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It’s that time of year again, when kids are going back to school, and birds are going back to wherever they fly to in the colder months. When it comes to birds, we often lament the impact that climate change and development has had on our avian friends. But in this story about the shorebirds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway, Bluedot writer Sam Moore highlights some wins. The population of the American Oystercatcher, for instance (pictured above on a Massachusetts beach, by photographer Lanny McDowell), has increased by 50% since 2008. 

The flyway is more than just a migratory path: It also represents a linked set of groups, scientists, and volunteers monitoring the health of bird populations. “The idea of birds going from key site to key site is the foundational concept of shorebird conservation,” one scientist told Sam. “Their annual cycle is just a linking of these site-to-site movements.” Wildlife biologists use banding and statistical analysis to figure out when birds are dying, then figure out the conservation levers they can pull, and whether the attentive stewardship given to the oystercatchers might work. 

Want to track the birds that might be migrating as you sleep? Check out the Cornell Ornithology Lab’s Birdcast Dashboard, and enter your zip code.

“There are no sacred and unsacred places; there are only sacred and desecrated places. My belief is that the world and our life in it are conditional gifts.”

– Wendell Berry, 1934–2026, poet, novelist, environmentalist

• The Elephant Chasers of Mechi River

• The Many, Many Birds Migrating While You Sleep

• Cemeteries: How the Dead Protect the Wild

• Dear Dot: How Can I Help Migrating Birds?

• Buy Better: Tackle the Bathroom

• A Sparrow Gets a Bodyguard

• Drink Gin, Help Migrating Whales

• Turn Stale Bread Into French Toast! Get the Recipe.

• Podcast: Food Waste Reimagined at B Bar Ranch

• Climate Quick Tip: First-Aid for Collision-Injured Birds

• Attract Pollinators to Your Garden

FEATURED STORIES

BIG IDEAS AND LOCAL CHANGEMAKERS

FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program) offers information on how to keep birds safe from window collisions.

Bluedot Kitchen

Drink Gin, Help Migrating Whales

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Illustration by Elissa Turnbull

Dear Dot, 

I’ve been enjoying the birds that are making their way south. Is there anything I can do to help make their trip better?

– Elle G.

Dear Elle,

Fall is a wonderful time to give warblers, sparrows, flycatchers, virios, and others an assist as young ones tend to follow the East Coast south, says the birdly named Matt Pelikan, a Martha’s Vineyard-based naturalist. And these guys can use our help! “The nature of migration is really intensive,” says Pelikan. “When birds are migrating, they’re running marathons.”

Metaphorically, of course. Their little legs couldn’t possibly run 26 miles, let alone the up to 600 miles the American Bird Conservancy says migrating birds travel daily at approximately the same speed as a car on the highway. 

But, like any marathoner, they need water. Lots of it, says Pelikan, who urges us to put out a dish of water on the railing of our deck if we don’t have a bird bath. And if we do have a bird bath, we must ensure that it’s kept clean, with fresh water. 

But they also need fuel, says Pelikan, because migrating is so energy-intensive. 

How else can you help? Keep reading.

Interested in reducing every waste? Look to your bathroom. A few durable, thoughtfully made essentials can make the space more functional while cutting back on disposable plastic. These picks cover the basics, from countertop organization to everyday cleaning.

Better Bathroom Basics

Ekobo’s bathroom accessories are made from FSC-certified bamboo fiber. Toothbrush holders, soap dishes, organizers, waste bins, and even step stools come in simple shapes and cheerful colors. These items make it easy to give the bathroom a practical refresh without conventional plastic. ($20+)

Put a Recycling Bin in the Bathroom!

Hardworking Cleaners

Meliora’s cleaning products make it easy to tackle everyday grime without dangerous chemicals or wasteful packaging. Founded by a female engineer, the Certified B Corp makes everything in Chicago. Try the All-Purpose Home Cleaner for sinks, counters, and surfaces, then tackle the tub, tile, and toilet with Gentle Home Cleaning Scrub. ($15.99+)

Clean Without Toxic Chemicals

A Plastic-Free Toilet Brush

Zero Waste Store’s toilet brush pairs a beechwood handle with agave fiber bristles for a simple alternative to the standard petrochemical toilet brush. It’s sturdy and functional, with an open design that allows air to circulate around the brush, preventing the growth of mold and bacteria. ($35.99)

Brush Up Your Bathroom

What You Can Do: Attract Pollinators to Your Garden

Give our hardworking butterflies and bees a hand … or a flower! Plant a pollinator-friendly garden. Bluedot shows you how.

The Keep-This Handbook

Installing a birdbath is one of the best ways to support the well-being of local and migrating birds. More than a place to bathe, these backyard oases are resting places for our flighted friends to take a drink and mentor young. They don’t take a lot of space, and you can even make one from upcycled household items. Learn how to establish a birdbath.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

This morning, while I was walking my dog, I passed a man carrying a shovel. Normally this would be cause for alarm. But today, I knew where he’d been and what that shovel was for.

Over the weekend, my neighborhood in Long Beach, California got hit hard by huge waves and high tides stirred up by Tropical Storm Marie. (You might have seen it on the news.) On a normal day here, tiny waves “crash” about 100 feet from a wide wooden boardwalk that separates the beach from oceanfront homes. On Sunday and Monday, 5-foot waves were rolling right over that boardwalk and smashing into the homes, sometimes even hitting second-story windows and balconies.

The surging ocean water pushed sand and debris onto the boardwalk, burying front porches and decks — and my favorite bench, a makeshift lending library that offers everything from books to puzzles, pint glasses, and party supplies — in an ankle-deep mess of mud and trash. And that’s where the man with the shovel had been. He’d walked from his home about 15 minutes away to see if he could help clean up that mess.

He wasn’t the only one. Volunteers from across our community spent hours over the holiday weekend digging their neighbors’ houses out, securing boards over windows, filling sandbags and stacking them in front of doors and gates and garages. Lifeguards, firefighters, police officers, and the indefatigable Marine Services Bureau were on the scene in force, making sure we were safe and doing what they could to protect the vulnerable homes.

Through the whole ordeal, I was constantly talking to neighbors, sharing updates that allowed my family to make smart decisions about where to go and what to do. The volunteers and the information-sharing network reminded me how important it is to have a strong community in a fast-moving crisis. And we, like other communities around the world, will be facing more climate-related crises, especially if the forecasted “super” El Niño materializes.

The boardwalk is the backbone of my community. It’s where I walk my dog, catch up with neighbors, take in the sunset, and generally just unwind at the end of a long day. Seeing it all torn up this morning had me, well, all torn up. But the man with the shovel gave me hope. He helped me remember that we are resilient when we work together — and we will get through this, one bucketful of sand at a time.

Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you next week.

– Robin Jones (and Emily Cain, Leslie Garrett, and Jamie Kageleiry)

Editors

Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com

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