June 1 (a Saturday)
Celery Farm Guided Walk
This free walk is for nature-lovers of all ages and birders of all levels. We'll look for butterflies, bugs, weird plants and our feathered friends. Meet at 8:00 a.m. at Greenway.

Wear long pants and socks; bring water and bug spray! Leaders: Jim Wright and Mike Limatola. Register for this walk at [email protected]. Check celeryfarm.net for any updates.

Photographer Kumar Patel will give a presentation on the flora and fauna (particularly birds) in two different natural environments in Panama. The first location is the crater of an extinct volcano in the foothills of central Panama. The second one is the rainforest in the lowlands adjacent to the Panama Canal.

May 24, 2013 - 8 PM Allendale Borough Hall. Free and open to the public.

A local birder writes:

A little while ago, I looked out the back door and caught glimpse of a bird which proceeded to go under a hosta and then disappear into my neighbor's yard.

It was a split second look but I was struck by very dark and thick black stripes along the outer edges of its wings and very dark black stripes from front to back on its head.

I can't swear by it, but it appeared gray with a light breast. It was standing sideways and had a slender profile with a bill that wasn't short.

It hopped over to the hosta before disappearing. It was bigger than a warbler but smaller than a robin.

I keep looking through Sibley's but the only thing that seems to come close is a northern shrike and, to quote the illustrious Seymour Drakes, when you hear hoofs, think horses, not zebras.

Therefore I doubt it's something weird or unusual. Any ideas on what I can zero in on in a bird guide to try and find a bird that matches the impressions remaining in my head? (I know it's not a catbird or white-crowned sparrow, or a hosta la vista.)

Any ideas?

OK, sometimes I am a little dense. I have been living next to the Celery Farm for more than a dozen years, and I have seen shells by the trail and at the Warden's Watch. Yet I never paid them much attention.

But on a recent walk, Barbara Brummer of The Nature Conservancy wanted to know what the above shell was. I said I didn't know...

The next time I saw her, she had found out.  What did she learn?

Flip-side view follows. Part Two is next week. Oh, yeah!

Julie McCall writes:

"The weather forecast lied to me, so I found myself at The Celery Farm getting very wet this morning.  It was worth it though.  Around 8, I ran into a mink near No-name Culvert.  

"It surprised me by appearing from around the bend, on the path, with a... well, let's just say a "freshly-gathered meal" in its mouth.  It didn't notice me at first and continued bounding toward me, then stopped.  

It looked at me, I looked at it, and I tried to turn it into a muskrat. The little guy turned and considered going off-trail, and I got a full side view of the long, skinny critter.

"At that moment I came to understand it was not a muskrat, and tried to turn it into a brown ferret.  Then it dawned on me. The mink hopped away with its meal, into the vegetation and heading toward the water."

Thanks, Julie!