Daniel Salzler No. 1216
EnviroInsight.org Five Items August 25, 2023
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1. How You Can Help Hummingbirds in Extremely Hot Weather
Emily Hannemann Updated: Mar. 28, 2023
From adding a bird bath to cleaning feeders more often, here’s what you can do to keep your Should you worry about your favorite flying jewels when temperatures rise? We consulted John Shewey, author of The Hummingbird Handbook, to learn how hummingbirds adapt to hot weather. He also discusses how you can help these tiny fliers when temperatures climb.
How do hummingbirds survive snow and cold weather?
How Do Hummingbirds Tolerate Heat?
A Costa’s Hummingbird takes a brief rest on a branch on an overcast Scottsdale, Arizona day.
These tiny birds are better adapted to hot weather than you’d think. After all, most members of the hummingbird family live in the tropics. John says heat exhaustion for a hummer is possible in theory, but they’ll seek out shelter from heat much as humans do.“Given shade and moisture, hummingbirds can tolerate plenty of heat,” John explains. “Some species in fact, like the Costa’s hummingbird
f the Southwest, are well-adapted to heat.” He also mentions that hummingbirds have areas of low feather density around their legs, eyes, and the bases of their wings. These features of their anatomy help them shed any excessive warmth during flight.
Where do hummingbirds sleep at night?
How Can You Help Hummingbirds in Hot Weather?
A fountain, mister or bird bath can greatly help hummingbirds when temperatures soar.
That doesn’t mean hummingbirds don’t need help on sweltering days. John points out that in many places, summertime temperatures are gradually increasing. Humans, he says, are agents of extreme habitat alteration. What does that mean? John gives an example: “A nicely mowed lawn and manicured yard looks nice, but it’s a severe departure from a natural habitat.”
Create Shady Spots for Birds to Rest and Cool Down
If you want to help these gorgeous birds, consider planting hummingbird plants that thrive in shade, and providing plenty of shade in your yard, in general.
How Often Should You Change Hummingbird Food in Summer?
It’s especially important to pay attention to your hummingbird feeders during hot weather. Sugar water spoils faster when temperatures heat up. Those who enjoy feeding hummingbirds need to be aware of when they last changed the nectar.
Place feeders in a shady spot and clean and refill them often on hot summer days.
“The single most important thing we can do for hummingbirds during any weather is to never allow our sugar water to start going bad,” John says. “When the temperature outside hits 80 (degrees), change out sugar water every day. Above 90, and especially above 100, provide fresh nectar twice or even three times a day.” He also recommends scrubbing feeders with hot water and rinsing them thoroughly before refilling.
To help keep the nectar fresh a little longer, keep the feeders out of full sunlight during the hottest part of the day. That doesn’t necessarily mean burying them in deep shade, where hummers might not see them; dappled light and shade may work best.
Add a Water Feature
Hummingbirds also enjoy bird baths. John says adding a mister to your yard is a great way to give them the chance to take a delightful shower. “You can even ‘train’ hummingbirds to anticipate a good mist by using a mister with a timer that turns on the mist at the same time every day,” John says.
To learn more, check out The Hummingbird Handbook: Everything You Need to Know About These Fascinating Birds, published by Timber Press.
2. It’s Alive! Worms Revived After 46,000 Years in Siberian Permafrost New nematode could reveal secrets of cryptobiosis process organisms use to stay dormant.
Talk about a long nap. Scientists said they have revived wormsburied in Siberian permafrost for 46,000 years.
The half-dozen creatures, a type of nematode or roundworm, were last awake when Neanderthals and woolly mammoths roamed the Earth. They survived for millennia in permafrost by entering a state of suspended animation, according to a paper published Thursday in the journal PLOS Genetics. Genetic testing suggests the worms are a new and possibly extinct species, researchers said.
“This paper could make people consider this third condition between life and death,” said
Teymuras Kurzchalia, co-author of the study and a biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany.
Nematodes are among so-called microanimals that can survive extreme conditions including being frozen or deprived of water and oxygen by entering a state called cryptobiosis. In that state, an organism’s metabolism comes to a halt and it stops reproducing, developing and repairing itself. When conditions improve, it can revive.
Scientists have awoken nematodes after long periods of cryptobiosis as well as rotifers, microscopic aquatic creatures, and tardigrades, tiny eight-legged animals also known as water bears.A rotifer was rejuvenated after being trapped in Siberian permafrost for some 24,000 years, according to a 2021 study in the journal Cell. Tardigrades found lockedin frozen moss in Antarctica were revived after about 30 years of cryptobiosis, a 2016 paper in the journal Cryobiology reported.
The revived nematodes were found in permafrost some 130 feet underground near the Kolyma river in eastern Russia. Researchers collected samples of the permafrost in the early 2000s and kept them frozen.
The new paper’s authors said they tested the samples more rigorously to confirm the earlier finding and to learn more about the ancient nematodes. The permafrost samples were carbon-dated again and shown to be around 46,000 years old, the researchers said. Source:Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2023.
3. Chemical Treatment To Be Deployed Against Invasive Fish In Colorado River. The National Park Service will renew efforts to rid an area of the Colorado River in northern Arizona of invasive fish with a chemical treatment.
PAGE, Ariz. — The National Park Service will renew efforts to rid an area of the Colorado River in northern Arizona of invasive fish by killing them with a chemical treatment, the agency said Friday.
A substance lethal to fish but approved by federal environmental regulators called rotenone will be disseminated starting Aug. 26. It’s the latest tactic in an ongoing struggle to keep non-native smallmouth bass and green sunfish at bay below the Glen Canyon Dam and to protect a threatened native fish, the humpback chub.
The treatment will require a weekend closure of the Colorado River slough, a cobble bar area surrounding the backwater where the smallmouth bass were found and a short stretch up and downstream. Chemical substances were also utilized last year.
The effort will “be carefully planned and conducted to minimize exposure” to humans as well as “desirable fish species,” according to the National Park Service. An “impermeable fabric barrier” will be erected at the mouth of the slough to prevent crossover of water with the river.
Once the treatment is complete, another chemical will be released to dilute the rotenone, the park service said.
Due to climate change and drought, Lake Powell, a key Colorado River reservoir, dropped to historically low levels last year, making it no longer as much of an obstacle to the smallmouth bass. The predatory fish were able to approach the Grand Canyon, where the largest groups of the ancient and rare humpback chub remain.
Environmentalists have accused the federal government of failing to act swiftly. The Center for Biological Diversity pointed to data from the National Park Service released Wednesday showing the smallmouth bass population more than doubled in the past year. The group also said there still have been no timelines given on modifying the area below the dam. Source: The Associated Press Augst 18, 2023, 6:42 PM5
4. What Is Anatidaephobia The Fear Of?
a. The fear that a duck is watching you
b. The fear of insects
c. The fear the apes will take over
d. The fear of birds eating your food.
Answer at the end of the newsletter
5. Fall Garden Planting Time. The end of August , first of September is the time for low desert dwellers to start preparing for planting favorite vegetables. The selection should include “short season” varieties.
Planting times vary by elevation. Use the guide below to help you decide what to plant and when to plant it. You can also find the entire list on www.enviroinsight.org.
10 – 1000 1000 – 2000 2000 – 3000
ft eleva ft eleva ft eleva
Beans, green bush or pole Aug 20 – Sept 1
Beets Aug 20 – Sept 1 Sept 1 Aug 25 – Sept 1
Broccoli Sept 1 Sept 1
Brussel Sprouts Sept 1 Sept 1 Aug 15 – Sept 30
Cabbage (seed) Sept 1 Aug 15 Aug 1
Cabbage (plant) Sept 30 Dec 1st Sept 15 Sept 1
Carrot Sept 1 Sept 1 Aug 25- Mar 15
Growing Carrots
Best germination soil temperature…55 to 75˚F
Best growing temperatures …………..60 to 65˚
Best pH for growing carrots …………..5.8 to 6.5
Best soil type for growing carrots..Sandy Loam
Cauliflower Same as cabbage Same as cabbage Same as cabbage
Chard Sept 1 Sept 1 Aug 25
Chinese Cabbage Sept 1 Sept 1 August 15
Collard Sept 1 Sept 1
Corn, sweet short season Aug 25 Aug 25 Aug 25
Cucumber Aug 15 Aug 1
Endive Sept 1 Sept 1 Sept 1pt 1 to Dec 30
Garlic Sept 1 to Nov 1 Sept 1 to Nov 1 Sept 1 to Jan 1
Kale Sept 1 Sept 1 Aug 15 – Sept 30
Kohlrabi Sept 1 to Oct 30 Sept 1 to Oct 30 Sept 1 to Dec 30
Leeks Sept 1 to Oct 30 Sept 1 to Oct 30 Sept 1 to Dec 1
Lettuce, leaf Sept 20 to Nov 30 Sept 1 to Nov 30 Aug 20 – Oct 15
Onion (green, bunch) Sept 15 to Nov 30 Sept 1 to Oct 30 Aug 15 to Dec 30
Onion (seeds) Nov 1 – Dec 15 Oct 15 to Dec 30 Oct 15 to Dec 30
Onion (sets) Nov 15 to Dec 30 Nov 1 to Jan 30 Nov 1 to Jan 30
Parsley Oct 1 to Jan 1 Sept 1 to Jan 1 Sept 1 to Dec 30
Pea (fall) Sept 1 to Sept 15 Aug 15 to Sept 15 Aug 15 to Sept 15
Potato, Irish Sept 1 to Aug 15
Radish Sept 1 – Oct 30 Sept 1to Nov 15 Aug 5 to Oct 15
Spinach Sept 15 to Oct 30 Sept 15 to Dec 1 Aug 20 to Dec 30
Comment
All of the times/dates above are a general guide as much of the growing time depends on variable air temperature, soil temperature, and water availability.
On average, seed prefer a soil temperature of 68 ˚ to germinate. Carrots, beets, Peas (winter) and lettuce seed prefer soil temperatures between 55˚ to 75˚F.
Source:L Arizona Master Gardener Manual and the editors many years of growing organic food in his back yard.
Answer To The Quiz Found At Number 4 Above : a. The fear that a duck is watching you
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