MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: April 21, 2021 Hammond’s Flycatchers in Edmonds. (Photos by Carol Riddell)
There is a genus of drab flycatchers called Empidonax, a word that means king of the gnats. The genus has eleven species that spend time in the United States. The Hammond’s Flycatcher, which belongs to the genus, is uncommon in Edmonds. It passes through during spring migration and can be seen or heard usually from mid-April through mid-May. A few may pass back through in southbound migration, but they tend to be silent. Yost Park is a good location for encountering this flycatcher although it could stop to rest and forage anywhere in the city, including at the other forested parks and the marsh.
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The Smithsonian is an American treasure with its museums, the National Zoo, the tropical research station in Panama, astrophysical observatory and many other cultural, scientific and historical resources.
But did you know that the thanks for the massive institution go to a British man who never visited the United States?
James Smithson was a wealthy British scientist who was especially interested in chemistry and minerals. Three years before he died in 1829, he wrote in his will that his closest relative, a nephew, would inherit his estate, which was worth more than $13 million in today’s dollars. However, if his nephew didn’t have children, the money would go to the United States and the creation of “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” He declared the place would be called the Smithsonian.
The Smithsonian got its start thanks to a mysterious gift washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Arlington student recognized for environmental leadership
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Sammie Trvalik, of Arlington, has been selected as a Baird Sustainability Fellow for advancing sustainability goals on or beyond the Dickinson College campus through excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.
Trvalik is a senior at the Carlisle, Pennsylvania, school.
Trvalik is one of 14 students selected for the program. Criteria for selection include high academic achievement, attainment of advanced-level sustainability competencies and dispositions through academic work and practice and evidence of a service project of exceptional impact related to sustainability. Established in 2012, the Baird Fellowship Program is named in honor of Spencer Fullerton Baird, a Dickinson alumnus, class of 1840, who became the first curator of the Smithsonian National Museum and is regarded as one of the nation’s leading naturalists of the 19th century.
Criteria for selection include high academic achievement, attainment of advanced-level sustainability competencies and dispositions through academic work and practice and evidence of a service project of exceptional impact related to sustainability.
Established in 2012, the Baird Fellowship Program is named in honor of Spencer Fullerton Baird, a Dickinson alumnus, class of 1840, who became the first curator of the Smithsonian National Museum and is regarded as one of the nation’s leading naturalists of the 19th century.
Learn more about current and former Baird Sustainability Fellows.