OLLI Nature Lovers Book Group: July 2016

Saturday, July 30, 2016

NATURE LOVERS BOOK GROUP MEETING & BARBECUE

Galena Creek Recreation Area (South Entrance) Tuesday, August 9th 10:30: Lake Tahoe book discussion

12:00: Barbecue

Please RSVP waltsue62@gmail.com, or call 851-4555 no later than Tuesday (Aug. 2rd) and advise if you will/will not be attending and what you plan to bring for the barbecue/picnic so we can finalize plans. Thank you.

LAKE TAHOE BOOK DISCUSSION (10:30 am – Noon): Please bring a book you have recently read on Lake Tahoe. We will each provide a short talk related to an area of interest about the lake. For example: Some of its history, inhabitants, environmental issues of the lake and surrounding area, Tahoe area habitat (plants, flowers, animals, insects), etc.BARBECUE: Immediately following the book reviews, we will set up for the picnic. Guests are welcome to join us for the book discussion and barbecue. The barbecue chicken, tableware and water will be provided. Estimated attendance – 15 to 20.

Please consider bringing one of the following:Salad (green or vege, potato, pasta, etc.)Beverage other than waterDessert (fruit, baked goods, etc.) Bread or rolls, butter, cheese, etc.

DIRECTIONS: Take the freeway (Hwy. 395) until you get to the Mt. Rose Hwy turnoff (431). Stay right and continue past Raley’s Shopping Center, Galena High School, and keep heading west up Mt. Rose Hwy (the road will narrow from 2 to 4 lanes) for approx. 5 1/2 miles.PARK LOCATION: The Galena Creek Recreation Area is on the right side of the highway. There are two park signs. DO NOT TURN OFF AT the first sign that says, NORTH ENTRANCE. Continue driving another 3/4 mile until you see the SOUTH ENTRANCE sign for the Galena Creek Recreation Area, which is on the right, just behind the NDOT staging area. When you turn into the South Entrance, continue up the road and look for a posted sign “NLBG”, or one of us waving at you. We’ll be in the shaded picnic area, which has 3 tables and a barbecue grill, just across from the restrooms. If you’d like, stop and unload your food first, then drive down to the parking area (which is just below the picnic site), park and walk back up. Don’t hesitate to call (691-3762) for assistance. We look forward to this special day with all the NLBG and guests.

How a Wild Bird Leads People to Honey

Thanks to Maureen for bringing this article to my attention.
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/how-a-wild-bird-leads-
people-to-honey

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

How Trees Talk To Each Other

http://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread

Monday, July 25, 2016

What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins (2016) by Jonathan Balcombe

A New York Times Bestseller
Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In What a Fish Knows, the myth-busting ethologist Jonathan Balcombe addresses these questions and more, taking us under the sea, through streams and estuaries, and to the other side of the aquarium glass to reveal the surprising capabilities of fishes. Although there are more than thirty thousand species of fish―more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined―we rarely consider how individual fishes think, feel, and behave. Balcombe upends our assumptions about fishes, portraying them not as unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines but as sentient, aware, social, and even Machiavellian―in other words, much like us.
What a Fish Knows draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Fishes conduct elaborate courtship rituals and develop lifelong bonds with shoalmates. They also plan, hunt cooperatively, use tools, curry favor, deceive one another, and punish wrongdoers. We may imagine that fishes lead simple, fleeting lives―a mode of existence that boils down to a place on the food chain, rote spawning, and lots of aimless swimming. But, as Balcombe demonstrates, the truth is far richer and more complex, worthy of the grandest social novel.
Highlighting breakthrough discoveries from fish enthusiasts and scientists around the world and pondering his own encounters with fishes, Balcombe examines the fascinating means by which fishes gain knowledge of the places they inhabit, from shallow tide pools to the deepest reaches of the ocean.
Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, What a Fish Knows offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fishes and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planet’s increasingly imperiled marine life. What a Fish Knows will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins―the pet goldfish included.