It could have been a raven, I guess.

On my way out to my car I noticed an unnervingly ominous animal over the gate I was to pass through.



I guess white doves are mostly positive omens. This mutant rock pigeon was probably someone's escaped pets. It reminded me of when my Dad and I went to see the Christ Redeemer, and there were lots of white and partially white pigeons around, genetic memories of the pigeons released when the pope visited there. This one was somewhat tame, flying away when startled, but allowing me and another zookeeper to approach fairly closely.

Revisiting a hornbill

I don't have much more to add to this, really. I believe this individual, with so much more white, is a female. I like these guys. They make an owl-like hooting sound, and are more gentle than the great Indian hornbills, from what I can tell. I like their Rod Stewart hairdos.

Edit: I am wrong. It is the male that has so much more white.

Attention Boston Area Birders

A credible report of a not-quite-adult bald eagle flying over Jamaica Pond has come in to the Boston Birds google list. It was seen two days ago. It is likely that it will return, looking for weakened waterfowl and carrion.

In December 2007 a young eagle was seen on the pond feeding on a goose carcass. A few years before that an adult bald eagle was seen on the ice making use of the same food source. They aren't common in Boston, but they do live in our suburbs and spend time on our waterways.

10 books recommendation meme

Since I'm a posting fool today, I may as well share these book recommendations from a facebook meme. They are more interesting to the people who read this journal than to my facebook friends anyway.  I've already written about most of these in this journal, but it might be nice to have them all in one place.   The rules of the meme state that your first entry has to be the book you are currently reading.

Most of these are sciencey books but are written for the digestion of laypersons. No degree is needed to appreciate them.

1. The Ghosts of Evolution / I wasn't going to recommend it, but it is what I'm reading now. It's about the very fascinating subject of plants that evolved alongside seed-dispersing animals such as giant sloths and mastodons which are now extinct. It's not very well written, however, I like the subject enough that I'm digging through it. It's by Connie Barlow. 

2. I'm also reading The New Kings of Non-Fiction, edited by Ira Glass. I got it when I donated to NPR. It has short pieces by lots of different people, including many of the authors on this list, and famous New Yorker essayists.

3. Song of the Dodo / Rather tomelike but entertaining piece on island biogeography, and how all biology is becoming similar to it, by David Quammen. I would recommend reading anything by Quammen, who recently has been writing stuff about Darwin for National Geographic. Let me take this opportunity to link to his essay Planet of Weeds, again.

4. Beast in the Garden / A natural history book that reads like a pulp crime novel, about the way the world is has changed in such a way as to put mountain lions into dangerous proximity to humans, by David Baron.

5. Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution / A sensible and pragmatic approach to understanding dogs, based on a much more likely alternative to the "cavemen stealing wolf puppies" origin of domestic dogs.  By Ray and Lorna Coppinger.

6. Parasite Rex / About the vital role parasites have played in the evolution of other animals, and how parasites can manipulate the behavior of other animals. By Carl Zimmer.

7. The Omnivore's Dilemma / Hard to imagine that anyone who has heard of this book hasn't already committed to reading it or to avoiding it, but I heartily recommend it. Utterly compelling, and very important; by Michael Pollan (I also recommend The Botany of Desire by the same author.)

8. A Short History of Nearly Everything / Best introduction to the natural sciences ever written. Fully integrates Cosmology, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, with a bit of gossiping about the personalities involved in developing these sciences. By Bill Bryson, who has written a bunch of stuff that people have recommended to me that I haven't read yet.

9. When You are Engulfed in Flames / The latest book by the 21st century Mark Twain, David Sedaris. I've read everything he's written (I prefer the semi-fictionalfamily memoirs to the fully fictional plays and stories with animal characters) and have the laugh lines and split sides to prove it.

10. Dear Mr. Mackin and Thank You for your Continued Interest / Two collections of letters to and responses from corporations, by my former classmate Rich Mackin. These letters highlight the absurdity of modern consumerist culture; he's speaking truth to power, and power's response is pretty hilarious.