Be A Witness

Nature lovers are experiencing a near winter-Nirvana of  Snowy Owls sightings this year.  The good news has been spread far and wide --and by all means go forth-- and sear the memory of Snowy Owls into your brain.  Commit it to your memory, as these events may not happen again for another 70 years or so.  Or maybe never.

The Snowy Owl's winter visit to Ohio

Most years, Snowy Owl sightings in Ohio are rare. This winter has produced numbers for the record books.

Summer scene on Lake Erie sand bar.

If you admire birds and nature in other forms, please, go forth and fill your heart and soul with nature. Then prepare to be a witness.  Spend this summer luxuriating in those common sightings:  gulls on Lake Erie, great egrets fishing in clean waters.  Our lives are filled with everyday miracles that we take for granted.

Yellow Trout-lily blossoming in mid-Ohio woodland 

Plan your botanical field trips, whether they be across the state, across the county or as near as your local park or nature preserve.  Enjoy the dew sparkling on the spring ephemerals, for like the dew, flowers are soon here- and then gone. If you are one of the fortunate few who have seen the native orchids in southern Ohio, or the rarest of "daisies" in all our land: burn it into your memory bank. 

Monarch Butterfly 

For we know not when the time will come that our common and under appreciated forms of nature will no longer be common.  For years, we considered the monarch as child's play: easily seen and known to all.  But now, we lovers of lepidoptera fear the end of the migrating Monarchs. Last I read, the full number of the wintering flight in Mexico could be contained on a few acres.

If theirs is to be the fate of the passenger pigeons, we will be the ones called upon to retell the glory days of our childhood, when Monarchs were found in every field and ditch.

People in Beijing, China gather to see "sunrise" displayed on a jumbo tron screen.
See this photo and article at World Time

In a world where air pollution is so bad, sunrises are now broadcast on screens, toxic blue-green algae threatens Ohio waters and drought conditions are about to change agriculture as we know it in the U.S.A.  It is not just polar bears (and snowy owls) that will be impacted in the coming years.

John Muir spoke of a "love of wild nature in everybody."  E.O.Wilson similarly tells of "biophylia" or the human tendency to affiliate with life and natural processes.  If you have read this far, certainly you can relate. 

Those of us who love nature, may be called as witnesses.  There are children growing up in a world where they can no longer see a sunrise.  Children in Appalachian Ohio see their streams in shades of orange- the effect of mining run-off.  It is not just West Virginia with environmental problems.

If you love nature, it is time to "own it." Take time to admire natural beauty in whatever form you choose, but also make time to speak out, write a letter, or sign a petition.  Ultimately, if those of us who love nature do not speak up now, we will be called as witnesses to our children and grandchildren. 

This was once a beautiful world, with clear waters, blue skies and butterflies...

  

Welcome to the CBCs!

Welcome! The next couple articles are on experiences on some local Christmas Bird Counts.

I am glad you joined me for a tour of our local birding spots, and I invite you to Saturday's Wooster CBC. Details can be found on the GMAS website. 

Christmas Bird Counts are an important way to gather information on the changing populations of birds.  They are also a lot of fun.  If you were directed here by Jim McCarty's Aerial  View  you will want to roll down to the Dec. 19th Weekend CBC post.  Thanks to Jim for the great reporting he does on our birds and birding community.  I am certain that is the information that he wanted you to enjoy.  The more recent post concerned some environmental issues we have been dealing with in Ohio.  While I cannot turn my head and pretend I don't see these issue going on, I certainly would not use Jim as a platform for my causes.

So if you are new to CBC's and want an uplifting story  GO Here.  But if your are a regular birder, consider this- Ohio is undergoing some serious environmental issues.  Remember to take part in protecting those birds we all love to see.

Best,  Cheryl Harner