2009 Christmas Bird Count

2009 marks the 110th Christmas Bird Count, a remarkable data set. Every year from mid-December to early January, Christmas Bird Counts are held throughout the country (and in a few places outside the U.S.) to document what birds are within a 7.5 mile radius circle. Over the years, this data shows what bird species are increasing or decreasing.

Yesterday I went to Ely to help with their first Christmas Bird Count. It was an enjoyable day, despite the huge numbers of European starlings, Eurasian collared doves, and house finches we saw--all non-native species. We did manage to see some more unusual birds, like a flock of cedar waxwings in someone's yard, two sharp-shinned hawks cruising by bird feeders looking for an easy meal, and two rough-legged hawks out in the Steptoe Wildlife Management Area. I haven't heard the final numbers, but I think the preliminary ones are 41 species and over 4,000 birds counted for all the groups.

The fun continues tomorrow, with the Snake Valley Christmas Bird Count. And then Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge has one on January 3. For more info, visit the Christmas Bird Count website.

Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Today is an extremely important day in Mexico and many other parts of the world, the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, or Our Lady of Guadalupe.

According to tradition, in 1531, a native peasant named Juan Diego was walking by a hill close to Mexico City when a young woman appeared to him, surrounded by light. She asked in his language, Nahuatl, that a church be built for her at that site, and he recognized her as the Virgin Mary. He went to the local bishop and related this request. The bishop didn't believe him and asked for a miraculous sign to prove his claim. Juan Diego returned, asked, and the Virgin Mary told him to go to the top of the hill and gather some flowers. Although it was December, he found roses in bloom, and took them in his cloak, his tilma, to the bishop. When he opened the tilma, the roses fell out and the image of the Virgin Mary was imprinted on the cloak.

The church was built, and is one of the most visited sites for Christians, with 18-20 million visitors yearly. The tilma still remains intact within it.

The Virgin of Guadalupe is a uniting force among Mexicans and others, and is in fact called the Patroness of the Americas. Many miracles have been attributed to her.

The feast day is December 12, and this morning many gathered before sunrise to sing the Mananitas (morning songs) and pray. There are numerous songs dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, along with an array of traditions, of which I'm still learning.

For more information, click here.

View from the Feed Yard

It's freezing outside--no wait, it's below freezing outside! But we have had some marvelous sunrises and sunsets lately. Here are the mountains to the west of us.

Happy Saint Nicholas' Day!

December 6 is Saint Nicholas' Day. Do you celebrate it? Ever heard of it?

When we were kids, my parents had us put out our shoes the night before, and when we woke up in the morning they were filled with fruit and candy. Why? They were remembering Saint Nicholas.

Saint Nicholas is the original Santa Claus. He was a real person, but he didn't live at the North Pole, he lived along what is today the southern coast of Turkey in the third century AD. His wealthy parents died while he was a young child, and he used his inheritance to help the poor, the sick, and the suffering. He became a Bishop while he was young, but then under a Roman Emperor was imprisoned for his beliefs. He was eventually released and went on to continue to help people.

Even after his death in 343 AD, people continued to remember his good deeds. One story involved a poor man who had three daughters. In order for them to marry they needed dowries, but he had no money, so the daughters were destined to be sold into slavery. On three different occasions, bags of gold mysteriously appeared, providing the needed dowries. The bags were reportedly thrown though an open window and landed in stockings or shoes laid out before the fire to dry. And thus was born the custom of hanging Christmas stockings so that Santa Claus could fill them.

St. Nicholas is also known as a protector of children, the patron of sailors and voyagers, and friend or protector of all in trouble or need.

In parts of Europe, Saint Nicholas' Day is the main gift-giving day of the Christmas season, reserving Christmas day for more focus on the birth of Jesus Christ.

For more information about Saint Nicholas, and how he was transformed by writers, artists, and companies into the modern day Santa Claus, see this informative website.

Is Your County Prosperous?

When one thinks of prosperous areas in the U.S., usually the large, populated areas come to mind. After all, where do homes cost the most, so therefore where must the most prosperous people be living?

A new report measures prosperity in slightly different terms. Counties that had lower poverty rates and unemployment rates and fewer high school dropouts and housing problems than the country at large were considered to be prosperous. And the results showed many of those counties are in the Great Plains and Midwest states. The brighter red on the map below, the more prosperous the county.

Map by Andrew Isserman, Edward Feser, Drake Warren, University of Illinois.

Available from LiveScience website.

The data for this study were from 2000, and instead of focusing on income and growth, more traditional measures, the researchers looked at outcomes. What areas keep their kids in school the longest? Have lower unemployment rates? Better health?

The center of the country appears the brightest red. The counties in these areas have less income inequality, better education, and more off-farm jobs than less-prosperous counties. The prosperous counties had an average growth rate of two percent over the previous decade, compared to eleven percent for the less-prosperous counties. Obviously quick growth is not a recipe for prosperity.

I find it refreshing to find someone looking beyond money to determine what makes a prosperous area. There really is so much more to consider. How does your county fare?

To see more, visit LiveScience.