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These birds in flight have a V-shaped wing structure easy to spot as they are usually seen soaring in the sky, teetering slightly. The turkey vulture is truly nature’s vacuum cleaner.

Another of its pollinators are the predatory wasps who capture insects to line soil cavities or stems as paralyzed, but living , food for their young. Most are solitary wasps who are not especially aggressive to us.

The rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a medium-sized New World blackbird, closely related to grackles ("rusty grackle" is an older name for the species). It is a bird that prefers wet forested areas, breeding in the boreal forest and muskeg across northern Canada, and migrating southeast to the United States during winter.

In his book, Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England (Osprey, 2021), Dr. Michael Livingston of The Citadel tells the story of the battle of Brunanburh and of an extraordinary effort, uniting enthusiasts, historians, archaeologists, linguists, and other researchers – amateurs and professionals, experienced and inexperienced alike – which may well have found the site of the long-lost battle of Brunanburh, over a thousand years after its bloodied fields witnessed history. This week on Walter Edgar's Journal, he talks about the battle, the efforts to find its true location, and why it was as existential a conflict for England as the Battle of Britain, some 1000 years later.The story: Late in AD 937, four armies met in a place called Brunanburh. On one side stood the shield-wall of the expanding kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. On the other side stood a remarkable alliance of rival kings - at least two from across the sea - who'd come together to destroy them once and for all. The stakes were no less than the survival of the dream that would become England. The armies were massive. The violence, when it began, was enough to shock a violent age. Brunanburh may not today have the fame of Hastings, Crécy or Agincourt, but those later battles, were fought for an England that would not exist were it not for the blood spilled this day.

Adult mole salamanders spend most of their lives underground in burrows, either of their own making or abandoned by other animals.

The eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) is a small North American migratory thrush found in open woodlands, farmlands, and orchards. The bright-blue breeding plumage of the male, easily observed on a wire or open perch, makes this species a favorite of birders.

The pine warbler (Setophaga pinus) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

Miles Hoffman continues his discussion about the birth and evolution of the overture.

Eudryas grata is a moth known as the beautiful wood nymph. They are known for their mimicry of bird droppings. Found in abundance, predominantly across the entire eastern United States. Hosts for the caterpillar include Ampelopsis, buttonbush, grapes, hops, and Virginia creeper.

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Scott Sullivan about premature births in SC and efforts and interventions that help prevent some preterm births. Dr. Sullivan is a Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Vice Chair of the Department of OB/GYN at MUSC.