August 2026

About Books: Now For Some Good News

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:09 GMT

The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet.

Scott Weidensaul. 2026. New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Scott Weidensaul’s new book, The Return of the Oystercatcher, begins with one of the least expected first sentences:

This is a book about optimism. (p. 1)

You would be forgiven if, after reading that introduction, you thought “You have GOT to be kidding!” After all, these are dark times we are currently living through, and somebody trying to put a happy face on what we are experiencing seems to be wildly out of touch. But this is Scott Weidensaul after all, a well-known writer and researcher specializing in birds and migration. In the next several pages, he admits this idea of an optimistic book about the environment sounds crazy, but he has his reasons.

Optimism may seem badly misplaced these days, especially to those of us who have been battling for years on behalf of conservation. As I write this, it is still the early months of an administration that has unleashed a ferocious and profoundly shortsighted attack on federal environmental policy, protection, funding, and staffing (among many other things), against which only the first concerted pushback, mostly through the courts, has begun. Where it will lead I cannot say, beyond: nowhere good. (p. 1)

This may seem like the worst possible time to be writing an optimistic book about bird conservation, because I expect hope and optimism will be hard to come by in the months and years ahead. Resignation and despair may be all too easy to find, but maybe for that reason it’s the best possible time for this book. (p. 3–4)

This is not a book to allay our fears about what is happening all around us. We know the problems all too well. Instead, this book is a guide to specific ideas, programs, projects, places, and people who are working hard to save at least a part of their local bird habitat. The Return of the Oystercatcher shows the reader that often we know what works in conservation, but we do not have the government funding, dedicated personnel, or interest to apply these programs over larger areas. Each chapter focuses on a species or group of species, identifies why those birds are in trouble, and then details what programs are being tried, often successfully, to preserve that bird’s habitat.

Zaps 54-4

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:06 GMT

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At a Glance: August 2026

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:04 GMT

Hot Birds: August 2026

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:02 GMT

The most amusing rarity of the spring was clearly the Bridled Tern that Liam Norton found in Scituate on July 10. It was still present through press time. The bizarrely sociable bird frequently landed on people’s cameras, phones, heads, and even dogs. More typically distant individuals flew past Westport on June 17 and Eastham on July 8. Multiple birds were likely involved, with Bridled Terns seen in New Hampshire and Maine overlapping in time with the Scituate bird. Jason Forbes took the photograph.

Our state’s seventh record of Chestnut-collared Longspur came just over a month after the sixth was last seen. The individual that overwintered at Fitchburg Airport was last reported on April 14. On May 22, Keenan Yakola found another longspur on Crosby Landing Beach, Brewster, which was a one-day wonder. Mary Jo Foti took the photograph.

Lauren Miller-Donnelly found a Black-necked Stilt at Mass Audubon’s Allens Pond Sanctuary, Dartmouth, on June 6, which disappeared after a few hours. On June 21, Scot MacAlister found it or another stilt in the same neighborhood. Two days later, a second bird joined it. The pair remained in the vicinity of the sanctuary through at least July 2. Valerie Burdette took the photograph.

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Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:01 GMT