Nature Watch
NATURE WATCH
by Gerry Rising
State University of New York
Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
This column has appeared each week since April 8, 1991 in The Buffalo News. Formerly appearing on
Mondays, the column is now published on the newspaper's Sunday Science Page of the
Viewpoints Section.
Special
Notice
Over the years many readers have asked that these columns be made available in book
form. Partly because some files have been lost from this website, I am beginning
to
respond to that request. The first two of a series of books,
also available in soft-cover and eBook format,
The Nature Watch Collection: Book One
and
The Nature Watch Collection:
Book
Two
are now available through Amazon.com and other outlets.
I am also seeking to have the
books accessible through the Buffalo and Erie County Library
System and through
the University at Buffalo libraries as well.
An outstanding feature of the essays in these collections is the
accompanying elegant
photography of
Harold Stiver and others.
|
The Most Recent Dozen Columns
- September 27, 2015: The Mystery of Matter (Chemical history fully realized)
- September 20, 2015: Moss (A remarkable plant favorite)
- September 13, 2015: Beach Sweep: 2015 (An extraordinary project history)
- September 6, 2015: In Memoriam: Bill Watson (Witnessing shorebirds together)
- August 30, 2015: The Tree of Life (A complex model of evolutionary history)
- August 23, 2015: Honey Bees and Monarch Butterflies (Favorite insects)
- August 16, 2015: Carl Akeley (An extraordinary taxidermist)
- August 9, 2015: GeoThermal Energy (Heating and air
conditioning)
- August 2, 2015: Invasives tour (Serious problems)
- July 26, 2015: The Distance to Pluto (A spectacuar visit)
- July 19, 2015: Dire Warnings (Encyclical and reproach)
- July 12, 2015: Early Forests (A remarkable research project)
Rejected Columns:
The News rejected these columns:
Earlier Columns by Year Published
A problem has arisen with these files and they are currently
incomplete.
I am seeking a resolution to this situation.
2015 --
2014 --
2013 --
2012 --
2011 --
2010 --
2009 --
2008 --
2007 --
2006 --
2005 --
2004 --
2003 --
2002 --
2001 --
2000 --
1999 --
1998 --
1997 --
1996 --
1995 --
1994 --
1993 --
1992 --
1991
Columns and Other Essays by Subject
Astronomy --
Birds --
Books --
Botany --
Camping, Hiking, Biking, Canoeing
and Sailing --
Conservation --
Diseases and Plagues --
Education --
Engineering, Physics, Chemistry and
Mathematics --
Fish --
Geography --
Geology --
History and Archaeology --
Humor --
Insects and Other Arthropods --
Mammals --
Naturalists --
Nature Spots on the Niagara
Frontier --
Politics --
Pseudoscience --
Reader Responses --
Reptiles, Amphibians and
Dinosaurs --
Travel --
Weather --
Miscellaneous Essays and Talks
Links to My Favorite Natural History Sites
Among the quite literally hundreds of websites that
have been of use to me are a few that I believe deserve special mention.
This listing is clearly incomplete (I hope to add to it in the future)
but I believe that it represents nature sources of the very highest
quality. Sadly, a number of them have been discontinued, leaving only
the archives of earlier and very worthwhile columns.
Here then are some of my favorites:
-
WUNDERQUEST
by April Holladay. This regular feature of the national newspaper USA
Today has now been discontinued. Another commentary on the stupidity
of contemporary editors and publishers. The archive remains worthwhile.
- FABRE
is a website about the remarkable 19th Century French observer of
insects, Jean-Henri Fabre. Included is a biography as well as
references to full texts (in English as well as other languages) of many
of his works.
- Physicist Bob Park's WHAT'S NEW
was a response to silliness and stupidity mainly coming out of our
nation's capitol. An extension of his excellent book Voodoo Science:
From Foolishness to Fraud. Sadly, Bob was hospitalized with aphasia
resulting from a hemorrhagic stroke in early 2013; however, his
collection of columns remains accessible at this site.
- John Cooley and Dave Marshall's University of Michigan
PERIODICAL CICADA PAGE is another example of how much
individuals can tell us about our world. This site provides remarkably
detailed information (together with maps) about cicada outbreaks across
the country.
- French doctoral student Guilliume Chapron maintains a remarkably
up-to-date website on
CARNIVORE ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION. Among the many things
included (all but a very few in English) are links to news items, older
issues of the journal Cat News, an index to Canid News and
many files sorted by species suitable for downloading.
- Bill Hilton, Jr.'s HILTON POND
CENTER FOR PIEDMONT NATURAL HISTORY includes both informal and
serious content. Of special interest is his HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT.
- For the great mass of data and information (including such things as
bird and butterfly checklists by state and even county), the NORTHERN PRAIRIE WILDLIFE RESEARCH
CENTER is very hard to beat.
- RADIO PROGRAMS
- QUIRKS &
QUARKS Bob McDonald now hosts this weekly 54 minute show from CBC
(Canada) Radio One. Audio archives are available here. Former hosts
include David Suzuki. Sprightly and good humored
but richly informative interviews. Many topics briefly covered but
McDonald and his interviewees get to the heart of the matter quickly.
- National Public Radio Talk of the Nation'sSCIENCE FRIDAY with host
Ira
Flato is another outstanding weekly science show, despite now having
been reduced from two hours to one. More
liesurely than Quirks & Quarks (q.v.)but with more time devoted
to each topic. Another top notch show with audio archives available
from the site.
- National Public Radio's LIVING ON
EARTH is Steve Curwood's weekly hour science show. More scripted
and polished than the two proceeding, it is less spontaneous but every
bit as good. For past shows transcripts may be downloaded and audio
versions are available for those more recent.
- NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS
- The
NEW YORK
TIMES Life Sciences Section is gone but this newspaper at least
continues to provide both a regional and national perspective on
natural history.
- URBAN LEGENDS takes us from the
sublime to the ridiculous. Although I generally stick with the Critter
Country entries, many of the legends are fun to read. My favorite is
Lucky, the seeing eye dog who has led several of his blind masters to
their deaths. When his trainers are asked if they are going to tell the
next owner of these problems, they say that they won't because they don't
want to make the new owner nervous. Although many of the examples, like
this one, are indeed silly, others represent the standard fare passed off
on unsuspecting citizens. This site has become more generally
important given the claims - some wildly exaggerated, others simply
false, many of them politically motivated - that today saturate the
media.
- A useful set of general biological links listed by topic is to be found in the
Biology directory of THE SCIENCE-LAB.
I welcome visitor suggestions for additions to this
listing.
Bill Whan, editor of The Ohio
Cardinal, and I have become embroiled in a controversy over current
attempts to establish breeding populations of trumpeter swans in Eastern
North America. As part of our
undertaking we are gathering evidence to show that that the historical
breeding range of these beautiful birds did not extend to this region. We
invite you to learn more about this interesting endeavor by accessing our
SWAN FILE and, if possible, to assist us
in our research.
This file continues to be constructed. It contains a
mix of brief and longer reviews of books related to natural
history as well as sugggestions for building a natural history reference
library. For more recent listings, see Books.
Some of the books that have been reviewed are:
- Michael Allin, Zarafa: A Giraffe's True
Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris
- David Backes, The
Wilderness Within: The Life of Sigurd F. Olson
- Angela Barrett, Ship Fever
and Other Stories
- Bill Bryson, A Walk in the
Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
- Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabham, The Forgotten Pollinators
- William and Valerie Chapman, Alan and Arleen Bessette and Douglas
Pens, Wildflowers
of New York in Color
- John Cody, Wings of Paradise:
The Great Saturniid Moths
- Richard Conniff, Spineless
Wonders
- Christopher Densmore, Red Jacket:Iroquois Diplomat
and Orator
- Steven Drury, Stepping
Stones: The Making of Our Home World
- Gary Dunn, Insects of the Great Lakes
Region
- Pete Dunn, 'Small-headed
Flycatcher: Seen Yesterday. He Didn't Leave His Name' and Other
Stories
- Arthur V. Evans and Charles L. Bellamy, An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles
- Kathleen A. Foster, ed., Captain Watson's Travels in
America
- Harry W. Greene, Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery
in Nature
- Gary Hartman, The
Campgrounds of New York
- Bernd Heinrich, The Trees in
My Forest
- George Hudler, Magical
Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds
- Christoph Irmscher, ed., John
James Audubon: Writings and Drawings
- Sebastian Junger, The
Perfect Storm
- Seth Kantner, Ordinary
Wolves
- John King, Reaching for
the Sun: How Plants Work
- Jerry Kobalenko, Forest Cats
of North
America
- Maryjo Koch, Dragonfly Beetle
Butterfly Bee
- Linda Lear, Rachel
Carson: Witness for Nature
- Emanuel Levine, ed., Bull's Birds
of New York State
- Robert McNamara, et al.,editors, Tug Hill: A Four Season
Guide to the Natural Side
- William J. McShea, H. Brian Underwood and John H. Rappole, eds.,
The Science of Overabundance:
Deer Ecology and Population Management
- John Hanson Mitchell, Trespassing: An Inquiry
Into the Private Ownership of Land
- Bill Neal, Gardener's
Latin: A Lexicon
- Karl J. Niklas, The
Evolutionary Biology of Plants
- Claud Nuridsany and Marie Perennou, Microcosmos
- Sadahiro Ohmomo and Koyo Akiyama, Jewel
Beetles
- Klaus Olsen and Hans Larsson,Gulls of North
America, Europe, and Asia
- Richard Panek, Seeing and
Believing: How the Telescope Opened Our Eyes and Minds to the
Heavens
- Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, Mad Cow U.S.A.: Could the
Nightmare Happen Here?
- Andrew N. Rowan and Joan C. Weer, Living with Wildlife Report:
Analysis of the Biology, Sociology and Ethics of the Beaver and Deer
Issues
- Jack Sanders, Internet
Guide to Birds and Birding
- Phil Schappert, A
World
of Butterflies: Their Lives, Behavior and Future
- Elio Schaechter, In
the Company of Mushrooms
- Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, The Camel's Nose: Memoirs of a
Curious Scientist
- John Sillick, Alps Road Journal
- Curt Stager, Field Notes
from the Northern Forest
- Sara Stein, Planting Noah's
Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology
- Philip G. Terrie, Contested
Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks
- Gilbert Waldbauer, The
Birder's Bug Book
- Susan J. Wernert, ed, Reader's Digest
North American Wildlife
- John O. Whitaker, Jr. and William J. Hamilton, Jr., Mammals of
the Eastern United States
- David S. Wilcove, The
Condor's Shadow: The Loss and Recovery of Wildlife in America
- Douglas Yanega, Field Guide to
Northeastern Longhorned Beetles
An extended essay on Natural
History in Contemporary Fiction including excerpts from Charles
Frazier, Cold Mountain; Angela Barret, Ship Fever and Other
Stories; and A. S. Byatt, Angels and Insects.
Excerpts from unexpected sources include:
Some of my general reviews are to be
found on my Bookmarks
website.
Notes about the Images
The lovely painting of the winter cardinals is by my
artist friend, Len Rusin. For more
information
about him and a small
gallery of additional wildlife paintings, see his
website. The photograph of the flying squirrel was taken by
Marjorie
Hilger of Lockport. She wrote, "If I gently tapped on his
tree trunk home, he would come out of his hole and pose for a few
seconds.... Going from never having even seen a flying squirrel to
actually having one living in my back yard and posing for pictures was
truly a remarkable experience." The picture of me looking out over the
Minnesota Boundary Waters was taken by my long-time canoeing and hiking
companion, Bob Bugenstein of Minneapolis.
The comet is Hale-Bopp. The photo was taken by
Denis
DiCicco for Sky &
Telescope Magazine. It, many other images, and much more
information about this visitor from outer space may be found at the JPL Hale-Bopp site. Information
about and pictures of the more recent Martian visit may be
found at the NASA Mars site.
The photos of the eagle and fox were downloaded
from the net. I apologize to the originators from whom I have borrowed
them without attribution, because no source was given on the original
posting. The only photographs I have contributed to this page are those of
the wildflowers: the rare yellow-green form of sessile trillium or
toadshade and the Indian pipes. I have, however, taken many of the photos that
accompany recent columns.
Personal Comments
These columns are posted for a selfish reason. I invite
your comments, your suggestions and, yes, your criticisms. I undertook this
writing 24 years ago hoping to improve my writing skills and to
learn
some science as well. I have learned (and promptly forgotten) a great deal
about science but far too little about writing. Thus you will be doing me
a great favor if you react to these 1200 brief essays. (My weekly space
allotment
is now about 700 words; it was for the first dozen years 600 words.) If
at the same time
you are able to take away something from my writing, we will both be
rewarded. Please do
not hesitate to use anything you find here or to call me if you want to
check out my
sources.
Perhaps I should add -- defensively -- that natural
history has been an avocation and not a vocation for me. I spent my professional life as
a mathematics teacher and have returned to a lifelong hobby of bird watching in my
dotage. When the opportunity came up to take over this "Nature Watch" column, I asked
the then editor of The Buffalo News, Murray Light, if I couldn't
restrict
my writing to birds. His answer was straightforward -- "No." I have come to thank him
for that response as it has forced me to extend my interests in many directions.
Happily, I have found the professional scientists to whom I have turned regularly for
assistance to be forthcoming far beyond what their duties should require and an outsider
should expect.
Author Information
e-mail:
insrisg@buffalo.edu
home office: 295 Robin Hill Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221-1639
home phone: 716-689-8301; cell phone: 716-432-3287