I love your reflection - diversity is security - that's definitely something I have noticed within the ecosystems around my home in Wales but also in a wider sense in all areas of life. Here in Cymru/Wales, lower land prices and higher poverty rates than in other parts of the island have meant many small farms traditionally growing a diverse range of crops and keeping a range of animals have been swallowed up into larger monocultures which, of course, has a massive impact on wildlife and on our local food security. I loved learning about the traditional foodways on your peninsula responding to the cycles of the local animals. Those scooters look like real characters! I'm sad to say I haven't ever seen so many ducks hanging out together. Perhaps there might have been at one time, but I don't believe there are any large seabird colonies like this in my area today :(
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Sarah. It's hard for me to imagine not seeing hundreds of ducks, as we have wintering seabirds in medium high numbers here as well as wintering freshwater birds moving around. (Then in summer the waters are fairly empty.) Thanks for pointing out how human food security and biological diversity go hand in hand — security for us and for our nonhuman neighbors. I think that's spot on. Would love to see Wales someday. Thanks for reading.
Thanks for mentioning my article in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound. It's based on my book Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound. During the research for the book on my chapter on herring, I was lucky to witness them spawning and to see the great rafts of scoters. They are quite fun to watch. As you note, the spawn is happening right now and Hood Canal is a great place to witness this amazing natural history event.
Two years ago spawn showed up in our neighborhood near Glen Cove (Carr Inlet) which surprised a lot of folks (including me). I'm indebted to your work! I hope others check it out, especially Homewaters.
I love your reflection - diversity is security - that's definitely something I have noticed within the ecosystems around my home in Wales but also in a wider sense in all areas of life. Here in Cymru/Wales, lower land prices and higher poverty rates than in other parts of the island have meant many small farms traditionally growing a diverse range of crops and keeping a range of animals have been swallowed up into larger monocultures which, of course, has a massive impact on wildlife and on our local food security. I loved learning about the traditional foodways on your peninsula responding to the cycles of the local animals. Those scooters look like real characters! I'm sad to say I haven't ever seen so many ducks hanging out together. Perhaps there might have been at one time, but I don't believe there are any large seabird colonies like this in my area today :(
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Sarah. It's hard for me to imagine not seeing hundreds of ducks, as we have wintering seabirds in medium high numbers here as well as wintering freshwater birds moving around. (Then in summer the waters are fairly empty.) Thanks for pointing out how human food security and biological diversity go hand in hand — security for us and for our nonhuman neighbors. I think that's spot on. Would love to see Wales someday. Thanks for reading.
Thanks for mentioning my article in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound. It's based on my book Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound. During the research for the book on my chapter on herring, I was lucky to witness them spawning and to see the great rafts of scoters. They are quite fun to watch. As you note, the spawn is happening right now and Hood Canal is a great place to witness this amazing natural history event.
Two years ago spawn showed up in our neighborhood near Glen Cove (Carr Inlet) which surprised a lot of folks (including me). I'm indebted to your work! I hope others check it out, especially Homewaters.
I loved reading this this morning! It’s so nice to be able to read about home when I’m far away. ✨
I'm glad I can serve up a dose of homeyness for ya, Roshni.