This is a picture of spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) on the farm where I work. The past couple of days I've had the pleasure of walking around the woods collecting bees to help a graduate student at UD. There's something really inspiring about being the woods alone and hearing only the sounds of nature. I know that sounds really cheesy, but it's so true. So often we get caught up in the speed of life and worries and deadlines and to do lists. Even as a naturalist, I find that I forget to take a break from the stress and simply enjoy my surroundings. I am blessed to have the job that I do and to live "off the beaten path". The other night after dinner, Dave called in a turkey to our backyard! That may not seem cool to a lot of you, but for us it was exactly why we have made a lot of the life choices that we have.
I'm grateful for the people in my life that have inspired and encouraged my passion for the outdoors. Whether they are people I know personally, like my brother and my husband, or well known figures in conservation like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, there are so many individuals who have touched my life.
I look forward to the many adventures that the future has in store for me, and I encourage you all to celebrate the Earth more than just one day a year!
Cheers, Missy
(Oh my, I forgot to hit "Publish" last week!! I'm still learning!)
This week's topic a very cool falcon. I won't rehash the life history of the bird, you can find that info
here. The American Kestrel (AMKE) is in decline throughout most of its range due to habitat loss. One of the things we can do to help the AMKE is provide suitable nestboxes in high quality habitat to encourage successful breeding. Providing new nestboxes and monitoring the AMKE is one of the projects I am starting on the farm where I work. Last year, we had a bird attempt to nest in an old, broken down nestbox that was put up about 20 years ago. The box ended up getting taken over by starlings and I am unsure of the fate of the nest.
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| This is a (horrible) picture of an AMKE with eggs in our old nestbox. |
This winter, the guys at the farm have been working to build 3 new
AMKE boxes. I was able to catch up with someone I went to grad school
with who now works in Ohio and has been apart of an initiative to put up
AMKE boxes to help the population. She pointed me in the right
direction for some good
information.
Here is one of the new boxes that we will be putting out in March. We used this
plan, which seems pretty standard based on my research. The side opening door will make for easier checks once a bird has started to nest.
We
may do some trapping and banding of the resident AMKEs on the farm and
I'll also be monitoring these 3 boxes throughout the summer. Stay tuned
for updates on these awesome birds!
Happy birding,
Missy
The themed-day-of-the-week post seems to a common blog thing, so I'm going to try it out! I'm calling this series
Wildlife Wednesdays. I'll do my best each Wednesday to bring you some bit of information about wildlife or something nature-y. Not only is this a topic that I love and consider a hobby, but it's also my career. I received my M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware and I currently work on restoring habitat on a privately owned farm. Feel free to comment with questions or suggestions for topics that you might want to learn more about!
In honor of the cold weather, let's talk about a very common misconception about polar bears and penguins. Although the wintertime pictures of polar bears and penguins together are adorable, the truth is they live on opposite ends of the Earth and would never naturally cross paths!
Polar bears are restricted to the cold climate in the Arctic; they are found in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia. They rely on the Arctic sea ice to hunt seals. See a range map and read more about polar bears
here.
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| Photo taken by me during study abroad trip to Antarctica. |
Penguins are only found in the southern hemisphere. Unlike polar bears, penguins are not limited to cold climates. Some species of penguin live in Antarctica while others live in warmer climates such as those found in parts of Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. See a range map and read more about penguins
here.
Happy hump day!
Missy
