Bryan's Posts About Science
The Extinction of Meaning
Now that the Trump administration has advanced its plan to weaken the Endangered Species Act, here’s my essay, first published at Medium.com, about our fading ties to wildlife and wild places.
When Songbirds Fall to Earth
Delivered from the fog, the grace and irony of tired warblers feeding at my feet on Monhegan Island, Maine.
What’s Next – Late March
Despite today’s snowstorm here in northern New England, the first wave of migrating birds arrived with the warmth last week. Here’s your latest edition of What’s Next this spring.
What’s Next – Mid March
The birds and butterflies in your future this mid March as warm air brings about new flight in our woodlands and backyards.
Extinction and other Matters of Life and Death and Insects
Perspectives on the “insect apocalypse” and what we might do about it.
Insects and Us: Our Shared Fate
Now that the fate of insects is being described in apocalyptic terms, I’ll be helping to make some sense of it all live on Thursday, February 21, at noon on Vermont Public Radio.
The Snows of Autumn
With a dusting of snow here in Vermont this morning, here’s your reminder that I’m now tracking the Snow Goose and Snowy Owl migrations for you this autumn.
Monhegan Migration Report No. 3
Migrate or die. Such is the fate of Monarchs here on Monhegan Island. But where do these Monarchs — 12 miles out to sea in the Gulf of Maine — spend the winter? I report from this Atlantic outpost.
Monhegan Migration Report No. 2
Cape May Warblers outnumbered Yellow-rumped Warblers here on Monhegan Island yesterday. Well, maybe it’s because I’ve learned how not to look at Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Monhegan Migration Report No. 1
Today on Monhegan Island, 12 miles out to sea off the Maine coast, the prairie dropped in for a visit. Dickcissels, lots of them, far from their heartland in the Great Plains, descended from the skies at dawn.
The Extinction of Meaning
One of the most imperiled animals in North America isn’t big and furry like a polar bear. It has incited no eco-wars like those over the gray wolf or the spotted owl. Instead it’s a tiny butterfly that I’ve watched dance across the prairie.
Montpelier Goes Wild
Spring Salamander and Summer Azure. Lesser Purple-fringed Orchid and Greater Celandine. Pineapple-Weed and Chocolate Tube Slime Mold. They were all among the more than a thousand living things we discovered here in Montpelier this past weekend.
