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No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
I’ve never seen Knowable Magazine before, nor am I familiar with the writer of this article, Betsy Mason, but I like the way she thinks, and writes, and the way this article is put together on their website. Quality work! Ms. Mason has written other articles that sound equally interesting. You can find them by clicking Betsy Mason.
Do birds have language? It depends on how you define it.
Knowable Magazine | Betsy Mason | 15 Feb 2022 | 10 minute read
“In our quest to find what makes humans unique, we often compare ourselves with our closest relatives: the great apes. But when it comes to understanding the quintessentially human capacity for language, scientists are finding that the most tantalizing clues lay farther afield.”
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The groundhog & the orbit of the earth
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
Joe Rao, in addition to his duties as Space.com’s skywatching columnist, and instructor and instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium, writes a monthly column for Natural History Magazine called Skylog, in which he discusses what’s up skywise for the coming month. I’ve cribbed from it a lot on this blog over the past decade.
His February 2022 column is quite interesting. I managed to track down almost the same article on his Space.com page, so there is a link below, but I’ll tempt you with a line he quotes from an old English nursery rhyme (some say a folk song, or just “a song”):
If Candlemas be fair and bright, Come, Winter, have another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Go, Winter, and not come again.
Ring any bells? Read the article.
When is the midpoint of winter?
Space.com| Joe Rao | 8 Feb 2022 | 5 minute read
Curious about Candlemas? Here’s the lowdown on this feast, not so well-known since the advent of the electric light, from Those Who Know: Catholic Straight Answers.com
More Supurb Owls
[Posted by Chuck Almdale, suggested by Tom Hinnebusch]
Sometimes even a surfeit is insufficient.
Most — but not all — of these are local owls.
From Pasadena Audubon Society:
https://www.pasadenaaudubon.org/superb-owl-sunday
Supurb Owl Sunday VI | The Atlantic
[Posted by Chuck Almdale, submitted by Adrian Douglas]
A photographic essay: Twenty-eight stunning photos of owls from around the world.
Superb Owl Sunday VI
The Atlantic | Alan Taylor | 13 Feb 2022 | 5 minute look
Biden administration makes it harder to kill birds
[Posted by Chuck Almdale, submitted by Lucien Plauzoles]
FromBethLevin Vanity Fair quoting the WAPO
In break with Donald Trump, Biden administration will make it harder to kill birds
If you weren’t aware, Trump had made it easier to kill defenseless animals. Per The Washington Post 29 Sep 2021:
The Biden administration finalized a rule Wednesday revoking a Trump administration policy that eased penalties for killing birds, restoring federal protections that had been in place for a century. The Trump administration’s reinterpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act ranked as one of its most contentious wildlife policies. It relaxed legal penalties for energy companies, construction firms, and land developers that unintentionally killed birds through activities such as construction and oil drilling.
The new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule would restore protections under the bedrock environmental law, which prohibits the “take” of migratory bird species�regulatory-speak for hunting, killing, capturing, selling, or otherwise hurting them.Under President Donald Trump, officials had sought to exclude accidental deaths from the “take” definition,a move backed bythe oil and gas industry.
Naturally, companies in the business of killing birds were upset about the reversal. Mallori Miller, vice president of government relations at the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said the group was “disappointed” in the White House’s decision. “Repealing this provision will not have the desired outcome of additional conservation but will, in fact, financially harm businesses who have an incidental take through no fault of their own,” Miller said in an email to the Post. “This is not a case of punishing ‘bad actors’ but rather a situation where companies are set up for failure.”
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 