week #5

Week 10/31 through 11/6/2011

Saturday (11/5)              9:25 – 11:00pm   Audubon Magazine (Nov.-Dec. 2011)

Total=95 minutes

This week I put in my ninety minutes in a sustained uninterrupted manner, reading to the quiet sweet Latin sounds of Pancho Sanchez.  I usually don’t read more than a few articles, at best, from the Audubon periodical, a bit hypocritical for an environmentalist.  This single reading session let me move through most of it.  As usual, there are interesting pieces on birds.  These are good reading as I work with one ornithologist and an avid amateur bird-watcher.  This usually provides good information for stimulating conversations.   FYI-during the winter months, most seed mixes suffice for feeding birds.  I’ve noticed that it’s about the only time that birds get desperate enough to eat milo, despite other information to the contrary.  During the summer months, I work as a conservation volunteer in Minnesota placing and monitoring floating nest sites for recruitment of the common loon.  There was an article on the wildlife in the arctic which showed the presence of a sub-species of this bird (the yellow-billed) among a variety of other organisms.  I had no idea there were loons extending that far north.  Even when you think you know a lot about something, there’s always room for improvement.

The feature piece was on the Florida everglades; this was good.  Patomology, the study of rivers, is my main interest in the ecological sciences.  Interestingly, the glades are at an all-time wetted condition.  This is good news considering human efforts to channelize and control its extent. Although it is sometimes described as a swamp or wetland, it flows and is therefore a river in every aspect.  Among others, a photo piece showcases a variety of beautiful plankton (love it!).  I’ve never been to the glades, but have adequate experience in airboats.  I can only imagine how awesome it would be for a naturalist like me, or anyone for that matter.

My short session of reading Harry Potter with my son last week was effective.  He continues to read for forty minutes every evening on his own.