ASEASON WITHOUT RAIN MEANS NO GOOD TIME for dividing and transplanting in the garden, so while I wait and hope, I click, and click some more. From dramatic bird-migration news and a trap that outsmarts voles, to the latest findings about Roundup and its harmful effects, here are some internet links I’ve dug up lately indoors that you might enjoy.

I MET JACK THE DEMON CAT on September 11, 2001; he was here in the driveway, a stray who’d apparently chosen me, when I arrived from Manhattan late that morning. This year, September 11 was marked by flocks and flocks and flocks of raucous birds flying overhead, a winged migration of dramatic proportion that had me sitting outside listening, and watching (and Jack going mad inside, where he belongs, watching me watch).

Imagine how frustrated Jack was when the black-throated blue warbler (below) stunned himself on the glint of the glass porch door. I gently righted him, and then we sat awhile together, talking softly, until he was ready to continue on, Jack staring in disbelief from indoors, where I hold him hostage to protect my avian friends.

But our show here was nothing compared to the one that night at the site of the World Trade Center, where the memorial beams of light proved confusing to migrants trying to navigate their way to wintering grounds. The NPR piece on it, with an expert guest from New York City Audubon—was chilling, and beautiful. A must-listen.

WOW, BIG SURPRISE. A new study in Argentina confirms that Roundup is linked to human birth defects. Enough said; you know what will happen if I get going. Have a read for yourself, thanks to GM Watch dot org.

I HAVE THE NICEST READERS (that would be you). Almost 14,000 comments into our two-and-a-half-year relationship, I never cease to be wowed (especially when I click on links you leave me to visit your worlds) by the talent and knowledge you possess. Today, all the way from Kuwait, an intimate look at making dal–the Indian lentil “soup”–came in a comment from Kulsum at Journey Kitchen. Who knew the subtleties of so many grades of tiny lentils? Not me.

Last week, I “met” the Mistress Longears (got to love all your great screen names), whose Flickr photo stream is full of handcrafted botanical expressions: quilts that define botanical terms, for instance, or her garden journal, or this story about a dog and an osage orange. She says she’s been “raising rabbits against [her] will since 1987,” so she must be a gardener. Thank you all for what you share with me.

THE TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT DEP’T: “My kid won’t eat vegetables.” You hear people say it all the time. But what if there were no other choice offered at snack time, no packaged junk or sugary temptations? This experiment with carrots-only vending machines says they’ll start loving carrots pretty fast.

BUILD A BETTER MOUSE, ER, VOLE TRAP: Leave it to Eliot Coleman to create a simple design for a garden vole trap, sparing me (once I make some) the trouble of jury-rigging any more haphazard enclosures for the snap-traps I set out all year round as well. His vole-stopping stroke of genius.