What Is This Great Blue Heron Doing?

Alan Pomerantz took the above shot of a Great Blue Heron at yesterday's weekly Hour on the Tower bird-watching mini-extravaganza at the Celery Farm.

Alan calls the bird "the yoga, satellite dish, cooling off/warming up" Great Blue Heron,

Anyone familiar with this pose/behavior?  Thanks, Alan!

 

 

 

'Screech Owl Companion' on NPR

Next Tuesday, Scott Weston and I will talk about screech owls on Bird Calls, a monthly radio show about birds and nature on NPR's affiliate Red River Radio out of Shreveport.

 

We'll also talk aboutour book, an amazing new application for Scott's nestbox design, and the real James Bond. We'll also field questions from listeners.

 

The host is Cliff Shackelford of Nacogdoches, Texas, retired State Ornithologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

 

You can stream the hour-long show live at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at https://www.redriverradio.org/

 

or listen to the podcast (usually available within 48 hours after the show) at https://www.redriverradio.org/show/bird-calls

Monthly Monday Mystery: August

Short on time lately, so thought I'd turn the Monday Morning Mystery into a Monthly Monday Mystery.

A friend suggested this one:

Someone apparently buried a bird next to the Butterfly Garden, with a little burial marker that says:

Here lies Birdie

2024-2024

Fly Higher

Anybody know the story behind this?

 

My Column: State Line Peregrine Update

  One of this year's juveniles practicing flying along the Hudson River Palisades.
Photo by Kevin Watson

My latest column is an update on the charismatic Peregrines that control to draw crowds at State Line Lookout, and it features a photo by Kevin Watson. Doesn't get much better than that.

You can read it here:

Two New Library 'Bookworms'

 

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Now on view at the Lee Memorial Library are a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar (above left) and what we think is a tiny Tussock Moth caterpillar.

They were donated by the wonderful volunteers at the Celery Farm Native Plant Garden.