SUNDAY, APRIL 13 BEGINING AT 9PM EDT USA ON WICN (90.5FM):

In 1818, through a bizarre series of circumstances, taxonomy and science
were put on trial in a courthouse in New York City. What started as a minor
case about the inspection of barrels of whale oil, became a showcase trial
on the publics understanding of natural history and the new order of nature.
The whole cause célèbre court case revolved around a deceptively simple
question: was a whale  a "fish" or a "mammal"? Tune in tonight when
Inquiry
speaks with writer D. GRAHAM BURNETT about his thought-provoking history of
science and society: Trying Leviathan: The Nineteenth-Century New York Court
Case That Put the Whale on Trial and Challenged the Order of Nature.

Then at 9:30: Golden Wings and Hairy Toes by natural history writer and
Rhode Island native TODD McLEISH is one of the most enjoyable and
informative books on New England wildlife published in some time. McLeish
came up with a short list of some of New England's most endangered birds,
mammals, reptiles, invertebrates and plants, and then arranged to spend some
time in the field with the biologists and conservationists trying
desperately to preserve the remaining populations of these plants and
animals. Tune in and find out about the rare Sandplain Gerardia that seems
to survive only in old New England cemeteries, and the American Burying
Beetle, who finds a fresh corpse to inter for it's young.

WICN (90.5FM) is broadcast throughout central New England and is also webcast throughout the world. To get WICN on your PC, go to: www.wicn.org and click on "Listen Online".
(submitted by Mark Lynch).

One of the important indicators of recent environmental changes are the
dramatic decreases in certain bird populations. Birds are important
indicators of the "health" of our environment and their declines are due
to factors like climate change, habitat loss and degradation, poor water
management and the effects of sprawl. On Inquiry tonight is JEFFREY V.
WELLS, Senior Scientist for the Boreal Song Bird Initiative, Visiting Fellow
at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and former Director of Bird Conservation
for the National Audubon Society. His new book THE BIRDER'S CONSERVATION
HANDBOOK: 100 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS AT RISK, lists those species most at risk
and what can be done about it.

Roses may be red, and violets of course may be blue, but why? Why is one
rose white while another is pink? Tonight on Inquiry we speak with DAVID
LEE, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida
International University and Director of the Kampong of the National
Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami. Lee's NATURE~RS PALETTE: THE SCIENCE OF
PLANT COLOR is one of the few books that combines a deep knowledge of
organic chemistry with an artistic love of the aesthetics of plants in the
garden and forest. Lee explains why leaves, flowers, seeds and bark are the
colors they are. Tune in and find out about leaves that can quickly change
color, the mysterious iridescent plants of the jungle floor, why blue
flowers are so damned strange and why some flowers even look like rotting
meat.

WICN (90.5FM) is broadcast throughout central New England and is also webcast throughout the world. To get WICN on your PC, go to: www.wicn.org and click on "Listen Online".
(submitted by Mark Lynch).

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 BEGINNING AT 9PM EDT ON WICN (90.5FM):

How can millions of tiny termites organize themselves to build complex
mounds 10 feet high? Why is the starting a bird's nest the most difficult
part of its construction? If you have ever marveled at a beaver's dam or
the
design of a wasp's nest, be sure to tune in to tonight's Inquiry. We talk
with MIKE HANSELL, Emeritus Professor of Animal Architecture at Glascow
University and author of one of the most thought provoking books on animal
behavior published recently: BUILT BY ANIMALS: THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMAL
ARCHITECTURE.

Inquiry speaks with photographer and natural historian ROSALIE WINARD.
Rosalie has spent a lifetime photographing herons, egrets, cranes and
pelicans across America. Her shimmering large format black and white
photographs are unique, unlike any other natural history photography you
have seen before.  A stunning new collection of her work can be found in
WILDBIRDS OF THE AMERICAN WETLANDS.

WICN (90.5FM) is broadcast throughout central New England and is also webcast throughout the world. To get WICN on your PC, go to: www.wicn.org and click on "Listen Online".
(submitted by Mark Lynch).

SUNDAY, JULY 20 AT 9PM EDT ON WICN (90.5FM):

Imagine a vast colorful encyclopedia that would list every single living
species of animal, invertebrate, protozoa and plant in existence and include
a picture, description, range map and references? This would be nothing less
than the ?book of life? for our planet. That dream project of every
biologist and natural historian is becoming a reality with the massive
on-line project called THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE. Tonight Inquiry welcomes
JIM EDWARDS from the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian
Institution and Executive Director of the Encyclopedia Of Life and JIM
HANKEN of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and Chair of the
Encyclopedia Of Life Steering Committee. Edwards and Hanken discuss how this
audacious project got off the ground, what they hope to accomplish with the
web site and how you can help. To visit the Encyclopedia Of Life, go to:
http://www.eol.org

WICN (90.5FM) is broadcast throughout central New England and is also webcast throughout the world. To get WICN on your PC, go to: www.wicn.org and click on "Listen Online".
(submitted by Mark Lynch).

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 AT 9PM EDT ON WICN (90.5FM):

Is birding merely "sanctioned voyeurism"? Inquiry spends some time with
writer, essayist and editor JONATHAN ROSEN talking about his new book THE
LIFE OF THE SKIES: BIRDING AT THE END OF NATURE. In this very literate
birding book, Rosen searches for the real meaning that lurks behind our
impulse to watch and list birds. This is a thoughtful voyage of discovery
that takes Rosen from watching spring migrants in Central Park, New York
City to watching Hume's Tawny Owl in Israel, quoting from Walt Whitman,
Robert Frost, Henry David Thoreau and the story of Baal Shem Tov along the
way.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 starting at 9PM ON WICN (90.5FM):

BILL THOMPSON III is the Editor of Bird Watcher's Digest and author of a
number of books about birds. His most recent effort is a wonderful and
unique bird guide geared for "tweens", young people ages 8 to 14: .  To make
sure his book was written for the right audience, Bill asked his eleven-year
old daughter's classmates for suggestions. The result is a natural history
guide that is refreshing, funny and very age appropriate titled: THE YOUNG
BIRDER'S GUIDE TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. . Many adults will also
find this guide useful. Also a guest on tonight's show is PHOEBE THOMPSON,
Bill's daughter. Phoebe will talk about her birding experiences, her most
wanted species and what it's like to find herself pictured in a field guide
dressed as the archetypical birder.

THEN AT 9:30: What does it take to publish a field guide? Is it as big a
nightmare as it seems it would be? Tonight, Inquiry speaks with TED FLOYD,
the Editor of Birding, the flagship publication of the American Birding
Association and creator of the new SMITHSONIAN FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF
NORTH AMERICA. Ted talks also about why birding is so popular and if new
fangled electronic devices will ever replace the printed guide.

"Tonight on Inquiry, we talk with LEE ALLEN PETERSON, writer, natural
historian and younger son of Roger Tory Peterson. Lee talks about the new
updated and expanded PETERSON FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,
which includes new paintings, digitally enhanced artwork and access to 3
hours of podcast material. Lee also talks about what it was like to group up
as the son of the man who revolutionized birding and ushered in the era of
the field guide."

This is a great interview that not only covers the new field guide
thoroughly but is a truly personal view of Roger Tory Peterson as a father
and artist. Lee is also the author of a field guide in the series on
MEDICINAL PLANTS, and he talks about that experience too.

GO TO:

http://wicn.org/audio/inquiry-lee-allen-peterson

And either listen on your PC or download to your I-Pod.


(submitted by Mark Lynch). 

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is continuing its
gull study at the Wachusett and Quabbin Reservoirs.  A variety of birds
utilize the reservoirs for breeding, migratory stops, roosting, and
feeding. Some species (i.e. common loons) occur in such low numbers that
they pose little threat to water quality.  However, other species (i.e.
gulls, ducks and geese) can concentrate in large numbers for an extended
period of time.  These large groups can have an impact on water quality.
Very little in known about wintering gulls.  As part of our gull program
we are conducting research related to movements of three species of
gulls (ring-billed, herring and black-backed gulls).

This research program is set up to address these questions:

    1. What and where are the seasonal food resources for each gull
species?

    2. What are the seasonal movement patterns between feeding and
roosting sites, between

        reservoirs, and between reservoirs and "alternate roosts"?

    3. What are the population dynamics of gulls in Massachusetts?

        a. Where do they nest?

        b. Sources of mortality?

        c. Lifespan?

Again, this year, we ask for birders help.  Last year we tagged over 100
gulls in the Wachusett and Quabbin areas.  We have already tagged about
30 more this year.  Each gull was banded and tagged.  The tags we use
are colored wing (or patagial) tags.  I attached a picture of a
wing-tagged Ring-billed gull so you can see what they look like.  They
can be seen from a distance and sometimes with the naked eye (without
binocs).  We got a lot of re-sightings from birders like you and from
the federal bird banding lab.  We had sightings from Worcester to
Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada (breeding this summer).  These
sightings are very important to us.

If you do see a wing tagged bird, please try to get the alpha-numeric
combination on the tag (e.g. A57) and report it to us using my contact
information below.  Common places they are seen are at landfills,
parking lots and ball fields.  So while you are out there birding,
grocery shopping or at the kids soccer game, keep a look out for any of
our birds.  I will be happy to provide you with specifics about the bird
like where and when it was caught.

Please pass the word.  Thanks in advance for your help.



Ken MacKenzie

Senior Wildlife Biologist

Department of Conservation and Recreation

Natural Resource Section

180 Beaman St

West Boylston, MA 01583

508-792-7423 x313 / 508-792-7805 (fax)