This week in birds - #683

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

The American Bird Conservancy's featured Bird of the Week is the Galapagos Petrel, a large, slender seabird that is critically endangered and whose population is decreasing. The bird's population declined by up to 80 percent when nonnative plants and animals were introduced to the Galapagos Islands. There is an effort underway to reduce the many threats facing the species. Continued control of introduced predators as well as the minimization of ongoing human impacts are important for the Galapagos Petrel's continued survival.

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Europe has been sweltering under an extreme heat wave this week.

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In Portland, Oregon, there is an effort to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for a heat wave that occurred five years ago. This would establish an interesting precedent.

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The current administration in Washington shut down a climate science website last year. Now former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees have recreated the site.

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The current El Niño could evolve into one of the most powerful ones on record, bringing extreme weather worldwide.

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The Commerce Secretary accuses California of "environmental extremism" and will launch an investigation of the state's powerful Coastal Commission.

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The goblin shark has the well-earned title of the "ugliest shark on the planet."

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The Euphrates River played an important role in the founding of early civilizations. Scientists believe they have now discovered its origins.

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Female dolphins remember males that were aggressive during mating season and may attempt to avoid them in future. 

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Ayahuasca is an Indigenous beverage from Brazil that has psychedelic properties and, unfortunately, it is now in demand outside of the Indigenous community which has increased pressure on the plants used in its concoction.

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A bit of good news from London where deaths linked to air pollution have fallen by 40%.

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Animal migration is becoming more difficult in the changing landscape. Is there anything we can do to help?

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The government is teaming with a private company called Colossal Biosciences to store samples of at-risk animals and plants.

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On Thursday the president issued an executive order aimed at reducing pesticides in the food supply and studying the health risks they pose.

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Sunflower sea stars disappeared from California waters during a heat wave more than a decade ago, but now some have reappeared there.

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Some tropical butterflies can live almost a year, vastly longer than most butterflies. Their diet might be what makes the difference. 

Poetry Sunday: The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

It is the first day of summer and so I'm featuring possibly my favorite poem about the season. 

I always love the poet's confession that "I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention..." To that I can only say "Amen!" 

So, here's to paying attention and to taking the time to notice the grasshoppers of the world.

The Summer Day

by Mary Oliver

Who made the world? 

Who made the swan, and the black bear? 

Who made the grasshopper? 
This grasshopper, I mean— 
the one who has flung herself out of the grass, 
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, 
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down— 
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. 
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. 
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. 
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. 
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down 
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, 
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, 
which is what I have been doing all day. 
Tell me, what else should I have done? 
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? 
Tell me, what is it you plan to do 
with your one wild and precious life?

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.