WC is under lock down, like most Americans. The news is full of COVID-19 news, advice and alarm. So this month’s recap of stories missed, stories revisited and shiny baubles will be very nearly COVID-19 free. One of WC’s readers, with far too much time on their hands, read WC’s blog post from early 2015…
We are all focused on the novel coronavirus right now. It has upset our lives, threatened our lives and the safety and lives of our friends and loved ones. It has blown up the world economy and drawn bright red circles around the flaws in our government. But COVID-19 only threatens one species: us. Anthropogenic…
Idaho Governor Brad “Do” Little has put the State of Idaho into collective quarantine. We are to stay in our homes, for the most part, for the next 21 days. For those of WC’s friends who are similarly locked down, WC will be offering tips for coping. Here’s the first: If you enjoy reading books,…
Not all hummingbirds are spectacular. Some are a little drab. The Speckled Hummingbird probably goes on that list. But this is still a handsome bird. The Speckled Hummingbird’s range extends from Columbia to northern Chile in western South America, and it is pretty common across all of that range. Even for a neotropical species, the…
Just to be completely clear: These are the opinions of Wickersham’s Conscience. Do not assume that others share the views, even if they are mentioned in the blog post. Readers ask why WC detests gun-toting, Second Amendment-spouting gun nuts. Thank you for asking. This sign and tens of thousands like it across the West would…
David Green is the billionaire owner of Hobby Lobby. He is very interested – maybe obsessed – with early Christian Bible artifacts. He’s part of a group of ultra-rich evangelicals who are collecting those artifacts. Where there is a demand, there will always be someone prepared to meet it. And it’s a lot easier to…
Russian Olive, technically Elaeagnus angustifolia, is an invasive species. The common name is misleading: it’s not an olive and it’s natural range isn’t limited to Russia. It’s occurs across eastern Europe and in eastern Asia. It was brought to the United States as an ornamental; the flowers smell very nice. But like a lot of…
Loren Leman, Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor during the most corrupt Alaska government in the state’s history, has criticized the Alaska Supreme Court. Leman, a former member of the Alaska Legislature, was Lt. Governor during the Frank Murkowski Administration. You remember them? It was the most corrupt Alaska government in history. Alaskans likely recall that Murkowski’s Chief…
Occasionally, WC’s blog posts carry a lesson. This 2012 post (slightly revised here), carries a lesson for the times. And the story may even make you smile. WC alluded to this minor event earlier. The story may not be suitable for every reader. You’ve been warned. In the summer of 1967, it was WC’s great…
A guest blog post today, from Fairbanks, Alaska’s David James, a menace on mountain bike trails everywhere, and a much better writer than WC. (Very lightly edited by WC.) _____________________________________________________ I flew from India to Alaska on February 3rd. My first flight was out of Cochin, in Kerala, in the far south of India. The…
This is a larger cousin of the Lesser Violetear posted a few weeks back. The extensive violet-blue patch on the belly differentiates it from the other Violetears. It’s also distinguished by behavior: this species energetically defends blooming flowers from all other species of hummingbirds, butterflies and even bees. It’s the dominant species at most hummingbird…
Just north of Grand View, Idaho, on the Snake River, where Idaho State Highway 167 drops south into the Snake River Canyon, you can find the largest concentrated animal feeding operation – CAFO – in the United States. Bisected by Highway 167, you smell it a long time before you see it. The stench of…
WC has long since given up trying to refute the constant stream of lies vomiting from Donald Trump. As WC’s grandfather would have said, “It’s a mug’s game.” You might as well try to sip water from a fire hydrant. But this lie is so absolutely filthy that WC cannot let it pass without comment.…
Long-time readers will recall WC and Mrs. WC participate in a citizen science project, surveying Short-eared Owl populations across the Intermountain West. One of the routes we survey is in Weiser Cove, where the Weiser River emerges from the westerly Idaho Batholith to its confluence with the Snake River. This is our fourth year surveying…
WC can trace his environmental activism to a specific event. Working on the R/V Acona, for the Institute of Marine Science, in 1967, WC was doing biological oxygen determinations (BODs) on water samples from Silver Bay, near Sitka. BODs are a measure of the dissolved oxygen in a water sample that is available to support…
At least since 1981, when she released her gold album “Seven Year Ache,” Roseanne Cash has handled her famous name, famous father and the extended Carter family with dignity and grace. She’s a multi-Grammy winner, a superb songwriter and a wonderful live act. Of course WC – apparently COVID-19 free himself – braved the risk…
Donald Trump, the president of our country in this time of plague, is the worst possible person to have in charge. Trump is incapable of admitting error. He is numb to empathy, even to sympathy. He is completely narcissistic, even in the face of the worst health crisis in more than 100 years. He seems…
When WC first saw this species, it was called Magnificent Hummingbird. But ornithologists decided to split Magnificent Hummingbird into two species. So the Costa Rican subspecies became the Talamanca Hummingbird, and the more northerly subspecies became Rivoli’s Hummingbird. There is officially no longer a species with the common name, Magnificent Hummingbird. Which is too bad,…
Alaska State Troopers shot and killed 37-year old Wasilla resident Aaron Tolen. According to the dispatch report, AST responded to a domestic disturbance at a residence off of West Bonaparte Street in the Mat-Su Valley. Aaron Tolen was contacted. Tolen got into a physical altercation with the sole Trooper on scene inside of the residence.…
The problem is that there are far too many Snow Geese, more than their summer breeding range can sustainably support. Snow Geese winter in the farm fields of the Central Valley of California and the southern band of states. Human altered ecologies there provide an abundance of spilled grain and rice. Winter survival rates are…
WC warns readers in advance we’re going to get pretty deep into law and science in this post. You might want to have a cup of coffee at hand. WC also warns readers that if you are fan of the CSI television series, you’re about to suffer a reality check. The law doesn’t deal with…
Sometimes WC’s news stream offers such bitter irony that, however awkward, it demands a blog post. That happened again on Monday. Stephanie Hunter is a Spring, Texas single mother of two. She spent $10.00 on the Dark Web to buy the personal information of Tilman Fertitta. She used the information to apply for credit cards,…
Yes, it’s early for the first nominee for the Wickersham Conscience’s Hypocrite of the Year, but some instances of hypocrisy are so blatant, so appalling, that they require a nomination at once. Which is why WC is nominating U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for 2020 Hypocrite of the Year.1 When President Donald Trump…
WC is allergic to the Trump Administration. WC’s symptoms include raised blood pressure, nausea, reasoned anger and occasional despair. Based upon what WC reads on social media and responsible journalism, and sees on television, WC isn’t the only one who suffers this affliction. And WC’s symptoms may not be the worst. So WC asks the…
The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is one of the most common hummingbirds in southern Mexico, Central America, northern Columbia and western Ecuador. It’s medium-sized, as hummingbirds go, and packs about as much belligerence into its 5.4 grams as any bird on the planet. The reddish tail give the species its name, but it is a member of…
It was a Very Big Deal when the multi-volume printed encyclopedia of North American breeding birds, Birds of North America, went on-line. For a very fair price, you could have access to a summary of the ornithological research for each and every species of bird breeding in North America. How cool was that? Well, it’s…
Once upon a time there was a small software startup called Nashoba Systems. Nashoba was made up of four refugees from Wang Laboratories, a one-time minicomputer manufacturer. Nashoba saw a niche in the infant personal computer industry for an easy-to-use database software product. So in 1985, Nashoba published Nutshell for the PC and, a few…
The Anchorage Daily News continues to let Ann Brown, Vice Chair of the Alaska Republican Party, voice her opinions. Most recently, Ms. Brown authored an opinion piece, demanding that Chief Justice Bolger recuse himself from the pending appeal by Dunleavy of the trial court’s decision allowing the recall of Dunleavy to go ahead. Now WC knows…
The Greater Sage Grouse is in big trouble. AS WC has written here before, populations of the iconic bird have plummeted from an estimated 16 million to less than half a million. The primary cause of the population crash has been habitat loss. Back in 2015, a painfully negotiated settlement among the stakeholders would have…
WC is still struggling with the 2020 version of a head cold, a gruesome, sepulchral cough-fest. But despite the ongoing effort by WC’s lungs to turn themselves inside-out, WC judged himself healthy enough to go out birding with Paul C., who, despite WC’s warnings, seemed wiling to accept the risk. On a lovely late winter…
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