One of my favorite pictures
Linda and sister Carolyn
beautiful
As many of you know,
in my pathetic search for new ways to waste time I have begun to attempt
birding. I have most of the equipment –
good binoculars, a professional grade (re, Brad Schram) spotting scope, and
Sibley in book form as well as in the form of apps on my iPad and smart phone. So, last Sunday I went south to the Skagit
Flats, to study water birds. There was
a bald eagle flying around, and a great blue heron fluttering from one bush to
the next. There were also shore birds in
great profusion. Therein lay my
frustration.
Two kinds of birds were duck-like. I think one was the American Widgeon and the
other a Gadwall, although I would give long odds that I am wrong. The others were “peeps” (small sandpiper-like
birds). Here the old reliable phrase
“damned if I know” becomes appropriate.
One of these peeps was present in a great flock. They were feeding in a shallow stretch of
water, only an inch or two over a muddy bottom.
They had spotted backs, and were very small. They behaved in a fascinating way – feeding
for a while, then suddenly, simultaneously, taking off, swooping in perfect
formation for a few seconds, then landing somewhere else and resuming
feeding. The precision with which they
performed these complicated maneuvers – never running into one another nor
breaking formation – made you wonder who was in control. You remember an old sci fi movie involving
the Borg (“we are the Borg – resistance is futile”)? These birds behaved like the Borg; as if they
were all controlled by a distant computer.
What were they? Damned if I know.
There also were about a half-dozen of another, larger
peep. It was spotted, top and bottom,
and had a small head. I should have
noticed the color of the legs and beaks, but I didn’t. They roamed around, occasionally pulling
goodies from the mud substrate. They
didn’t fly at all while I was watching.
Confidently I referred to Sibley on my tablet, and quickly determined
that my bird was a – Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminate)! Then I
read the fine print. It appears that
this bird is a “rare visitor from Asia”, although it is “seen annually in small
numbers”. Well, maybe it was a Western
Sandpiper. But, of course – damned if I
know.
I will keep trying.
But – Oh wait! – this blog is about cancer, not birds. Well, I found an article describing the
improvement in cancer survival rates over the last 20 or so years. Remember, five-year survival rates (used in
this study) are far different from overall mortality rates, as discussed in a
recent blog:
Much back-patting is evident in this article. The cancers studied were colon, breast,
prostate, pancreas and ovary. The
sampled population numbered about 1 million.
The method used was to compare the survival statistics for people in the
50-64 age range during the period 1990-1994 with the same population in the
years 2005 to 2009. All but one of these
cancer groups experienced significant improvement over time. The one that didn’t was – can you guess? –
ovarian cancer.
I’m not a Greek statistician, but I will venture to say that
this is mainly bullshit. The five-year survival
rates for most of these cancers have improved primarily because of earlier
diagnosis. Improved treatment may have
helped, but I would guess it is not the most significant contributor. As I have become painfully aware over the
past three years (and, I hope, passed on to you), there has been no improvement
in early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
So, no big surprise that ovarian survival didn’t improve.
I would like to see the mortality statistics for this same
study group but, of course, that requires us to wait until all the subjects die.
Here is the article.
It is short, interesting, and easy to read.
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