The Celery Farm & Beyond

Must-read Blog Post on Hawk Mountain's Saviour

   Dyana Z. Furmansky, who wrote the recent excellent biography of Rosalie Edge -- the woman who saved Hawk Mountain's raptors from the gunners (amongst many other conservation achievements) -- has a new  post on Edge on the Audubon Magazine's blog, The Perch.

   Dyana argues persuasively that Rosalie Edge has never gotten the credit that was due her.

   You can read the post here -- it includes a photo by Kevin Watson from the coffee-table book Kevin and I did on Hawk Mountain.

   You can help Rosalie Edge get the recognition  she deserves by placing a comment at the end of Dyana's post on Perch. The more support that's shown for this amazing woman, the better chance she has for the public acclaim that's long overdue.

Last of the latest Hawk Mountain Pics

    This is the last of the latest series Hawk Mountain shots -- what I call an upside-down mushroom, photographed on a road near the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary's research center, the Acopian Center.

    Kevin Watson and I are doing a talk and slide show on our new Hawk Mountain coffee-table book at Wild Birds Unlimited on Route 17 South in Paramus, at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

   Earlier Hawk Mountain posts are here.

Hawk Mountain: Woolly Bear

    We saw plenty of Woolly Bear Caterpillars at Hawk Mountain. According to folk lore, you can use the thickness of the caterpillar's ring to predict how "bad" the winter will be.  Too bad it's apparently bogus. Click here for the details.

Hawk Mountain: Two Amazing Bugs

   When I was at Hawk Mountain earlier this month, I hit the Daily Double of the bug world (at least for me) -- a Praying Mantis at the research center and a Walking Stick on the trail to North Lookout.

   (The hawks were awesome that day, too.)

Hawk Mountain: The Latest Trip

    In advance of the talk and slide show on "Hawk Mountain" at Wild Birds Unlimited this Saturday at 11 a.m., I thought I would post a few pix from a trip that Photographer Kevin Watson and I took to Hawk Mountain earlier this month.

   While I was up at the sanctuary's world-famous North Lookout, I thought I would try my hand at photographing raptors as they zoomed by, like Kevin did so amazingly well in the book.

   When the birds were big and relatively slow, like the Turkey Vulture above, I could at least get a shot in focus.

   When the birds were Sharpies, Merlins and Kestrels, well, the whole morning seemed like a blur (below).

   I did manage to get some decent pix of slower-moving subjects, like Praying Mantises, caterpillars, Walking Sticks and butterflies, and I will post those in the days ahead.

Hawk Mountain Part III: Newt, Water Strider ...

   While waiting for an event to begin at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary last weekend, I noticed a few people pointing at something on the edge of the parking lot. After a bit of searching, I found what they were so beezed up about -- a Red Spotted Newt.

    Pretty sharp-looking little dude! More on Red Spotted Newts here.

    For pix of a Water Strider (and some stuff I didn't know about it), plus a photo of a spider (but only if you scroll down), click "Continue reading...

"Hawk Mountain": The Show

  

   Photographer Kevin Watson and I will talk about our new coffee-table book "Hawk Mountain" at the first Fyke Meeting of autumn, on Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. at the Wyckoff Library.

   The show will feature some great photography from the book, a brief excerpt or two, and some aerial and archival photos.

   The public is welcome and admission is free.

    This book was a labor of love -- please come and see for yourself.

    Tomorrow: Cool little critters photographed last weekend at Hawk Mountain.

Hawk Mountain Part II: Broadwing Charlie

    My fascination for Hawk Mountain began more than seven years ago, when my wife Patty and I were visiting my mom at her apartment complex in West Grove, Pa.

   I saw that there was going to be a presentation on some raptor sanctuary that night, and seeing as how the alternative was another marathon session of three-handed Pinochle or Kings in the Corner, I suggested we go hear the hawk talk. 

   So Patty, my mom and I went to the basement auditorium, where two somewhat older gents stood before a small crowd and proceeded to extol the merits of some place to see hawks in east-central Pennsylvania.

   It was Charles "Broadwing Charlie" Gant and his brother-in-law.

   Though their accompanying slide show of raptors in flight was of mostly small specks on a large screen, Charlie was so enthusiastic about this magical place where he had been going since 1937 that I had to see for myself. 

    Besides, one of the features editors at The Record (where I reported and wrote for many a year), was looking for writers for day-trip articles, and I discovered that Hawk Mountain was just two hours from North Jersey. So off I went...

  Funny how small decisions later loom a little larger.

   Last weekend, I had the opportunity to offer a much-belated thank-you to Broadwing Charlie. an all-around good guy who showed me the way to Hawk Mountain. 

   Tomorrow: Three nifty non-raptors I photographed at Hawk Mountain last weekend.

 

 

Report from Hawk Mountain: Part 1

  Hawk Mountain offered several noteworthy non-raptor attractions this weekend. and three of them were related figuratively or literally to the sanctuary's founder, Rosalie Edge.  

   On Saturday morning, Dyana Furmansky spoke about her compelling new biography, "Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy," which has been almost two decades in the making.

   Rosalie Edge, it turns out, not only established Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and made the mountain off-limits to hunters, but she campaigned tirelessly for America's open spaces and natural resources when the established conservation groups, including National Audubon, were at best spineless and at worst totally co-opted.

   Introducing Furmansky was Deborah Edge (left), Rosalie's granddaughter. Deborah graciously wrote the foreword to "Hawk Mountain," the new coffee table book I did with photographer Kevin Watson. 

   After Furmansky spoke, Hawk Mountain volunteer Joanne Kintner (below) did an excellent impersonation of the somewhat imperious Rosalie Edge, whose uncompromising approach to protecting the natural world -- from Hawk Mountain to the wetlands of Louisiana to the old-growth forests of California -- paved the way for the modern conservation movement.  

  I recently read "Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy," published by the University of Georgia Press, and I highly recommend it. What so many conservationists  take for granted was the result a long and hard-fought battle -- and an effort that continues today.

   TOMORROW: Broadwing Charlie, who showed me the way to Hawk Mountain.

Coming This Week: Posts and pix from Hawk Mountain

   Coauthor Kevin Watson and I were at Hawk Mountain this past weekend for their 75th anniversary celebration.

   We did a slide show on our new coffee-table book "Hawk Mountain" on both Saturday and Sunday, and did several book signings with Dyana Furmansky, who has a new biography on Hawk Mountain Sanctuary founder Rosalie Edge.

   I'll post several items about this historic weekend as time allows. In the meantime, I am posting a link to the Hawk Mountain Web site here -- the big Broadwing flight should be any day now. 

   Earlier posts on Hawk Mountain and the book are here.