This week in birds - #580

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

The female Red-winged Blackbird looks nothing like her flashy mate. One could even take her for a large sparrow until one sees her striding across the yard. That strut definitely gives her away.

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One might think that climate change denialism has run its course but not with 15% of Americans it seems.

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A warm Atlantic could be foretelling an active hurricane season.

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Thriving plant life on the Greenland ice sheet where it really shouldn't be is causing climate scientists to be concerned.

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The side of a frog may seem a strange place for a mushroom to grow, but Nature will find a way.

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Parthenogenesis is yet another solution that Nature has found but it is one that isn't available to us mammals.

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Paraquat, a toxic herbicide linked to Parkinson's Disease, has again been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for use in this country. That seems like a serious contradiction of the agency's name.

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How was Earth sent into its longest winter? Scientists have a new theory.

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Can we set up needed solar power projects without harming Nature?

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Planting trees can be a good thing but they have to be the right kind of trees.

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The North Atlantic right whale is already critically endangered but after two have been found dead recently there may be reason to believe their situation is even more serious than previously thought.

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A defunct golf course in California has been turned into an ecological life raft.

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The Amazon rainforest could be near to reaching the tipping point of its destruction.

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This is Gaia, a black-footed cat living at the Hogle Zoo in Utah. Black-footed cats are a small, cute, and vulnerable species. They also hold the title of the deadliest cat on Earth.

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We owe a debt to the turtle mothers.

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Did the same asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs actually provide a boost to birds?

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A new report from the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals says that more than a fifth of species under international protection are threatened with extinction. 

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Could a Stone Age wall found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea be Europe's oldest megastructure?

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Alligator snapping turtles may start out as pets and then be released into the wild when the owners tire of them or can no longer care for them. Fluffy got lucky.

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Raw sewage in the Tijuana River along the U.S.-Mexico border is creating a public health crisis.

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Cave art recently discovered in Patagonia is over 8,000 years old.

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A 23-year-old platypus found in a creek in Australia may be able to teach scientists things that will help its species survive.

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Should one of Egypt's pyramids be "restored"?

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These two Chilean Flamingo chicks, along with their four siblings, owe their lives to the creative thinking of an Alaskan Airlines flight attendant. 

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Coral bleaching has now exceeded the parameters of the alert scale that had been in place for more than a decade.

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Collaring polar bears can teach scientists a lot about those animals and their environment and how climate change is affecting them.

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Here's a report about Flaco the escaped Eurasian Eagle-owl's year of freedom in the wilds of New York City.

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Who invented kissing? The Sumerians, maybe?

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I'll leave you with a picture of Jackie, the Bald Eagle, protecting her three precious eggs after a recent snowstorm.

Poetry Sunday: February Days by Ellwood Roberts

Not many "northern blasts" have reached us here in the deep South this winter, but we are predicted to have some more winter-like weather next week. We shall see what the "February days" bring us, but this we know for sure: "The Spring-time days will soon be here."

 

February Days

by Ellwood Roberts

The icy northern blast sweeps by,
From wild wastes of the Arctic snow;

Above us droops a wintry sky,

A bleak white landscape lies below.

But, 'neath the chilly Polar blast,

A low, sweet undertone I hear:

"The wintry storms will soon be past,

And pleasant Spring-time days are near."

In Winter's stern and icy grasp,
Are river, pond, and rill, to-day;
Like iron bonds his fetters' clasp,
Like despot's rule his frosty sway.
But only yesterday I heard—
Though all the landscape was so drear—
The sweet voice of a lonesome bird:
"The Spring-time days will soon be here."

The air is icy, keen and chill,
All Nature lies in sleep profound,
That seems like death—so cold, so still—
But flowers are biding underground.
The sun mounts up, from day to day,
His beams each morn more full of cheer.
And to our hearts they seem to say:
"The Spring-time days will soon be here."

The ice and snow will soon be gone,
The Spring-time waits the sun's warm rays,
Already we can trace the dawn
Of brighter, warmer, sweeter days.
Each morn we watch for signs of Spring,
Each evening feel its coming near.
All Nature's voices seem to sing:
"The Spring-time days will soon be here."

And though an Arctic wind sweeps by
From wildest wastes of ice and snow,
And though above us wintry sky,
And desolate white fields below—
Beneath the wind's wild organ-blast,
A low, sweet undertone I hear:
"The wintry storms will soon be past,
The sunny Spring-time days are near."

This week in birds - #579

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

The male Northern Cardinals are singing their hearts out. It must be almost spring.

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Climatologist Michael Mann is a hero of mine and I was happy to see him fight back in court against those who had defamed him. And I was even happier to see that he won!

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And speaking of Mann and his warnings about climate, scientists have announced that Earth has breached a critical temperature barrier over the last twelve months.

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El Niño has helped to exacerbate the higher temperatures. It may be almost over now but La Niña is waiting in the wings.

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In more hot news, the Icelandic volcanic system erupted again this week.

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The storms on the West Coast this week have filled up the Los Angeles River. Those storms were intensified by an atmospheric river.

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We need to save the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, America's Amazon.

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The beautiful Vermilion Flycatcher is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Here's why we need to save the sardine.

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Maui has been experiencing some of the deadliest wildfires in its history.

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An image of a polar bear sleeping on an iceberg won the Wildlife Photo of the Year award.

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Some troubling news regarding Monarch butterflies: Their numbers are down sharply in the wintering areas of Mexico. 

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But there is hopeful news regarding a possible return to the American Southwest of the jaguar. A potential barrier to that return is the stupid border wall.

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Flaco, the escaped Eurasian Eagle-owl, is still free and still flying in New York.

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Lions in Kenya are facing a challenge from an unexpected quarter - ants!

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A fossilized tree is answering some questions about life in the Paleozoic Era.

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It turns out that anenomefish, like the famous Nemo, are particular about who they share their space with.

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Altruism may not be common in the wild, but here is one unexpected example provided by an elephant seal. 

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A new species of mussel has been discovered in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Meteorologists are considering adding another category - category 6 - to their intensity scale for hurricanes which now runs 1 - 5. 

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Pollinators are less likely to be drawn to polluted plants.

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Here are some amazing photographs of animals under water.

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Sponges living in the Caribbean Sea are warning us that global warming may be even worse than we thought.

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Radical ideas are being considered to fight global warming including the use of a giant parasol!

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The Arctic Sea ecosystem is an amazing place.

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Can cork replace plastic?

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The pliosaur, a creature of the Jurassic Period, was the T. rex of the sea.

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Orcas that had been trapped in sea ice off the coast of Japan have now managed to free themselves.

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Here are some amazing images of European Starling murmurations.

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Fans of a pair of Bald Eagles nesting in California have been following them closely as they have shielded their three eggs from the storms raging there. 

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And in Sydney, the White Ibis is known as the "bin chicken" because of its habit of searching for food in trash containers.

Poetry Sunday: February by John Updike

In "A Child's Calendar," John Updike wrote a poem for each month of the year. This is the one he wrote for February. It doesn't paint a picture of my February - no snow here - but I'm sure residents of more northerly climes will recognize the scenes he describes.

February

by John Updike

The sun rides higher
Every trip.
The sidewalk shows.
Icicles drip.

A snowstorm comes,
And cars are stuck,
And ashes fly
From the old town truck.

The chickadees
Grow plump on seed
That Mother pours
Where they can feed,

And snipping, snipping
Scissors run
To cut out hearts
For everyone.

This week in birds - #578

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

This Northern Mockingbird doesn't look too happy about the shower he's getting!

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The U.S. is getting a new global climate representative since John Kerry is stepping down.

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The fossil fuel industry knew of the danger of climate change as early as 1954 but resisted doing anything about it.

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Here is a depiction of Earth breathing for one year.

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Drought is having a deleterious effect on the Panama Canal.

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The first bird flu deaths have been reported in Gentoo Penguins in the Antarctic.

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Trees are good for us. Is there really any doubt of that?

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This is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is a neotropical falcon, the Collared Forest-Falcon.

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Patagonia, the outdoor apparel brand, is following its philosophy when making its charitable donations.

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Remember Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl that escaped captivity (with a little help) a year ago? Well, he's still out there, flying free, making it in New York. And if you can make it there... 

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It's well established that parrots are very clever birds and they use their beaks to help them navigate through trees or the perches in their cages.

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A stingless bee of the Amazon is endangered and the race is on to try to save it.

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Small dogs with pointy noses generally live longer than their larger and/or flat-faced relatives.

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After five days of freedom, a Japanese macaque that escaped from a wildlife park in Scotland has been recaptured.  

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Was he a Chinese spy? This pigeon was suspected of being one but he has now been released after eight months of captivity in Mumbai.

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This is a placoderm, a fish that lived during the Devonian Period. Apparently that strange lower jaw helped it to grasp and hold its prey.

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Reef scientists are concerned that back-to-back cyclones may have damaged the Great Barrier Reef.

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When one thinks of wildfires one doesn't usually imagine them occurring in the normally wet country of Colombia, but that is what has been happening recently.

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Imagine the benefits to easing the climate crisis and improving human health if we were to move toward a sustainable global food system.

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And imagine the benefits to the climate if we appreciated swamps and refused to drain them.

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Rocky Raccoon is at it again - this time disrupting things in Toronto.

 

Two for the price of one

I recently read two of Joseph Heywood's Woods Cop Mysteries back-to-back. It's actually been a while since I read them so my memory may be a bit hazy but here are my thoughts on them.

Buckular Dystrophy

This was the tenth book in the series. 

"Buckular dystrophy" is a term coined by conservation officers to describe a kind of addiction to killing deer, not for sport or food, but seemingly just because they are there and because they can. The action takes place during Michigan's two-week firearm deer season when it seems that a lot of hunters go just a little bit crazy. During this time, game wardens are on duty all the time and have no personal life to call their own. 

In this instance, Game Warden Grady Service inexplicably takes on longtime violator Limpy Allerdyce as his partner. But it is actually a genius move because nobody knows violators like another violator and Limpy leads him into a bizarre series of cases involving deer. 

I particularly like these stories for their interesting descriptions of the landscape and wildlife of the Upper Peninsula and of some of the characters that live there. Heywood does spin a good yarn.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Chasing a Blond Moon

I actually read this book (which is #3 in the series) after the later book which I just described. I generally like to read series books in order but sometimes I just go rogue and that's what I did in this case.

The plot here was complicated and a bit hard for me to follow at times but here's what I can tell you about it: As an early book in the series, this one is still letting us get to know Grady Service. We learn that he's not just a man of the woods but also someone who knows a bit about wine and good food. He can cook! 

We learn that there is a woman in his life, Maridly Nantz. Also, he has a son from an earlier relationship, a son that he has only just learned about. The plot also involves a bit of politics, a state senator who is running for governor of the state. It is a heady mix and made for a robust tale. I think I will be reading more in this series.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars  

Poetry Sunday: Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

I'm a little late with this post but here's your poem for the week and it's one of my personal favorites. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Wild Geese

by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.