“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter...”  –Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was right. And one of the most important and spectacular of those “repeated refrains” in the Americas is taking place right now - bird migration.

Each year for more than 20 years now, International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) has celebrated birds. Spring is in full swing now, and many of us are enjoying the sounds and colors of birds as they migrate to and through our cities and over our landscapes.

Some migratory birds travel great distances. The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that visit my yard in Maryland each summer travel 500 non-stop miles across the Gulf of Mexico from their wintering grounds to find nesting areas as far north as Maine and Canada. The Arctic Tern travels even farther, making an annual round-trip of almost 20,000 miles from the Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctic seas.

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"The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?"  -- David Attenborough 

Today, we find ourselves amidst a sudden and vicious epidemic of wildlife slaughter and illegal trade.  We are receiving reports of a potentially catastrophic slaughter of forest elephants in the Central African Republic as that nation has spiraled into chaos.

First, we heard 30 elephants were killed. Then it was 40. Now it is more than 80, and the death toll will likely climb.  Definitive numbers are hard to come by, but it is clear that the world-renowned national park, Dzanga-Ndoki, and its large elephant population is now in harm’s way.

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We in the conservation field do a lot of hand-wringing over the growing disconnect between people and nature, and there's reason to be concerned. 

America is changing: diversifying, urbanizing, gentrifying, globalizing.  And its people are increasingly de-natured and disconnected from the outdoors. 

So we worry about this disconnect and the challenges it presents.

But then something happens to remind us that while people are becoming physically disconnected with the outdoors, they are more and more fascinated with wild life. 

Lori Iverson, in charge of Education and Visitor Services at Elk National Refuge in Wyoming, took a remarkable set of photos recently that showed a confrontation between juvenile mountain lions and coyotes.

Millions of people viewed these photos on Flickr, and thousands more commented on them and shared them on Facebook.

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