Everything and More

We've all had people give us too much information about themselves, but TMI no longer applies when birds are the subject.

My blog entries frequently mention the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds Web site because it provides great information about birds. In fact, after exploring the site, one might think it really has all the bird information ever collected. It turns out, however, that there's more, and the Cornell Lab's latest offering gives us additional insight into the world of birds.

All About Bird Biology, a recently released (they say, "hatched") companion site to All About Birds, focuses on the biological aspects of birds. For example, the first collection of information looks at feathers. The site is interactive and already contains nearly a hundred videos about birds.

Billing (get it?) itself as a resource for birders, teachers, students, and just about anyone curious to learn more about birds, All About Bird Biology moves public knowledge of ornithology up a notch. As someone who once had an entire science fair project dedicated solely to feathers, I love it. To check out the site, click here.

Between All About Birds and All About Bird Biology, we can know birds inside out.

Strategic Reserves

In Jurassic Park, John Hammond says, "Creation is an act of sheer will." However, when it comes to the creation and maintenance of aquatic reserves, Washington state turns to collective will.

A partnership between the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR), environmental groups, Native American tribes, and other residents has produced seven aquatic reserves throughout Washington. Each reserve sets aside state-owned land for preservation and restoration.

The process for establishing these reserves provides a model for strategic public handling of environmental issues. First, an individual or organization proposes a site. DNR evaluates the plan and decides whether to make it a formal proposal. Once DNR submits a formal proposal, the public has the opportunity to comment.

Even the management process employs public participation. After a proposed reserve has been accepted, a management plan is created. Currently, citizen committees manage five of the seven sites. Along with DNR and the tribes, partners in the Aquatic Reserves Program include the Washington Environmental Council, RE Sources for Sustainable Communities, the Nisqually Reach Nature Center, and Whidbey Watershed Stewards. For more information about the program, click here.

Collaborations like Washington's Aquatic Reserves Program show the potential of harnessing our collective power to make positive environmental impacts.

Getting to Know Yew (and Other Trees)

There's a stranger in town. It's tall, quiet, and probably green.

Doesn't that sound like someone you'd like to know more about? Well, if you're in the Emerald City, the Seattle Audubon Society will make the introduction for you. 

Realizing that we often overlook trees and the important role they play in cities, Seattle Audubon has created the Seattle Tree Map. A citizen-science and community-improvement project, Seattle Tree Map lets Seattleites discover and learn about the city's trees. The project also calculates the economic and environmental value of having living trees within the city. Citizens can participate by contributing new or updated information about the trees. To learn more about the project, click here.

We tend not to associate nature with cities, so we miss many opportunities to connect with it. However, the trees are right there, waiting to show us the roadmap for an urban relationship with the environment.

After all, the ecological community doesn't stop at the city limits.

Missed Note

Seeing is believing, but in birding, so is hearing, and a new movie with bird-watching as a theme misses this point.

A Birder's Guide to Everything comes to theaters March 21 and revolves around some teenagers' search for the Labrador duck, an extinct species. Of course, the bird angle caught my attention. However, when I saw the trailer, I couldn't believe my ears. Check it out below:



The issue I had with the trailer involves the way the joke at the end presents a narrow idea of bird-watching. When Ben Kingsley's character says, "Absolutely anyone can be a birder--except for blind people I suppose," he's more than just wrong.

Despite the term "bird-watching," sound serves as probably the most reliable way of identifying birds. Often, birders only have sound to go on when noting the presence of species. With this in mind, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology requires its students to be able to identify birds just by sound. The fact is that a blind person with the ability to hear and knowledge of birdcalls would have an advantage over birders who simply relied on sight.

I don't want to discourage anyone from seeing the movie. Taken as a whole, it might turn out to be great, but the joke about blind people didn't strike me as funny or even accurate.

Seeing birds is certainly a great joy, but it's only part of the birding experience.

Flickring of Interest

This story begins with a boy and a camera that had fancy-looking lighting settings.

I received my first camera when I was about seven years old. Its sophistication level went far beyond my knowledge of photography at the time. (I thought the lighting settings were pretty cool because they featured icons of the sun for sunny days and clouds for cloudy ones.) I used the camera a lot, mostly for pictures of nature scenes and animals of course, and the seeds of an interest in photography were planted.

Today, I have a different camera, which was a graduation gift from my family. Like my first camera, it exceeds the skill level of its operator. However, I still enjoy capturing the environment in photographs.

I tell this story because I recently started a Flickr page to display some of my photos. You'll find a widget with a link to the site on the righthand column of this blog, and you can also access the photostream by clicking here.

Just remember that if you take a look at the pictures, you're probably viewing the world through the eyes of a child.

Deep Connection

An upcoming documentary prepares to dive into our relationship with water.

Watermark, which hits theaters April 4, presents water as more than just a necessary element for life. Water takes on a life of its own in the film, influencing and responding to our actions. It touches us on a deep level, forming our most enduring relationship. Watch the Watermark trailer below:



Because of its basic link to us and all other life on the planet, water contains the ability to show us connections we rarely consider. The creators of Watermark realize this potential and use the film to show the bigger picture. For more information about Watermark, click here.

Coleridge was right: Water, water everywhere ...

Natural Personality

Prepare to meet your match.

A new survey from the National Wildlife Federation offers a fun opportunity to anyone who's ever pretended to be an animal. NWF community manager Dani Tinker recently created a series of questions that help people figure out what kind of animal they'd be.

The survey serves as more than a basic personality test. It highlights the ways we relate to our environment and shows the links between those relationships and our actions. Still, it's hard not to get excited about finding your animal alter ego. To take the survey, click here.

By the way, in case you're wondering, my wildlife personality is Sporty Steelhead. Since I've done quite a bit of fishing, and the steelhead is the state fish of Washington, my home state, I feel that's a pretty good match.

Now, go find the animal inside you.

Little Library, Big Idea

It was so small, I couldn't miss it.

When I first saw a Little Free Library, I had other things on my mind, but this wooden box placed on top of a post would not be ignored.

Nothing stands out like the odd. In this case, not many libraries fit on the end of a pole, but the clear door of the box revealed books inside, and then, I saw "Little Free Library" written on the wood. That was all I needed. I committed the name to memory and looked it up when I returned home. What I learned about it made me think of the environment.

Little Free Library is a book-sharing project, and like its name suggests, the books are free. No one "checks out" a book, and books have no return dates (in fact, the books might not be returned at all). People simply take and/or leave books.

The program has spread to 50 states and 40 countries, and each library is built from materials in its local community. That's one cool environmental aspect. Another is the idea of book sharing.

Book sharing maximizes an information resource while minimizing the use of natural resources. Of course, traditional libraries mastered book sharing long ago and are great alternatives to buying books. However, I think the Little Free Library offers a neat option for exchanging certain common books like small, inexpensive paperbacks. For more information about the program, click here.

This is one time when it's okay to make some library noise.

A Wolf Runs Through It

Do you see the paw prints of wolves when you look at a river?

Given that wolves occupy only 15 percent of their historical range, you probably don't see many actual wolf tracks. However, even if you are lucky enough to glimpse some, I'm talking about something a little different: the influence wolves have on river systems.

Research on wolves in Yellowstone National Park shows just how big of an impact they have on ecosystems, and the following video makes the connection between these animals and the rivers in their range. Check it out:

One part of the video that stands out for me comes when the narrator talks about wolves giving life. It challenges our traditional understanding of predators, and we see that predation involves more than killing. The video also provides a great description of the links between all members of an ecosystem and challenges us to consider this broader picture.

To paraphrase writer Norman Maclean, eventually, all things merge into one, and it's a wolf.

DiCaprio's Big Scene

Leonardo DiCaprio's most important role is no act.

To be honest, I haven't always liked DiCaprio's movies (though he's starting to grow on me as an actor), but I appreciate his work on environmental issues. Many celebrities sign their names to nonprofit efforts, but endorsement of and actual work on social issues are two different things.

DiCaprio backs up his words with involvement. In 2007, he produced The 11th Hour, a documentary on global warming. He's also met with world leaders to find ways of protecting tigers. Most recently, his foundation made a $3 million donation to Oceana's efforts to protect marine habitat in both the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. For more information on his foundation, click here.

Yesterday, I saw a news article talking about why DiCaprio hasn't won an Academy Award. Although I'm sure he'd love to win one, he seems to realize he's playing in a much larger theater, and I think he would be willing to trade an Oscar for the chance to make an impact on environmental issues.

Sequels rarely appeal to me, but I can't wait for the next installment of DiCaprio's environmental work.