This week in birds - #604

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

The Eastern Bluebird is an always welcome visitor to my yard.

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It's that time again - time for Project Feederwatch. Sign up to document the birds around your yard and contribute to the accumulation of knowledge about their ranges. The count begins on November 1.

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Humanity has a finite carbon budget and wildfires around the world are burning right through it. In South America, huge tracts of land are being decimated by fire and the skies are shrouded by smoke.

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Meanwhile, the southwestern United States is being scorched by an exceptional heat wave. Temperatures as high as 117 degrees F. have been recorded.

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Rachel Carson's Silent Spring has had a profound effect on how the public views chemicals, creating, in some instances, an irrational fear of them. 

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Colombian environment minister Susana Muhamad has been called the "Frida Kahlo of environmental geopolitics."

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Here's a good thing: In the Midwest, swaths of the prairie are being restored to reduce the nutrient runoff from croplands and to aid the birds and bees.

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The idea of restoring meadows of wildflowers and native grasses is catching on in other places as well.

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The pawpaw is a fruit tree native to the United States and it is resilient to climate change. Could its fruit become the new kiwi or mango? 

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Climate change is even changing borders between countries.

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And in London, public parks are being allowed to go wild on purpose. 

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This is the Southern Lapwing, a member of the plover family found throughout the grasslands and wetlands of South America. It has recently expanded its range into Central America and southern Mexico. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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On the sea turtle nesting grounds in Greece, there is very good news. There are a record number of nests this year.

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October 2 was a momentous day for California's Klamath River; it marked the complete removal of four hydroelectric dams that will restore salmon and steelhead trout habitat in several miles of the river.

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A new study has discovered the extent of Europe's once-massive oyster reefs, now exhausted.

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The fight goes on to save the much-loved Monarch butterfly.

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In a first for the Endangered Species Act list, officials are proposing to add a firefly, the Bethany Beach firefly, to the list as a threatened species.

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Magical, mystical mushrooms have uses that are only now being discovered and utilized.

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Nibi the beaver was rescued from the side of a road when she was a baby. She's now grown up and could potentially be released into the wild but there's a lot of controversy about that and now a court will decide her fate.

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On Navajo lands in Arizona, ancient practices are restoring the parched land.

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It's tarantula mating season in Colorado and that is drawing arachnophiles from far and near to witness it.

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Cuttlefish in the Mediterranean Sea are getting a helping hand from humans to boost their numbers.

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A Lesser Flamingo chick is being cared for by two flamingo foster fathers at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and it all seems to be working out quite well.