* Banks are the biggest funders of fossil fuel expansion and under the current administration which is a friend of fossil fuel they are retreating from their climate commitments . *~*~*~* This administration's Environmental Protection Agency seems determined to forego the protection pa...