Birdwatching in Huntington Harbor Memorial Day Weekend.

To share the wonders of nature with a child is a fine path to happiness. For both of you.

Egret landing

Fleeting beauty memorialized at the speed of a camera shutter.  Is there anything so beautiful or miraculous made by man which compares with the works of God?  

An egret guarding its nest- but what kind of egret- please share 

Measured in the number of driveways and across the lane from from where my granddaughter lived since she was born, her new home is a world away.  Where she lived before there were tweeties and dove. Now there are large birds she can watch from the family deck. Why?

 Just as your girlfriend might prefer a broad meadow with a shade tree and a swing to read under, while you prefer the lower maintenance of a balcony with geraniums, different creatures find happiness in different ecosystems. 

If you want big birds, plant big trees

Charley now lives closer to the mini-park where dogs play and do their 'business'.  Instead of  small patio gardens, there is a pocket park  hugged on two sides by a hedgerow of broadleaf paperbark trees (melaleuca quinquenervia). Australian immigrants, the tree's appearance is distinguished by  uneven layers of deciduous bark peeling back in layers of tan and white from branches reaching up to 30 foot tall and twice as tall. 

Listen closely: the sound of wind whispering through fine leaves is joined with the call of large birds nesting high above the reach of predatory mammals known to hop the neighborhood's fences in search of small pets and poultry for dinner.  

Okay, bird aficionados- send over your bird ID's.* Especially that bird on the right. It is shaped like a hummingbird, but the size of  a small turkey.   

Charley just started walking and wants to know "What is up there?"

Until we meet again, Thank YOU for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful. 

* Thank you to Tom and Joan Bolton- and to Catherine Pannell Roberts. The white bird is a snowy egret and the other is a black-crowned night heron.