A Bird By Any Other Name
Plus, national parks go timed-entry, migrating redwoods, the loneliest road in each state, and more!
The Bird Names Are A Changing
If you’re a big fan of the Anna’s Hummingbird, Lewis’s Woodpecker, or about 80 other North American bird species, you’re going to have to update your observations and conversations, because they’re all getting their names changed.
Last week, the American Ornithological Society announced the first step in its English Bird Names Project, which aims to change all English-language names of birds that are directly named after people, as well as those deemed offensive or exclusionary. Or, as social media termed the movement, #birdnamesforbirds.
This is part of an ongoing, multi-year discussion in the Society, and the process will include public input and discussion moving forward. While the name changes are sometimes motivated due to social justice considerations, the Society also notes this is a huge opportunity to give birds more descriptive and evocative names. Field guide author Kenn Kaufman, who had initially opposed the idea of changing so many names at once before coming around to being a proponent, is excited about coming up with new names, as are other biologists:
Nol says she recently was visiting some salt marshes this summer and saw a common bird there that's called Wilson's Snipe, which has a long bill and engages in dramatic displays such as flying in high circles, which produces a whistling sound as air flows over specialized feathers. "And I thought, what a terrible name," she says. "I mean, Wilson was the father of modern ornithology in North America, but this bird has so many other evocative characteristics."
Following in a similar vein, the great Instagram account for author Seymore Gulls is currently offering some brainstormed suggestions:
Modern Hiking
Good stuff from the Modern Hiker site
I’ve been a little bit behind on some site updates and trail guides on account of some freelance work and minor family medical dramas (it’s all good!).
Melissa Ozbek gave us a terrific rundown of 9 hikes in the San Francisco Bay Area that are great for wildlife watching. The post is broken down by geographical region and notes what critters you have a good chance of seeing—from tiny ladybugs to significantly less tiny gray whales.
And Andrew Shults took us to a place that’s not too far from town but also has some of my all-time favorite views in Los Angeles—that weird little stretch of mountain land just north of the 134 near Eagle Rock and Glendale (they’re called the San Rafael Hills, FYI). Check out his guide to the Scholl Canyon Trail.
Your Parks
Your Places
Timed Entry For All?
It’s no secret that parks pretty much everywhere are more crowded today than they’ve ever been. Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park experienced a 44% increase in visitation between 2012 and 2019, and with the COVID-19 pandemic boost, it implemented a timed-entry system for all visitors as a pilot program in 2021.
Park officials found the timed-entry system did manage congestion and cut down waits at entry stations, and now the park is considering making the program permanent, according to an article in Outside. Public input would be implemented, but most expect the program to look similar to the pilot, where visitors had a one-hour window to enter the park.
The article mentions other parks are considering making similar pilot programs permanent or seasonal at high-visitation times. Arches, Glacier, and Yosemite are specifically called out in the piece.
If A Bridge Rises in the Marsh
I love this story so much. Villagers in England’s Norfolk County had been using a bridge to access coastal marshland for birdwatching for over 50 years. But last February, the bridge was dismantled by the National Trust due to safety concerns, and the villagers were a little miffed they were not adequately consulted.
So a new bridge appeared overnight, without any permission or permits. Nobody in the village seemed to know who built the bridge, so the second bridge was removed.
And then a third bridge appeared overnight again.
Once again, the villagers had no idea who had done it … and when asked, they supposed it must have been the region’s fabled salt marsh fairies.
Tech Talk
Gadgets, Technology, and Hype
The Loneliest Roads
Let’s ignore the whole carbon footprint thing for a sweet minute here and just wax poetic about the grand tradition of the American Roadtrip, shall we?
Odds are, if you’re into long roadtrips, you’ve got some sort of romantic connection with the open, empty road. Especially if you live in a city where you spend more of your car time stuck in traffic than moving. Atlas Obscura has compiled a map of the least-traveled stretch of road in each state, using the measurement of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is basically the number of other drivers you can expect to see on the road at any given day.
The least-traveled road is, unsurprisingly, in Alaska—State Route 11 from Fairbanks to Deadhorse, with an ADT of 196. America’s busiest road is the 5 freeway between Los Angeles and Santa Ana, which had an AADT of 504,000.
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
Counting Fewer Sheep
Most of the news about the West’s wet winter has been good—the entire state of California is out of drought conditions for the first time in three years and it looks like we’re in for another wet winter (the Pacific Northwest has been underneath an atmospheric river recently, delivering our usual monthly November precipitation in just a few days). But the news isn’t good for everything. Case in point: half of the bighorn sheep being tracked by scientists in the Sierra Nevada didn’t make it through the heavy winter.
The sheep succumbed for different reasons: some were hunted by mountain lions after being forced to migrate to lower elevations, others starved or were caught in avalanches. Several herds have been wiped out completely. This in-depth piece from LAist is a great read, even if the news isn’t.
Leafing Out
Plants!
Can We Help the Redwoods Move?
One of the most common reactions to news about climate changed induced extinction is a sense of hopelessness. It’s easy to throw up your arms and just be crushed by the enormity of it all … or you could take those arms and help move the largest trees in the world, instead.
It’s called ‘assisted migration,’ and the idea goes like this: if a changing climate makes the environment inhospitable to a certain species, why not start planting them where conditions might be a little better for them in the future? This New York Times Magazine feature looks at some of the many individuals, groups, and organizations trying to migrate different species, including sequoias.
Of course, not everyone’s on board with this idea—and moving species around can definitely have some unintended consequences. But the piece has lots of great thought prompts for anyone who enjoys thinking about this stuff. And I’m guessing you’re one of those people?
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
I’m in the midst of a corporate writing gig right now and the freelancer’s curse is kind of having to always be looking for the next gig … so when I read this feature article about a bunch of people who used to work in finance, marketing, media, and the arts in New York City who have started becoming professional office building horticulturists, my interest was definitely piqued.
I definitely wouldn’t mind trading in sending a dozen emails to track down an overdue payment for peacefully misting ferns somewhere, you know? But I guess first I should figure out how to stop killing so many of my indoor plants …
Until next time,
Happy Trails.
