Flickers and "A Fierce Green Fire"

Three noisy Northern Flickers consisted of either two adults and one youngster or one adult and two youngsters; I could see one of them feeding another and I'm certain this was an adult feeding a flying, fully fledged young. At least one of the young Osprey pair was back on the Chesterfield crane this morning and the creek was full of feeding, flying, flushing Great Egrets -- perhaps as many as a dozen and a half birds. The American Crows appear to be dispersing but the Fish Crows, perhaps adults and young, are active and calling.

Mark Kitchell's film, "A Fierce Green Fire", is the first and only authoritative history of the American environmental movement and its leaders. The title is taken from an essay by Aldo Leopold about his killing of a wolf and how it changed his life. The South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO), located on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, will show the film on Sunday July 28th at 7 pm. (At 5 pm, biologist Judith Weis will be presenting a talk which will also be worthwhile),

One of the personalities featured in the film is David Brower, who brought the Sierra Club to national prominence and later founded Friends of the Earth; he  was Lorna's mentor and hired her as regional representative for Friends of the Earth, plays an important role. .If you want to understand the history of environmentalism in this country, it's a must-see. Here's the press release about the film:

"A FIERCE GREEN FIRE: The Battle for a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement – grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change. Directed and written by Mark Kitchell, Academy-Award nominated director of Berkeley in the Sixties, and narrated by Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Ashley Judd, Van Jones and Isabel Allende, the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2012 and has won acclaim at dozens of festivals around the world.

A FIERCE GREEN FIRE chronicles the largest movement of the 20th century and one of the keys to the 21st. It brings together all the parts of environmentalism and connects them. It focuses on activism, people fighting to save their homes, their lives, the future – and succeeding against all odds. The film unfolds in five acts, each with a central story and character: • David Brower and the Sierra Club’s battle to halt dams in the Grand Canyon • Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal residents’ struggle against 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals • Paul Watson and Greenpeace’s campaigns to save whales and baby harp seals • Chico Mendes and Brazilian rubbertappers’ fight to save the Amazon rainforest • Bill McKibben and the 25-year effort to address the impossible issue – climate change Surrounding these main stories are strands like environmental justice, going back to the land, and movements of the global south such as Wangari Maathai in Kenya. Vivid archival film brings it all back and insightful interviews with activists shed light on what it all means. The film offers a deeper view of environmentalism as civilizational change, bringing our industrial society into sustainable balance with nature. It’s the battle for a living planet."

Eric Salzman