The Rappahannock Tribe has become the first tribal nation in the United States to successfully adopt a tribal constitution that recognizes the rights of nature, giving legal protection to the river it has lived alongside for thousands of years. The new constitution recognizes nine specific rights for the Rappahannock River, including rights to “naturally exist, […]
Tag: Great Blue Heron
Farewell Harns Marsh Preserve And SW Florida
My likely last visit to Harns Marsh Preserve in Lehigh Acres, Florida, occurred in late October when I met up with Canadian wildlife photographer Frank Constantin. The weather was favorable with the grass well groomed and 39 species of bird observed in the ensuing two hours after sunrise during our stay. A good number of […]
Quiet Nature Preserves Have Their Busy Days
We have a small nature preserve in town named The Helen Carlson Wildlife Sanctuary. I like to stop in for a quick look around whenever I’m in the area. During my last visit their was a Red-shouldered Hawk calling out keyeer keyeer keeyer from the top of a pine tree just as I was getting […]
Whimbrel At Carlos Pointe: Part II
The Whimbrel that had been reported daily at Carlos Pointe for nearly a week prior to my visit was of course not guaranteed to be there. The Whimbrel was difficult to identify as it was found to be loafing with its bill hidden in its right wing while surrounded by Marbled Godwits and Willets. The […]
Checking In On The Heron Rookery
We are very fortunate to have a large heronry or heron rookery as it’s more commonly called. There are dozens of Great Blue Heron nests and often in excess of 100 herons at its peak. The location used to be a secret only known by a few but now all the local birders and photographers […]
Birding By The Sea
Well, this is not actually a post about birding by the sea, but birding by the Long Island Sound at Hammonasset Beach State Park. Images in this post are from a trip to Hammonasset in mid-January when I met world eBirders Julie Hart and Daniel Schlaepfer with four additional visits in February. Julie was kind […]
Return To Hammonasset Beach State Park
A second visit to Hammonasset Beach State Park was made a couple of days after my first on New Year’s Day when it was warmer with the park surprisingly crowded with visitors. I again made a motor birding tour as the ankle heals. I gravitated to the pond northwest of the traffic circle which I […]
Fall Comes And Goes In The Blink Of An Eye
It was just a couple of weeks ago that summer was coming to an end. I was walking through the fields and you could feel the cooler air pushing in the morning fog. It’s usually around the end of September that Great Egrets start showing up at the rookery where the Great Blue Herons left […]