The Celery Farm & Beyond

Cardinal Flower!

   Fred Weber spied this beautiful native plant on the way to the Warden's Watch.
   It's a Cardinal Flower, great for hummingbirds -- like the one that frequents my window feeder all day.
  More on Cardinal Flowers here.

Follow This Blog on Twitter

   You can now follow this blog on Twitter.  You will receive an e-mail when I post an item about Celery Farm events and sightings, my birding column in The Record, as well as the new coffee-table book "Hawk Mountain."

   Follow the Celery Farm Blog  at http://twitter.com/celeryfarm or by clicking here and then clicking "follow."

Wildflower Garden, Saturday a.m.

The Celery Farm: The Poem

   Dave Payne of Franklin Lakes sent along this neat poem about the Celery Farm. He describes it as "random thoughts on our many happy trips to the Celery Farm."
   I am posting the first verse here -- click "Continue reading..." below for the entire poem.

The Celery Farm
By Dave Payne

In Allendale, The Celery Farm is such a wondrous jewel.
Stiles Thomas told mayor FitzPatrick: “To build here would be cruel.
We’ll raise the funds and buy it, keep a natural preserve.
I think the people need it, and the wildlife deserve.”

Where the bats are...

   I did another bat count at a nearby house recently, and came up once again with no bats.

   I also checked (from afar) the openings in the vacant Fell House barn across the street. Nada.

  If you know of a bat roost in Allendale or adjacent town, please let me know and I will do a survey (time willing)....

SNEAK PREVIEW: Hawk Mountain Coffee Table Book

    We are finally getting close to publication of Hawk Mountain, the long-awaited coffee table book that photographer Kevin Watson and I did for the 75th-anniversary celebration of this spectacular Pennsylvania sanctuary dedicated to saving birds of prey.
   Kevin and I will be doing our first presentation on the book at Hawk Mountain's big 75th-anniversary event on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Hawk Mountain.
   A preview of the book in now online here at caminobooks.com. The book should arrive in late August.

Monday Morning Mystery 072709

  

We found this feather on the path where the fox den was last year. Anyone have any idea what it is?

Help the Fell House!

   Allendale's Fell House, that stately white mansion just down the street from the Celery Farm parking lot on Franklin turnpike, was recently named one of the state's 10 Most Threatened Historic Sites.

  To celebrate this new honor -- and help raise awareness and more money to save this treasure, the Concerned Citizens of Allendale is having a fund-raiser at the Allendale Bar and Grill on Monday [July 27] from 5 p.m. to closing.
 
   Buy dinner, a snack, a beer,a glass of wine, and part of the proceeds will go to the Concerned Citizens of Allendale, a non-profit grassroots group. 

  Find out more about why the house is so valuable historically and why the property is so valuable environmentally. 

  Learn more about the amazing John Fell, Allendale's Revolutionary War hero.

  Or just relax and chat about nature, summer and  whatever else you'd like.

Rob Fanning Reports...

   

This from Rob Fanning, Thursday -- sorry for late post but have been out of pocket:
   Saw my first fall migrant warbler at the CF this morning. A NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH was which loudly chipping in the "dead zone", and flew to a high perch for some decent looks. This sets a new fall arrival date for CF by 2 days (prev. 7/26)
   Even more exciting was an Im. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO quietly foraging near the Warden's Watch. The tail pattern looked like a BB, but it already had the yellow lower mandible as well as a bit of Rufous in the wings. This establishes the latest CF record that I know of-- I had never seen one at CF after the month of June. Hopefully it's a sign that they successfully nested at the CF this year.
   A few BG GNATCATCHERS were also likely early migrants, as well as a BANK SWALLOW--let the Fall migration begin!...

Gone pishin'

 

Next post is on Monday, and it's a mystery.