This week in birds - #671

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

A bird of the West, the Anna's Hummingbird is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. The little bird can primarily be found along the Central, Southern, and Baja California Coast but its range has expanded northward along the Pacific Coast and eastward into the Desert Southwest. Though common and adaptable, the species is still vulnerable to outdoor cats and untreated windows which are its two main threats.

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In yet another act of alarming stupidity, the current administration in Washington has agreed to pay nearly one billion of our tax dollars to cancel plans to build wind farms off the East Coast.

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The skies above North America have been visited by a string of dazzling meteors recently.  

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North American bird lovers are fortunate indeed to have had the dedication of this particular "motley crew."

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Have we had it all wrong about that famous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius?

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It seems that we may have been somewhat wrong about climate change as well; it appears to be accelerating.

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Monarch butterflies continue their flight northward to their summer homes.

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In one of Earth's wettest places, indigenous people build bridges and ladders out of living tree roots.

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Horseshoe crab blood has long been used to help make safe medicines but, in a breakthrough for this ancient animal, alternatives are being found.

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Two new DNA studies suggest that domesticated dogs were widespread in western Eurasia more than 14,000 years ago.

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A new exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art is exploring how ancient cultures used magic to help them navigate life's challenges.

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It seems that Moby Dick may have had it right about the sperm whales and their head-butting. (It's very satisfying to me to write that sentence about this book that mesmerized me in my college freshman literature class!)

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A newly discovered spider species in the Ecuadoran Amazon mimics a pathogen to protect itself. Nature never ceases to amaze. 

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Could the reintroduction of fish traps on the Columbia River where they have been banned for nearly a century actually help save the salmon?

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Archaeologists have discovered a mystery at an ancient gravesite in Dijon; there are thirteen sets of human bones all apparently buried upright and facing west. 

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Researchers have discovered that, historically, the manatee's permanent home was in the Caribbean and they visited Florida, like so many others, as tourists. 

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March 6 was the 190th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo, a very famous date and battle in Texas history, and archaeologists recently discovered an intact cannonball believed to have been fired by the Mexican army in the siege leading up to the battle.

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This lovely little flower is the snowdrop, or Galanthus, and it is blooming now. Admirers gather each year in Pennsylvania to celebrate its endurance. 

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I always knew there was something I liked about Sean Bean other than his obvious - ahem - attributes. It turns out he is a fellow birder! I'd certainly be happy to listen to him talk about birds.

Poetry Sunday: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

It is perhaps Dylan Thomas' most famous poem, a poem he wrote to/for his father. If you are not a Thomas fan, never studied English literature and are not familiar with him at all you've probably heard of this poem in one context or another. I have featured it here once before but it has been a few years ago and it seems it may be time for it again. Time to remind ourselves not to go gentle into that good night and to continue to rage, rage against the dying of the light. After all, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day."

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,   

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

This week in birds - #670

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

This is the Ariel Toucan, a bird that was reintroduced to Brazil fifty years ago. It has had the added value to the environment of dispersing seeds of endangered trees. The interwoven connections of the environment never cease to amaze.

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So the administration has approved the deep water drilling plans for the Gulf of Mexico. Never mind the fact that they may endanger people and marine life. 

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One of the biggest threats to blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay is their own species. They are cannibalistic.

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Endangered wild Regent Honeyeaters in Australia are serving as song tutors to captive-born birds that are being released into the wild.

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                                                   (Image borrowed from the internet.) 

The eastern Monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico had a 64% increase compared to last year's count. This is extremely good news. And in more good news, I had one of them visiting my yard this week! Here's hoping for many more.

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The US-Israeli war on Iran has just emphasized the need to transition as quickly as possible to the use of renewable energy.

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Ohio experienced a big boom this week when a meteor streaked across its early morning skies.

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Apache women are trying to get the Supreme Court to intervene to stop federal forest land in Arizona being used for copper mining. 

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A "thumbs up" rule is designed to protect endangered Hawaiian monk seals.

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Do some birds recognize that cigarette butts in their nests could help ward off parasites?

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The country's first large-scale offshore wind project has been completed off Martha's Vineyard.

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Even aggressive and dangerous bull sharks are capable of social relations and forming friendships. 

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A new study finds that rodents don't just gnaw to trim their teeth; they also do it just because it feels good.

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A red fox had quite a voyage after boarding a cargo ship in England. He ended up at the Bronx Zoo!

Poetry Sunday: March by William Cullen Bryant

Yes, I'm still tinkering with the look of the blog!

We are almost halfway through "stormy March." So far it hasn't really lived up to that name here in Southeast Texas, although we have had plenty of clouds and wind. But it looks like the days ahead may help March recover its reputation for changeableness. According to forecasts, winter may be with us for one more day, tomorrow, but then spring arrives a few days early on Tuesday. William Cullen Bryant appreciated the unloved month and even wrote an ode to it.  

March 

by William Cullen Bryant

The stormy March is come at last,
With wind, and cloud, and changing skies,

I hear the rushing of the blast,
That through the snowy valley flies.

Ah, passing few are they who speak,
Wild stormy month! in praise of thee;
Yet, though thy winds are loud and bleak,
Thou art a welcome month to me.

For thou, to northern lands, again
The glad and glorious sun dost bring,
And thou hast joined the gentle train
And wear’st the gentle name of Spring.

And, in thy reign of blast and storm,
Smiles many a long, bright, sunny day,
When the changed winds are soft and warm,
And heaven puts on the blue of May.

Then sing aloud the gushing rills
And the full springs, from frost set free,
That, brightly leaping down the hills,
Are just set out to meet the sea.

The year’s departing beauty hides
Of wintry storms the sullen threat;
But in thy sternest frown abides
A look of kindly promise yet.

Thou bring’st the hope of those calm skies,
And that soft time of sunny showers,
When the wide bloom, on earth that lies,
Seems of a brighter world than ours.

This week in birds - #669

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

These are a pair of Northern Emerald-Toucanets, a bird found in parts of southern Mexico and into Central America. It is a bird of forested habitats and it eats mostly fruit. They are nonmigratory and the population size is really unknown but it is thought to be decreasing. Its main threat is loss of habitat through deforestation. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. 

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It has been a hot month so far in the Southwest. Heat records could be toppled in various places.

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Death Valley National Park is full of life - specifically wildflowers that are blanketing the park in the most breathtaking bloom seen there in a decade.

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Whooping Cranes are among the most closely tracked and monitored birds in North America. We almost lost them in the last century and we don't want that to happen again. We are still learning about how they utilize their habitat.

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So it looks like the controversial weedkiller Roundup will be on the market again, thanks to an executive order from the president.

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The government of Ecuador is attempting to silence defenders of the environment by shuttering their bank accounts.

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El Niño is likely coming this summer and may bring severe weather with it.

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Did the ancient Egyptians invent Wite-Out?

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The endangered lemurs of Madagascar love the strawberry guava but the fruit is choking the island's forests.

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As war rages in the Persian Gulf, Iran's supply of fresh water is at risk.

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What is under the oldest trees on Earth? Inquiring minds wanted to know so scientists looked.

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Baroness is a python and she is the longest snake ever measured at 23.5 feet long.

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A rare white whale has been spotted and photographed off the coast of Mexico. Whatever would Captain Ahab think?

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Bumblebees are remarkable creatures but the fact that the queens can survive underwater for a week may be one of the most amazing things about them.

Trout lilies

The trout lilies are blooming by my little backyard pond. Spring is on the way!

 

Poetry Sunday: Today by Billy Collins

It isn't quite spring yet but today (Saturday) was just the kind of day that Billy Collins wrote about in this poem. Let's hope we have a few more of them before our long, hot summer sets in.

Today 

by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.