{"id":878,"date":"2025-02-24T16:00:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T21:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renaturemontreal.ca\/?post_type=mises-a-jour&p=878"},"modified":"2025-02-26T18:09:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T23:09:04","slug":"update-february-17-2025","status":"publish","type":"mises-a-jour","link":"https:\/\/renaturemontreal.ca\/en\/mises-a-jour\/update-february-17-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Update February 17, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We wanted to update you on our bird feeders and a new section on podcasts and three new books we have bought but not yet had the time to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bird feeder<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We set up about two months ago a stainless steel bowl to shelter four silo feeders for black sunflower seeds and another stainless steel bowl for two suet feeders. The total cost was about $62 for the two bowls and four silo feeders, and two suet holders. The best bird feeder is to plant a wildflower garden. We planted a large one last year but wanted to see the birds up close and personal. The danger of a traditional bird feeder is the spread of diseases as the birds are in close proximity.\u00a0 The bird danger usually is Trichomonas<\/em> bacteria, but this year an added danger is H5 bird flu virus. The first sign of sick birds and the feeders will come down.\u00a0 People used to fear taking down feeders as the birds might starve to death. But the consensus seems to be that, put up plastic feeders or take down feeders, the survival rate seems to be the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year we put up the feeders late and we saw about three chickadees, four downy, four white-breasted nuthatches, the occasional cardinal, the rare junco, the rare hairy woodpecker. We took down the feeders in early spring last year, because after starlings and red-winged blackbirds found the sunflower seeds and suet, they would gang up and keep the other birds away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year we have been lucky with about five chickadees, five downy and five white-breasted nuthatches, about two dozen goldfinches, two cardinals, occasional junco, occasional American Tree sparrow, occasional junco, about six house sparrows, and sometimes 15 starlings, but the other birds seem to collectively keep the starlings away. Four days ago we spotted that rare dinosaur, the Pileated woodpecker. Birds are descended from dinosaurs and some call birds living dinosaurs. If a bird can be said to look like a dinosaur, it is the pileated woodpecker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New books<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The new books we bought are:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Soil<\/em> by Matthew Evans. It appears to be scrumptious. The author is infectiously enthusiastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds Wild and Broken<\/em> by David George Haskell. We cannot wait to have time to read the book. The author is already famous for his book The Forest Unseen<\/em>. He is a meticulous researcher and a fine writer. Who would have thought of or even attempted to record the sound that bacteria make using ultra powerful microphones and completely silent rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crack-up Capitalism<\/em> by Quinn Slobodian. He is investigating weird things like how the tech guy are creating thousands of sovereign tax free entities throughout the world to facilitate commerce. Once again, can\u2019t wait to read it.
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Podcasts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We have been listening to podcasts with Amazon tablets for years. You discover such nuggets of wisdom and if you have had a stressing day, a long-winded podcast can put you to sleep in no time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Our favorite is Laura Erickson’s For The Birds<\/em>. The podcasts are only five minutes long, but are full of passion and caring and completely accurate detail. The podcasts date back 39 years to 1986. Laura has been a school teacher, wildlife rehabilitator and has written 13 books. She has had several heart attacks and two bouts of breast cancer, and still sails forth with interesting and courageous podcasts. Recently, with the Trump administration destroying the environment, she has increased her podcasts to almost every other day. Sometimes, to protest the atrocities committed. She is the only wildlife podcaster willing to accept insults and threats to protect her friends the birds.

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    To give you an idea of her high standards, let us tell you about her and Bernd Heinrich. We love them both. Bernd Heinrich, a Vermont naturalist, did a study on yellow-crowned kinglets. These tiny birds are so small and active, no one could figure out how they survived the Vermont winter. Most birds this small go into a limited daily hibernation, where their body temperature drops from 106 degrees to just about 32 degrees in the morning. The kinglets were too active to capture and study. Heinrich was the first to see them go into an evergreen and returned there at 3:00 a.m. with a flashlight and camera. He found and photographed the flock of kinglets. It was now a condensed ball of birds, feathers, feet, wings, heads inward toward the center of the tangle, except one peeking out at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Next he wanted to know what they ate. No one before could solve the mystery. Heinrich tried. Finally, he gave up and used a small shotgun. He found, in the field, their stomach full of caterpillars. The tiny caterpillars, no one had noted before, would freeze and thaw and eat the tiny leaves of conifers etc during warm days. The kinglet were constantly on the search for these tiny insects. When Laura Erickson found out about the research, she was not like we impressed. She was outraged that Heinrich had killed the birds in his research.
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    1. Backyard Ecology<\/em>. By Shannon and Anthony Trimboli. An excellent source of information and inspiration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Nature\u2019s Archive <\/em>by Michael Hawk, very professional and wide ranging. You can count on the information being true and interesting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Jumpstart Nature<\/em>, produced by Michael Hawk and his friend Griff Griffith.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. In defense of plants<\/em>  by Matt Candeias Very good, but limited to plants.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. American Birding Podcast<\/em>, hosted by Nate Swick. An excellent way to keep up with American and Canadian birding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. The Warbles<\/em> by Birds Canada, excellent way to learn about some Canadian birding news.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. Rewilding Earth<\/em>, the core groups built around American rewilding founded by Dave Foreman.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    8. Rewilding the World <\/em>by James Goldsmith, a British version of conservation efforts throughout the world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    9. Knepp Wildland<\/em>, produced by Isabella Tree and the group at Knepp in Great Britain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    10. For the Birds<\/em>, WDEV,  a local Vermont birding podcast. Hokey but enjoyable.




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