Book Review: Mind of the Raven
By Carolyn Norred
Hiking Portland’s Forest Park Wildwood Trail w
ith a couple of friends recently, we stopped off at the Portland Audubon center. There we met Aristophanes, an eighteen-month-old raven who had been raised in captivity and now lived under the care of the Audubon volunteers. Big, beautiful, and bold, he sat on his keeper’s gloved arm and pulled at the folds of her sleeve as we talked. Each time he lightly tugged at her shirtsleeve, she used her bare finger to tap the underside of his most impressive beak, and he would quit for a moment, and then begin again. She explained that he knew he wasn’t supposed to be doing what he was doing, but he wanted her full attention.
I had just finished enjoying Bernd Heinrich’s Mind of the Raven, (Harper, 1999) and I couldn’t help notice how delicate and vulnerable that bare finger looked beside the powerful beak. Heinrich lists some of the uses of the raven’s bill: offense, defense, shoveling, picking, cutting, gripping, ripping, prying, crushing, holding, caressing, combing, and breaking limbs.…
November - December 2009 Whistler is online
The November - December 2009 Whistler is available for download.
Some of its content:
- Update on WA Audubon
- Member Form and WHAS News
- LNG Update; Oregon State Bird
- Habitat Restoration Area for Snowy Plovers
- Nelson Creek / Lake Sacajawea Sign Update
- Christmas Bird Counts, Other Events
- Book Review: Mind of the Raven
- WHAS Programs and Field Trips
Nelson Creek Update
We have been busy at Nelson Creek this last summer. Vegetation surveys: Pam Wright headed up a crew with Andrea Berkley, Columbia Land Trust, establishing permanent vegetation plots throughout the Nelson Creek property. These inventory plots will be monitored to document the change due to our restoration efforts.
The Nelson Creek committee met in July to update everyone as to what has been completed and what still needs to be done. We welcomed Kris Parke to the committee. Kris has been involved for several years monitoring upper Nelson Creek for fish populations. He volunteered to head up a fish survey in Jack's Slough. Andrea reported that CLT now has funding to proceed with restoration projects that will include site preparation and replanting with native species. We expect to get started this winter.
Acidification of Willapa Bay
"Four years ago wild-oyster fishermen in Washington State began to notice something rather strange going on. In the brackish waters of Willapa Bay, where cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean wells up and nourishes the oysters and their young, larvae were dying at alarming rates." Check out A Sea Less Hospitable to Life by Molly Webster in NRDC's On Earth Magazine for more information.
8/28/09 Update from WA Dept of Ecology re Bradwood
Last year, several concerned citizens, including John Green and myself, met with Dean Takko, WA State Representative, Jay Manning, and Sally Toteff, from WA Dept of Ecology. The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) will identify the gaps in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), due in late October. Additional information is also included on Water Quality Certification, the 9th Circuit Court response and Endangered Species Act Consultation.
In his reply and thank you to Sally Toteff, Brett VandenHeuvel emphasizes the need for the SEPA analysis and a public comment period.
Read more: 8/28/09 Update from WA Dept of Ecology re Bradwood
September - October Whistler is online
The September - October 2009 Whistler is available for download.
Some of its content:
- Radar Ridge Wind Energy Project in Pacific C.
- Member Form and WHAS News
- Stormwater management; Washington State Bird
- WHAS Annual Picnic
- Upcoming Fall Events
- Book Review; LNG update
- WHAS Programs and Field Trips
Aesop's fable not so far fetched
British researchers report that Rooks, a member of the crow family, are indeed sharp enough to pile stones in a vase to reach a floating morsel that is out of reach a la "The Crow and the Pitcher."
Inside Birding by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
If you are looking to improve your birding skills check out the redesigned and updated "All About Birds" website offered by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. They provide tips, tools and techniques for identifying birds using shape, size, color and behavior. You can even listen to the songs and calls of different birds.
Snake Meets Its Match
On a recent hike in the North Oregon coast range, the Greens came upon a garter snake crossing the trail. The snake was impeded by an enormous mouthful of slimy slug. On the return from Cape Falcon, two hours later, the snake was in the same location
More Articles...
- Bird Brains
- July - August Whistler is online
- Bat Houses for Sale
- Lake Sacajawea Invasive Weed Cleanup on the South Island
- WHAS works to remove invasive plants from Lake Sacajawea Islands
- Lake Sacajawea Interpretive Signs Update
- Mount St. Helens panel to recommend High Lakes land swap
- Be Careful! Don't mess with some birds
- WDFW Wildlife Watch Camera
- Texas wind farm pioneers radar technology to protect migrating birds
- Bike to Work Week May 11-15
- May - June Whistler is online
- Fox Creek Work Day
- Snowy Plover / Horned Lark Project needs Coordinator
- New York Times article on Mount St. Helen's status as a National Monument
- WHAS Board Member featured in "The Daily News"
- Do Oregon or Washington need LNG?
- Birds and Climate Change: Ecological Disruption in Progress
- Deery Memorial Signage
- Nelson Creek Volunteers
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