This week in birds

This week in birds - #617

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

This little jewel is the White-bellied Woodstar, a resident of forest edges, open pastures, and fields throughout the central and eastern Andes. The three-inch-long bird is fairly common within its range and is mostly non-migratory. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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The next four years do not look hopeful for our confronting climate change.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded. Now that we have reached a dangerous warming threshold, will be be able to reverse the trend?

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The Caribbean area has experienced record-breaking heat over the last couple of years and that does not appear likely to change.

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Moreover, the climate crisis is disrupting the planet's water cycle which is affecting entire ecosystems and billions of people.

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And yet Nature has shown repeatedly that it has an amazing capacity to adapt.

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Was the brouhaha over the snail darter all just a case of mistaken identity?

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A "rogue rewilding" has returned the lynx to the Scottish Highlands.

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Our current president has just banned drilling in much of the country's coastal waters, an action that, unfortunately, will likely be reversed by the incoming president.

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Venomous snake bites take a heavy toll in rural areas of Africa where medical help may not be readily available.

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Does a palm oil plantation count as a forest? The president of Indonesia claims it should.

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Cuban tree frogs are among the many invasives that have been swept to our shores by hurricanes. (Invasive maybe, but you have to admit he's awfully cute!)

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Australia, the land of so many marsupial animals, even has a marsupial mole!

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Is Florida's Tortoise Conservancy truly a conservation organization or is it just another scam?

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There were some wildlife winners in 2024; among them were salmon, wolves, whales, and bears.

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Finally, from The Guardian, here are 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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