This week in birds - #682

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the Barred Owl. I grew up in a house surrounded by acres of forest and swamp and, as a child, I fell asleep most nights listening to a chorus of Barred Owls, Great Horned Owls, and Screech Owls. Even the occasional Barn Owl. For me it was a lovely, comforting sound. I'm sure it was less so for all the creatures scurrying around in that forest. Barred Owl numbers are actually increasing and their status is considered of least concern.

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El Niño has started up once again and the debate among scientists about whether climate change is intensifying it has started up once again, also. 

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Since the federal government has backed off of "forever chemicals" protections, there is an opportunity for states to step up and some of them are.

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For the first time, solar panels produced more power than coal for the U.S. grid in May.

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Who would have imagined that extreme heat in the climate could affect one's teeth?

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Here are some amazing images of Machu Picchu.

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California's first wildlife crossing is not finished yet, but the mule deer have already discovered it and are using it.

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I've always been fascinated by Venus Flytraps. They are able to snap their traps shut in less than a second and scientists think they have discovered how.

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Salamanders that glow under UV light? Europe's fire salamanders have that ability.

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The National Park Service has acquired 213 acres of land in northern Wisconsin along the edge of Lake Superior and three miles of it will become part of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

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There are efforts to restore and rewild Point Reyes National Seashore in California but how is that best accomplished?

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Sequoyah created a written language for the Cherokee. He is another fascinating individual from Native American history.

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In Australia, male Bowerbirds are collecting human trash to use in their bowers, which they can take months to create.

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Rare deep-sea Goblin Sharks have been observed alive in their natural habitat for the first time.

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A whale graveyard where cetacean remains have been accumulating for five million years has been discovered in the Indian Ocean.

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Turtles and tortoises are being smuggled alive across the Mexico-U.S. border.

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A survey of California's Channel Islands found white abalone living there, the first time they had been seen in five years.

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What happens to rescued pangolins after they are returned to the wild? In Bangladesh, scientists have an opportunity to find out.

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In India, a Black-backed Kingfisher grasps its meal, a small forest lizard or skink in its beak. It will eat well today.

The way it was

Watching the opening today of the Obama Presidential Center was bittersweet. Sweet because it reminded us of the way things once were when we were led by honorable people and were respected in the world; bitter because we could not help but note the contrast with the way things are today when we are led by dishonorable people who are only interested in enriching themselves, the country be damned, and the rest of the world avoids us as much as possible. And who can blame them? 

The thing that galls me the most (just ask my husband) is that we are in this situation because the majority of the voters in the last election JUST COULD NOT BRING THEMSELVES TO VOTE FOR A SUPREMELY QUALIFIED WOMAN!!!

And so here we are - stuck with a criminal leading the country until January 20, 2029. Thirty-one more months unless Nature intervenes. Just think of the damage he can do during that period of time. Truly it boggles the mind...

We can only hope that American voters have learned their lesson and, when given a chance to vote again, will remember this and do their best to choose honorable leaders. But, again, to quote my husband, "People are stupid."

Still, we hope. It is an Obama thing. 

Cats will be cats

As a lover of cats, Shakespeare, and ballet, this news story from Turkey is a winner for me. It was definitely a needed counterpoint to most of the news of the world of the day. And perhaps it was a reminder that if all the world is a stage then cats are going to play their part regardless of who is watching. For that their many fans are grateful. And may their non-fans be tolerant of it all!

Poetry Sunday: The False Friends by Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was a twentieth century American writer of poetry, fiction and literary criticism who was especially known for her caustic wit. There's an example of that wit in this poem. I imagine the subject of the poem as a teenager but it could be an older person, I suppose. At any rate, it is someone who mended from an ended romance rather quickly!

 

The False Friends

by Dorothy Parker

They laid their hands upon my head,

They stroked my cheek and brow;

And time could heal a hurt, they said,
And time could dim a vow.

And they were pitiful and mild
Who whispered to me then,
"The heart that breaks in April, child,
Will mend in May again."

Oh, many a mended heart they knew.
So old they were, and wise.
And little did they have to do
To come to me with lies!

Who flings me silly talk of May
Shall meet a bitter soul;
For June was nearly spent away
Before my heart was whole.

This week in birds - #681

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

This is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week doing what he is known for - skimming. It is the well-named Black Skimmer, a bird found in both North and South America in ocean or freshwater habitats. Its conservation status is of least concern presently although its population trends are unknown.

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There's been no tropical storm threat to the Americas so far but there are some Pacific weather systems currently being tracked that pose a potential threat if they develop. 

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The current administration sees no value in maintaining an ocean monitoring system and has ordered it to be dismantled.

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The nation is a tinderbox, literally, and this wildfire season is worrying wildfire experts.

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As if we didn't have enough to be worried about, flesh-eating screwworms have been detected in the United States 60 years after they were considered to be eradicated here.

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Pigeons are famously able to find their way home when released long distances away from it, but how do they do that? Does it have something to do with their liver?  

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One could argue that California and Florida already have more than enough mosquitoes so why would we want to introduce more?

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Paleontologists have discovered an ancient sea reptile the size of a school bus that they are calling the T. rex of the sea, Tylosaurus rex.

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Researchers are studying how the engineering choices in the building of the Great Pyramid have helped it survive for 4600 years.

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Did an ancient ancestor of humans navigate the world on all fours?

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There is an outbreak of Ebola in Congo and Uganda. Scientists are hoping that some experimental treatments and vaccines might be able to slow its spread.

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The Okefenokee, a blackwater swamp and Georgia wildlife haven, is under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage status.

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Mangrove forests fight climate change but sea level rise is a threat to their continued existence.

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A rare Przewalski’s horse has been born at the Bronx Zoo much to the delight of conservationists. These horses were declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s.

Poetry Sunday: "The world is a beautiful place" by Lawrence Ferlinghhetti

And now for something completely different from the poems I generally post here. A bit of satire by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

"The world is a beautiful place" 

 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti 

The world is a beautiful place

                                                           to be born into 
if you don’t mind happiness 
                                             not always being 
                                                                        so very much fun 
       if you don’t mind a touch of hell
                                                       now and then
                just when everything is fine
                                                             because even in heaven
                                they don’t sing 
                                                        all the time

             The world is a beautiful place
                                                           to be born into
       if you don’t mind some people dying
                                                                  all the time
                        or maybe only starving
                                                           some of the time
                 which isn’t half so bad
                                                      if it isn’t you

      Oh the world is a beautiful place
                                                          to be born into
               if you don’t much mind
                                                   a few dead minds
                    in the higher places
                                                    or a bomb or two
                            now and then
                                                  in your upturned faces
         or such other improprieties
                                                    as our Name Brand society
                                  is prey to
                                              with its men of distinction
             and its men of extinction
                                                   and its priests
                         and other patrolmen
                                                         and its various segregations
         and congressional investigations
                                                             and other constipations
                        that our fool flesh
                                                     is heir to

Yes the world is the best place of all
                                                           for a lot of such things as
         making the fun scene
                                                and making the love scene
and making the sad scene
                                         and singing low songs of having 
                                                                                      inspirations
and walking around 
                                looking at everything
                                                                  and smelling flowers
and goosing statues
                              and even thinking 
                                                         and kissing people and
     making babies and wearing pants
                                                         and waving hats and
                                     dancing
                                                and going swimming in rivers
                              on picnics
                                       in the middle of the summer
and just generally
                            ‘living it up’

Yes
   but then right in the middle of it
                                                    comes the smiling
                                                                                 mortician

This week in birds - #680

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the lively little Nashville Warbler, a bird of the forest and of urban and suburban habitats. It breeds in parts of southeastern and western Canada and northeastern and western United States and can be found during migration throughout most of the United States. Its population is decreasing but its current conservation status is not of concern. 

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The Monarch butterfly spring migration has now reached as far as Maine and Nova Scotia.

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Has the risk of global warming been overstated? Scientists are reconsidering.

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Did you ever wonder why many of the huge predatory dinosaurs had such tiny arms? Scientists think they have figured it out. 

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And which one of those predatory dinosaurs was the biggest?

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If you have an orange cat, it is probably a male. Here's why.

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Cities might be thought to be inimical to birds but they can actually prove quite important as stopovers during migration.

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Here are some amazing pictures of giraffes in the wild.

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A new study suggests that daddy longlegs actively hunt frogs in South America.

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How long have humans had a relationship with pigeons? Much longer than previously thought it turns out.

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Here are some of the best wildlife photographs from previous years.

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A centuries-old baobab tree in Madagascar is dying. It is a symbol of something larger.

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Gray whales in the eastern North Pacific are suffering from malnourishment. They are in serious trouble.

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After years of a dwindling population in the Chesapeake Bay, blue crabs saw a dramatic boost in their numbers last winter.

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Sunday night will feature the second full moon of the month, known as a blue moon.