The Real Charlie

The Natural World

For various reasons I am getting more and more interested in the natural world. Part of it is an extension of my birding habit, which started about seven or eight years ago. Part of it is my girls, especially Roxanne, and their endless curiosity about everything -  why different trees have different bark, where the bugs are in the winter, what dirt tastes like (hi Stella). At any rate, beyond my own backyard I am a big fan of Mass Audubon and its sanctuaries, especially Drumlin Farm in Lincoln. Some nice birds, some captive raptors and a cool working farm with goats, sheep, cows, tons of chickens, pigs, draft animals etc. We visit frequently. On Saturday morning we saw tiny baby lambs, just born the night before, trying out their little legs and nursing from their mommy. As the parents of young mammals (and, in Abby's case, as a nursing mother) it was quite touching to see. And the chickens were cool too - I just love poultry. As something to watch AND to eat!

One of my current favorite blogs is The Urban Pantheist, run by a Drumlin Farm employee about his work and his adventures with the wild world around us. Last year he documented 365 wild things living in Boston, ranging from birds to plants to mold to rats. This guy is very, very knowledgeable. He also takes a picture every day at 3 PM and posts it, and sometimes it is of his charges at Drumlin Farm -  the turkey vulture, the crow, an elderly turkey, etc. He's on the blog roll now. Check it out.

On an unrelated matter, I am so sick of matzah, and I miss my beer. I'm glad to not be a slave in Egypt, and to have been brought forth to serve my God, but I am just dying for a glass of Houblon Chouffe and a slice of pizza about now.

Springtime, Drivetime, Salmonella Time

Spring is coming. It is definitely not here. In New England, there is a long period that is not really spring, but not winter anymore either. We are in it right now. So today was fairly warm, but tonight is quite chilly, for example. I track it with birds, too, and it was nicely illustrated on my drive into the office this morning.

Winter: I saw Juncos in my yard this morning. Classic winter bird. Once they're gone, it is spring.
Spring: The song sparrows are singing up a storm behind my office.

Winter: There is nothing to eat in the woods, so the wild turkeys in Chestnut Hill were marching along on the newly capped ash dump off Hammond Pond Parkway today, eating something in the grass.
Spring: There are robins everywhere, pulling worms out of the damp, thawing lawns.

You get the picture.

In other avian news, MMWR has a nice report this week on salmonella outbreaks caused by handling baby chicks. This is not a new problem, it is a well known problem, yet it seems to persist. The article describes three outbreaks. In one, the reason why people bought the chicks is not described. In another, most of the people bought the chicks as a source of food or eggs (a reasonable enough reason to buy chickens, I reckon). In the third case, some person brought baby chicks to a daycare for the children to play with and nine kids got sick. My daughter would love to play with baby chicks, and she'd have a blast, and it would be adorable, but I'd love to fly an F-22, break the sound barrier and fire off a few missiles, and that isn't happening either, for the same reason: the Man won't let me. Wait, that has nothing to do with baby chicks. What was I talking about again? Oh, baby chicks. Don't touch 'em.