This is certainly one of those colonial holidays, with even a worse flavor ’cause the oppressed native peoples did not benefit from the overthrow of the imperialists—that’s most of you, my readers. As Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana put in the front of Zeke and Ned (attributed to anonymous, quoted by H.L. Mencken),
When the Pilgrim fathers reached the shores of America, they fell on their knees. Then they fell on the Indians.
Saw this eagle today over at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, and yes, duh!, he’s stuffed. Fitting image for today, though!
Also seen at the Refuge: trumpeter swans (many), loons (a few), one great blue heron, no Canada geese (never happened before—the ranger said the swans had run them off), a lily the Botanist is still trying to identify, and much more. New book: The 500 Most Important Bird Areas in the United States by the American Bird Conservancy. It’s North American ecology from a different angle than I’m familiar with….