New study on how pigeons navigate and who is who in the flock

A very interesting study to understand more about pigeons.
Thanks Dennis for sending this along.
Take a moment and read the results.

Saving the Grand Canyon

"Sandbars and beaches have dwindled since the government finished Glen Canyon Dam in 1963."

Another issue about the damn dam...we are loosing native fish populations and habitat in the Grand Canyon. Without the natural flow of the river and the spring flooding, the sandbars are missing, and the debris remains.

"Experimental floods from Glen Canyon Dam have proved effective at rebuilding environmentally critical Grand Canyon sandbars when timed properly, but could kill endangered fish when they’re not, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report."

The last of three experimental flood occurred in 2008, the report suggests that timing is critical to the survival of endangered native fish species. The report suggests that the best time to flood "The Canyon" may be fall, since Paria Canyon which is the primary source of sand accumulates this sand during autumn monsoons.

 "What is so frustrating is they can fix this, but they won't," said John Weisheit, conservation director for the Moab, Utah-based conservation group Living Rivers. "Glen Canyon Dam is a cash-register dam, and they want it to make money. They're going to have to make a choice. The Grand Canyon or some kilowatt hours?"

The hydroelectric power generated by the damn dam now affects six states, and despite the known effect on the environment, the filling behind the damn dam of sediment, restriction of the flowing river that helped create the Grand Canyon and the beauty that was destroyed when the damn dam was built...there are still those who see this as only a money/energy issue.
But, there is hope...

"I’m hearing the USGS saying we should test that," Ostler said, "which means we’re kind of running a test on endangered fish."

Grand Canyon National Park officials hope for more flushes, assuming river managers also control trout.

"It’s our feeling," said acting Park Superintendent Jane Lyder, "that if we can have a high flow whenever there’s a sedimentation trigger, then we will be much better off than we have been in the last 15 years."

Money/Energy drives this country, its minimalistic view of wilderness and the environment has caused more than one division between friends and relatives. Another example of this is the issue of off-road and ATV use in the red rock area.
Just last month, $35,000 in fines were levied against two men responsible for "creating" an ATV trail to some of my favorite ruins. Now the government is considering making it a legitimate "trail".

“Why on earth would BLM legitimize what was a criminal act to begin with?” asked Rose Chilcoat, associate director of the Great Old Broads. “It’s a little like giving the bank robbers the money they stole from the bank.”

I have friends on both sides of the issue, but the real issue for me, is what will be left for my children and grandchildren to enjoy in the same fashion I have? Once the road is there, once the tracks cut into the cryptobiotic soil (or whatever we are calling it these days) the area is changed forever. In areas, you can still see the wagon tracks that are over a century old.

I for one would like to find an answer, one that would appease everyone, but I don't think you can when there is a group that figures it is there inalienable right to drive where ever they want to go...after all, they spends tens of thousands of even hundred of thousands creating their off-road monster machines, just for this pursuit.
I would love to hear proposals to the question...how do we please both sides? Is there a middle ground?

Birds: With Old Bird season just around the corner, I am watching for the day when the starlings quit flocking, in my neck of the woods, this is the indicator that the migratory hawks and falcons have past through, and I can start flying the birds again.

Honey: Time to rack the wine again, I will have to add pictures again soon, the color of the Mead is a beautiful mahogany, can't wait until it clears and reveals the final color it will take on.

I'm back...watch out world.

I know some of you groaned when you read it.

I think I heard at least one small cheer way in the back there.

It has been a hectic and depressing month for me. Deaths, fatal illnesses and being forced to go back into my darkest days, have all left me feeling out of sorts and questioning the future. I took a little time, and did some inner-reflection and soul searching. It took a while, but I realized that the forces that would hold me down and force me to be less than I am or have the potential to be are all things that are truly insignificant in the long run.

I will never understand suicide...I don't think we are supposed to understand it, just do all we can to prevent it, help where needed and make sure that we tell those around us how much they mean to us. In the past month, I have had two friends attempt this unthinkable act, one was successful. I am certain that he would never have done it if he could have seen what the outcome would be. This friend was always the joker, the one with all the one liners and he never left the room without leaving you with a smile or a groan at his joke. He had a lot of pressures in his life, and attempted to relieve it with humor. There are wonderful things being said about him now that he is gone, and there are some who don't understand that the very things creating stress and issues in his life are the things that will haunt us all. He was so opposed to controversy, avoiding conflict with family and friends forced him to hide behind the humor. These are the same issues that brought my other friend to attempt the same type of act. She too had the pressure of a family that did not understand her or her wishes, but that wanted her to be what they thought she should be, not what she is. Religious and Societal norms make people pretend to be someone they are not, to try and do things that they themselves oppose. Somewhere, somehow, we need to quit being so quick to judge and just accept people for who they are, even if we don't agree with what they are or the choices they make.
During the past month, I have had to confront death in other ways too, not death now, here, today, but the mortality of those that I love and care about. Maybe it was that last birthday, and reaching the half century mark, but it seems the people around me are sick...not sick in the way the kids these days use the word, but sick as in dieing. Most of this, I feel is from environmental issues, where they have been and things they have done that have shortened their lives. For these friends, it wasn't always avoidable, these environmental issues may have been from childhood and choices that their parents or grandparents made. Ultimately, the blame will fall back on society, government or corporations that know what they are doing is harmful, but who find the cost acceptable, considering the profit of the moment.

Other controversy over environmental issues has risen in the past month. The use of wild areas and their designation have created undesired and unwanted gaps in friendships. The "Elitist" attitude of using it now and not worrying about the future is alarming to me. The idea that we should do it because we can, or that if I don't do it someone else might beat me to it are concepts that I don't adhere to. Wilderness, places where machines are not allowed to go make sense to me on many levels. Biggest and foremost is the concept of wilderness for wildlife. Large carnivorous predators need space, they need hunting ground, they need tracts of undisturbed land to breed, raise their young and train them to be apex predators. We as humans need wilderness, we need a place where more than our imagination or random thoughts can escape to. We need the ability to explore, to feel that we are the first of our kind to have been there...or at least to have been there in a very long time.

The abuse of power and authority by a chosen few have set me upon this current "rant", the desire to have a world that is non-judgmental with clear lines of moral and ethical consideration for others. Again, there is the "Elitist" idea of doing it because I want to and I can come into play. My philosophy of the circle of life does not allow me to approach things in such a manner. My darkest hours are not the hours spent in combat, or detailed by the military to perform tasks and functions for which I saw a need. No, my darkest hours came from being punished and psychologically abused for doing those things that the law provides for me. For following the directions of medical doctors and for demanding my rights. I was forced to re-live every moment of the 11 months I endured this treatment, in testifying to that abuse. I can only hope that others will realize that they would not want to be in the same position, that for someone to abuse their authority and power in such a manner is morally and ethically wrong.

Birds: 5 babies have been banded, I lost one the day after it hatched, and have had several eggs that never made it to the stage of hatching. I am working towards another season of young bird racing this fall, it may be my last if I pull up stakes and move to a warmer climate.

Honey: The next batch of mead is in the carboy, five gallons of splendor spiced with the juice of blackberries. I'm still hopeful that the bees will recover, from disease, or from the hand of man.