Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

"Yeah, but do we need 'em?", the whiny Manchestrian asked. "What chu mean?!", exclaimed Ricky Gervais on another old episode of their XFM podcasts that in recent weeks have been entertaining me as I wait for my seasonal camp work to begin once again. "Jellyfish", continued the Manchestrian, "do we need 'em?" This conversation between Karl Pilkington (the Manchestrain in question and reluctant star of the Idiot Abroad T.V. series), Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais (the co-creators and writers of the original Office ) continued to ferment as they discussed the nigh uselessness of jellyfish to humans and whether there would be a substantial difference to the planet if they were mysteriously spirited away. After calling an unsuspecting scientist and recording the conversation, Pilkington groused to his fellow commentators that apparently there would be a noticeable difference and that they would have to stay. What Pilkington was ge...

Round three of the Babe Ruth of Ornithology starts off this week with Alexander Wilson vs. Edward Howe Forbush. I hesitate to guess who'll win this round (but not really) Lets do this!! More birds named after him than Audubon could shake a boom stick at! Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) can easily be called the father of American Ornithology. After moving to America with his nephew in 1794, legend has it that the first bird he saw when he was in the New World was a Red-headed Woodpecker ( Melanerpes erythrocephalus ). While he always had a touch of intrigue towards the natural world, it was a famous naturalist named William Bartram, that gave him a passion for ornithology. It is Wilson that, more so than Audubon himself, has had more associated with him with regards to birds than any other American ornithological figure. As the aforementioned father of ornithology in America, his name is remembered with such species as Wilson's Storm-Petrel ( Oceanites oceanicus ), Wilson...