faulker015

Why is President Trump failing to denounce the overtly racist tweet of Rosanne Barr?  Simply put, racists have each other's back. Besides, our Racist in Chief relies on a base that manifests racist tendencies; many (if not most) of his supporters harbor negative sentiments toward those who are not like themselves.  This fact explains their anti-immigrant fervor and their lack of response to police brutality.  If he is to stay in office, Trump needs to retain the support of these relatively uneducated and close-minded citizens. Herein lies an opportunity to take back our democracy from the Trump Administration.  The Democratic Leadership must mobilize Americans who abhor such racism in addition to those who are directly affected by racist policies.  Unfortunately, those who reject racism, in all its forms, may not be as large a group as we'd like to believe.

Veteran birders who suddenly find themselves in a new environment re-experience the excitement of their early birding days, when almost every sighting was a new species.  Such has been my experience here in Switzerland where, aside from house sparrows, European starlings, herring gulls and Eurasian collared doves, most birds have been "lifers" when first encountered.  Even the crows, known here as carrion crows, have a unique appearance and call. I have mentioned a number of the new species in previous posts (red kites, black kites, white storks, chaffinches and black redstarts, to name a few) and I came across black-headed gulls,  two great crested grebes and a few European coot on Lake Geneva the other day.  A grey heron flew over our hotel last evening (looking very much like a great blue heron) and blue tits (blue and yellow chickadees) have been foraging around the complex since our arrival; other local sightings have included European magpies, wood pigeons and ...

The Aare River, the longest river that lies totally within Switzerland, rises near Grimsel Pass, in the Bernese Alps and eventually empties into the Rhine River along the country's northeast border with Germany.  Flowing more than 180 miles and draining a watershed that covers half of Switzerland, the Aare has been heavily dammed for both flood control and hydroelectric power; the three largest lakes along its course are Lake Brienz, Lake Thun and Lac de Bienne. While the Aare is perhaps most famous for its gorge in the Alps, it and its many tributaries are most often encountered during travel across the central and eastern portions of the Swiss Plateau.  It flows through Bern, one of Switzerland's major cities, and is a scenic treasure for many smaller towns along its course. Today I visited Olten, a pleasant city on the Aare River in the Germanic region of northeastern Switzerland.  Sitting at the base of the Jura Mountains and known for its Old Town shopping district, ...

Today, I made a circuit across the Swiss Plateau using the country's fine train network; smooth and efficient, the trains provide an excellent means to explore the landscape.  The Plateau region, nestled between the Alps and the Jura mountains, is characterized primarily by rolling farmlands (dairy cattle and sheep predominate), dotted with lakes and scenic towns. As a birder, I was pleased to see a large number of black kites and red kites on my journey, joined by a half dozen white storks.  Though I passed through Lausanne and Bern, my primary stop was at Neuchatel, at the base of the Jura Mountains and on the north shore of Lac de Neuchatel.  A visit to the splendid lakeside park turned up several more European birds (red-crested pochards, chaffinches and black redstarts, to name a few) and offered a spectacular view of the Alps to the south. On my final leg of the journey, I found that vineyards are abundant along the base of the Jura Mountains, certainly a reflection...

During our first week in Switzerland, my wife and I will be staying in Nyon, on the north shore of Lac Leman, more commonly known as Lake Geneva throughout the English-speaking world.  Created by glacial erosion during the last glaciation of the Pleistocene, this crescent shaped lake is one of the largest in western Europe, 45 miles in length and up to 8 miles wide. Near Nyon, the deeper Grand Lac portion (to the east and southeast) gives way to the Petit Lac, a shallower and narrower section that extends westward to Geneva.  This latter portion of Lac Leman was subjected to the serial deposition of terminal moraines as the glacier melted back toward the Alps as well as sedimentation from glacial streams that entered from its north and south.  The Rhone River, now rising from its residual mountain glacier in the Alps, flows through Lac Leman and then drains it through southern France before entering the Mediterranean Sea. This afternoon, we enjoyed a spectacular view of L...

On my flight from Denver to Washington, DC, today, trees were a reliable indicator of the regional climates.  Across the semiarid High Plains, spotty groves of trees were observed along dry stream beds or surrounding farmhouses but were otherwise absent.  Farther east, the green ribbon of the Platte River snaked across southern Nebraska, demonstrating a steady supply of water for plains cottonwoods and other riparian trees and shrubs. The riverine corridors thickened after we crossed the Missouri River (just south of Omaha) as the size and number of the streams increased, fed by abundant moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.  After flying over the Illinois River at Peoria, trees diminished once again across the Glaciated Plain of central Illinois; once a vast prairie, it is now productive farmland, studded with wind farms.  Clouds obscured the landscape over most of Indiana and Ohio and, when breaks in the overcast finally returned, a sea of trees stretched below us, ind...

When I travel, whether by car, train or plane, the journey to and from my destination is often just as interesting as the destination itself; indeed, the landscape or ecosystems encountered en route may prove to be the highlight of the trip.  Setting out for Switzerland tomorrow morning, I know that the flight from Denver to Washington, DC, will cross familiar terrain but I'm almost certain to observe some geographic features heretofore unseen. Having checked the International route on Flight Aware, I also know that my second flight will head northeast, crossing New York City, Boston, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland before venturing out across the dark Atlantic.  Early the next morning, we will cross Ireland before angling SSE across England and France to Geneva.  Since I have never been to Europe (unless I count the eastern half of Iceland, which is part of the Eurasian Plate), this final stretch will be all new territory, viewed from 30,000 feet. Of course, I have secured ...