This week in birds

This week in birds - #623

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

In spite of its name, the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week, the Yellow Cardinal, is not a cardinal at all. It is a member of the tanager family. Found in southern South America from Argentina to Uruguay, it is a resident of open woodlands and dry savannas. It is endangered and, unfortunately, its numbers are decreasing.

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The new administration in Washington has set about dismantling laws that protect the environment in order to facilitate oil and gas drilling. Can the Endangered Species Act survive?

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At the remote Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific, Wisdom, the (at least) 74-year-old Laysan Albatross, has a new chick. Isn't it adorable?

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Wisdom's history is an amazing story of survival in many ways.

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A black anglerfish, a fish of the ocean's depths, caused quite a stir when it appeared on the surface of the ocean near Tenerife recently. Obviously, something was amiss with the fish and it ultimately died.

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New Zealand has once again chosen its "Bug of the Year" and it is a member of the family of velvet worms.

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Along Mexico's Pacific Coast in the Baja California Sur a rarely seen oarfish, another fish that normally lives in the ocean's depths, has been making itself at home recently. (Is there something unusual going on in the deep ocean that is causing these fish to surface?)

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2024 was a year of record-breaking heat on Earth's surface. It may be a harbinger of things to come.

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That heat has not been evident in the United States recently as it has experienced extremely cold weather thanks to a polar vortex. The cold has even reached us here in southeast Texas.

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Here are some amazing pictures from The Guardian of the Week in Wildlife.

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Regardless of what goes on in Washington, Mount Denali will always be Mount Denali, just as the Gulf of Mexico will always be the Gulf of Mexico.

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In Argentina, a contraception plan for capybaras is being devised. It does not enjoy universal approval.

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Here are ways to make your backyard safe for birds this winter.

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There is a move afoot to remove endangered species protections for the Florida Scrub-jay. Conservation groups are fighting back.

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Humans evolved on an icy planet. What will the heating up of Earth mean for the species?

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Winter is still here but the Monarch butterflies are beginning to make their way back to us.

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Here are suggestions for attracting Mourning Doves to your yard.

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What are the effects of light pollution on the creatures of the night?

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Gila monsters made possible a medicine to help diabetics; now we need find a way to help them survive.

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How can we attract native sparrows to our bird feeders?

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Spring is on its way but we may experience a false spring before the arrival of the real thing.

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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