Archive for April, 2010
Singin’ the Browns
Posted by: | CommentsDeBoville Slough, in Coquitlam, BC, seems to have an incredible density of Purple Finches. Everywhere we walked this morning along the rainy dike we heard their vague, sweet songs, and–uncharacteristically–they were easy to see as they sang high and low in the trees and bushes, a helpful thing for those of us unfamiliar with these blurry californicus birds, so different from the eastern Purples I grew up with.
Whichever race you’re dealing with, Purple Finches are “two-year passerines,” meaning that the males take a full year to attain their red plumage. This morning I was fascinated to watch brown birds–first-cycle males–singing right along with their purplish seniors, and astonished to see one of the kids attract a female, who flew in close, cocked her tail, and vibrated her wings in the classic solicitation pose. Consummation remained merely devoutly wished, and they flew off, together, presumably in search of some privacy.
Birders Can Exercise Pressure to Protect Human Rights in Arizona
Posted by: | CommentsAre you as upset as I am about the new immigration measures that have passed the Arizona legislature? If you’re not, have a look at this NYT editorial and at the press release below.
Something like 600,000 people visit Arizona each year to enjoy the outdoors and its wildlife; the latest figures I’ve seen show them spending nearly two billion (billion!) dollars a year in the state.
I’m planning on writing AZOT and letting them know that I will not bring any birding group into the state unless the governor vetoes this bill. Statements from individual birders who might have been planning a trip to Arizona would probably be even more effective.
Arizona Office of Tourism
1110 W. Washington Street, Suite 155
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Phone: 602-364-3700
Fax: 602-364-3701
At the moment I’m ashamed of my adopted state–and wish for the first time that we’d sold our place in Tucson when we left.
Press Release: APRIL 22, 2010
Through representatives and groups, many in Arizona are considering state sponsored vigilantism, systematic violations of human rights, and mean-spirited laws that are designed to promote racism and punish some of the most vulnerable among us. The Judeo-Christian faith has thousands of years of history telling us that it is all right to recognize the presence and even the status of persons among us who are different, but in all cases, we are required to love all persons. The membership of First Christian Church, Tucson, will not rest until some of these principles are renewed elements of public policy.
FCC will continue to provide accommodations for youth groups, “alternative” spring break groups from universities, internships for university students, and for-credit educational opportunities focused on migrants.
The congregation will now expand its offerings as a site for theological reflections on this, the largest, sustained migration. Just today, the congregation agreed to host a group of sixty chaplains from around the US in a border education experience in the fall. Working with foreign consulates, FCC will expand services to migrants with special health and family needs. The congregation will continue and expand emphases on hosting border forums, the screening of documentaries, and general community education.
Dr. Robin Hoover, pastor of First Christian Church, is currently participating in unprecedented conversations with US Customs and Border Protection officials regarding migrant safety issues and human rights. He will be meeting with the the Chief of Staff of Customs and Border Protection and other officials in Washington, D.C. next week. The congregation’s commitment of his time is directed at influencing future migration policy reform.
First Christian Church has promoted and defended human rights for all for many decades. FCC is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Rev. Robin Hoover, Ph.D.
MIGRANT MINISTRIES
Pastor of First Christian Church
Founder of Humane Borders
Windrow
Posted by: | CommentsThe wind does different things different places. In Arizona, it fills the house with dust; in Nebraska, it clogs the screens with cottonwood cotton.
It’s been blowing hard these past two days in Vancouver, and besides the usual plastic bag cyclones and beached sailboats, our blustery friend Caurus has drifted the curbs high with cherry blossoms–and packed the leeward side of the thickets with sparrows.
This was the scene at Iona yesterday morning–just multiply it by a mile of grassy track, and add to the abundant Golden-crowned Sparrows plenty of White-crowned, Song, Lincoln’s, Savannah, and a single Chipping Sparrow, plus the usual Spotted Towhees.
This is my kind of place: shorebirds on the high tide, sparrows on the high winds!
Well, I’m Pretty Sure They Were Yellow When I Landed….
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Lesser Yellowlegs. Iona sewage ponds, British Columbia
One more reason to avoid using tarsus color to identify shorebirds.
Sewage Pond Scoter
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Look hard–that black mass in the foreground is a male Surf Scoter, slumming it with Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, and Lesser Scaup on the Iona sewage ponds this morning.
Maybe the strong winds blew him across the road from the saltwater–where hundreds still linger–or maybe he’s sick, but the sight of this bird brought back happy and unexpected memories of my very first Surf Scoter, thirty years ago in Lincoln, Nebraska, floating on a small lake among Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, and Lesser Scaup one bright November day. That was in the days when scoters of any species were big news on the Great Plains, and I remember running across to the nearest pay phone to spread the big news.
No news at all, really, this Iona bird, but a happy reminder of how birds, even the most common, even the most commonplace, can take us back in time and far away in space–thirty years and three thousand kilometers, even.
