Pine Trees--Free From Blame

PINE TREE GROVE

I love to saunter through a pine tree grove. The deep needle bed below my feet in inviting. It beckons me to come lie below the arching drapes of green branches as the earth cushions me. The rush of wind through the needles wraps itself around me and I feel comforted. All is well as I melt into Nature. 

Joni L. James Photography/HeronWatch Nature Programs

Nothing stands up more free from blame in this world than a pine tree.

-- Henry David Thoreau

16th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count 2013

The 2013 GBBC is coming in February!


 GBBC Website

Hey Birdwatchers! The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual 4-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are. This citizen science program contributes to bird conservation and research.
Everyone is welcome--from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds. 
Participants tally the number of individual birds of each species they see during their count period. They enter these numbers on the GBBC website.

Locally, I will be conducting a GBBC Workshop on February 5, 2013 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the County Administration Bldg. in Martinsville, Indiana through the Morgan County Soil & Water Conservation District. The workshop will include info on how to collect and input data and identify birds. It is free but we would like you to register by calling 765-349-2060.

If you are not in this area, please take time to participate! It can take as little as 15 minutes.

For more info on the GBBC: www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

I will post reminders in the future! You can also LIKE my Facebook Page and follow news, photos, education, & happenings

It is a great citizen science project to be involved in and help contribute to science and conservation!

Beauty of Tree Tops

Joni L. James/HeronWatch Nature Programs

                    Nothing is so beautiful as the tree tops.
                                 -- Henry David Thoreau

Blizzard 2012

I will let the images speak for the beauty of the earth . . . 

Pre-dawn image outside my window

Red Cedars Across the Road

Road in Front of My House

Merry Christmas!

My Facebook Page

Eagles Fly In Indiana--Morgan County

Eagles fly. . . and nest in Indiana. It is not unusual to see these magnificent raptors in most areas of Indiana. Before the recovery program began in 1985 in Indiana, these birds had not nested in the state since 1897. 

Between 1870 and 1970, over-hunting, habitat loss, and the now banned pesticide, DDT, were largely to blame for the eagle's rapidly declining population. Nesting Bald Eagles were extirpated by 1900. In 1985 Indiana's efforts to restore them began when 73 young bald eagles were reintroduced at Lake Monroe within a four year span. In 1991, the first successful nest was documented.
In 2007, the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalous) was removed from the state's endangered species list Today 100 pairs have been documented. 

What I believe was the last helicopter survey done by Division of Fish & Wildlife in 2010, documented active nests at four areas in Morgan County.
Reports of immature and adult bald eagles are frequent within Morgan County, Indiana. A couple of months ago I was driving near downtown Martinsville and pulled over to watch an adult with its white head & tail reflecting the sunlight, soaring low overhead.

You can access my Facebook Page to view photos I took recently of one of the nesting pairs near my home perched in a tree. I was able to photograph it from the road. This pair has nested five consecutive years in the same location.

The eagles in these images were photographed from the road as I was driving on Burton Lane near Indian Creek. I have to thank one of my nieces for alerting me to their presence.

The Bald Eagle has five recognizable different plumages: 
Juvenile: First Year
Basic I: Second Year
Basic II: Third Year
Basic III: Fourth Year
Adult: Its fifth plumage when four years old
(Raptors of Eastern North America: Brian K. Wheeler)

You can find out more about Bald Eagles at Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds.

One Leaf: Forever Go In Search Of Myself

Let me forever go in search of myself--never for a moment think that I have found myself--be as a stranger to myself, never a familiar, seeking acquaintance still.
                                             -- Henry David Thoreau ( July 16, 1851--Journal Vol.3, p. 312)

One Leaf--Search for Myself

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