Written by Edith Wallace, with illustrations by Nancy Bristow and design by Deedee Burnside, this is a must-have for anyone who who has tried to identify one of those baffling plants at the Celery Farm.

  The book will also be available at several stores locally, and at the new monthly Celery Farm bird walks. I will post more info as it becomes available.

   Beginning on Saturday, June 5, the Fyke Nature Association will lead free nature walks at the Celery Farm at 8 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month.

   Birders of all levels and all ages are welcome. We will look for other things of interest as well -- including butterflies and dragonflies.

   The walks will be held now through October. For now, Marsh Warden Mike Limatola and I will lead the walks. If you would like to help, please e-mail me at wrightjamesb (at) gmail.com.

   We meet at the Celery Farm entrance of Green Way, Bad weather cancels.

   Hope to see you on June 5!

   My latest "Bird Watcher" column in The Record and Herald News looks at the top local birding spots recommended by local birders themselves.

  I suggested the Celery Farm (surprise, surprise) -- other choices include Flat Rock Brook Nature Center in Englewood and The Eight-Acre Woods in Hawthorne. I will be writing about another nominee, Greenbrook Sanctuary, before its next open house in the autumn, when the foliage is starting to peak.

  The link to today's column is here.

  As some of you may know, I have been counting bats every summer for the state of New Jersey for several years -- hitting rock bottom last year with no bats at three roosts I checked.

   If you know of any bat roosts near you, read on.  Conservationists need your help.

  MacKenzie Hall of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey writes:

 In 2009, New Jersey Summer Bat Count data helped us measure the impact of White-nose Syndrome on NJ's bats.  How many bats had died?  Would the survivors be able to heal and to raise young?  The answers may be more complex than we imagined.  Read our 2009 report here ( Download Cwnj_3.

  Information from citizen scientists is just as important this year, whether the bats at your roost site have increased, decreased, or disappeared altogether.

  More information follows.

Throughout the world, bats have been misunderstood and persecuted, causing a serious decline in the bat population -- along with diseases as White Nose Fungus.

  At the next Fyke Nature Association meeting on Friday night at 8 p.m., Joseph D'Angeli will explain and dispel the myths of these important nocturnal creatures and will bring some with him.

  The group meets at the Wyckoff Library. If you have not been there before, Google the library and then Google map it. The place is otherwise impossible to find.