TWiB Notes: Movie gaffes, the Hawks, and hewing yews
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TWiB Notes: Movie gaffes, the Hawks, and hewing yews
Plus, a clarification on natural land data.
“Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” is the coming-of-age novel by Judy Blume that features an 11-year-old girl grappling with new friends, feelings, religion, and the beginning of adolescence. A film adaptation of the novel released earlier this year, and it made its way to my household in the form of streaming earlier this month. I didn’t know anything of this story so watching its raw and honest depictions with two teen/tween girls was, in a word, interesting. But I digress.
There’s a scene in the film where a bird lands outside a window, and Margaret’s mom—an artist—takes out a paintbrush and canvas and quickly tries to paint it. I appreciated the inclusion of avifauna in the film, though was a bit puzzled by the decision to try to paint it as it sat outside the window. Even Bob Ross couldn’t have been so quick. Birds are subjects that don’t sit still for long, for photography, for observation, for portraiture, for most anything.
Further, everything about the bird chosen to appear in the film is wrong. First, it appears to be a Venezuelan Troupial, the national bird of Venezuela, whose home range is confined to northern South America (Margaret lives in New Jersey). Even more bizarre was that the bird sang like an American Goldfinch. So while the film producers admirably included the bird, it was ornithologically incorrect. The average viewer could easily write off the bird as a Baltimore Oriole, another bright orange bird that does reside in New Jersey in the warmer months.
If you want to see a more accurate glimpse of birding in popular culture, check out Wisconsin humorist Charlie Berens birdwatching in the below video. He gets a lot of it right, including using the mobile app Merlin for identifying songs. And yes, everyone becomes a birder after they turn 30. 😃
A modest proposal
With the passing of Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, is it too soon to dust off proposals to change the team’s name? The Chicago NHL team’s founder, Frederic McLaughlin, had served in the 86th Infantry Blackhawk Division. Despite what NHL spinmeisters may say, the name is in no way a tribute to Black Hawk the person, who led efforts to reclaim lost to the United States in the early 19th century. And it’s dubious that the infantry was paying tribute to the Sauk warrior either. The team could solve this issue by changing its logo from an “Indian head” to a dark brown or black hawk—raptors always make for cool logos—however that feels inadequate. The team could consider changing its name to another local species that pays tribute to our ecosystem (Chicago Shorebirds anyone?) while gaining a much-needed public relations win.
Hey, yew
For years, there have been a cluster of evergreen bushes, yews I believe, in the front yard. These bushes don’t do a whole lot for bird species and require hedge-trimming, if one is topiary-inclined. I took to removing them with loppers, shears, and a hand saw. A neighbor stopped by, “Want a chainsaw?” he said. That hadn’t occurred to me, and I was making progress the old-fashioned way. “Well, I’ve already made it this far,” I said, gesturing toward the bushes.
The bushes will be replaced by native prairie plants soon. They should take well in full sun, are low maintenance, and provide a haven for pollinators and birds. Next up? The big non-native bush in the background of the photo, and another step toward a more ecologically friendly yard.
Clarifying our land problem
A reader asked a question about my dour outlook on the state of natural land. Just look at the above data, we’ve had some good years like 2019 or 2022. True enough, I probably could have been more clear about what the chart shows (or at least my interpretation). It looks like 2022 was a good year. But 8,000 or so acres is .02% of Illinois’ area of 3.8 million or so acres. The reason for my post: I was taken aback at how tiny a percentage this is, and how it really is a negligible increase in the grand scheme of things. Particularly since we’re certainly losing acres, too. The Biden Administration has a goal of 30% of all land protected in the United States by 2030. We are very far away from that in Illinois at this pace! Maybe my expectations are too high, or we should be celebrating the 8,000 acres protected, but my immediate reaction when I saw these figures was dismay.
Waterworld
As I’m sure most every reader has noticed, this has been a wackier than usual weather season, even by the current standards of our human-altered climate. Smoke from Canadian wildfires has clouded the skies of the Midwest nearly all summer. Global heat records are falling by the day. Flooding is happening in strange places. Bryan Pfeiffer of
canoed the streets of Montpelier, Vermont. If you haven’t been through Montpelier, it’s perhaps the prettiest state capital in the nation. These days, canoeing down streets is getting all too common.
TWiB Notes: Movie gaffes, the Hawks, and hewing yews
I think the bird in Are You There God was a red bishop! My only critique in what was otherwise a tender and hilarious movie!