Where is this sign located? Who is Lillian Myer Thomas (aside from being a wonderful person)?

On Monday I wrote:

I must be living under a rock, but I never heard of a Code 5 Rare Bird Alert.

Do you know what it is? What about a Code 6?

("Rare Bird Alert" is also a great song by Steve Martin.)

Julie McCall answered:

They are American Birding Association (ABA) codes:

Code 5 is five or fewer records in the ABA area. (or fewer than 3 records in the past 30 years).

Code 6 is like a 404 error. Can't be found. Possibly/actually extinct, extirpated from the area, or all of the birds of that species are in captivity.

So if someone found a northern kiwi at the Celery Farm and it was confirmed to have gotten there under its own power, that would be a code 5. a dodo would be a code 6.

Thanks, Julie!

Here's a blog post from Texas on a Code 5 hat trick!

https://birdtalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/code-5-hat-trick/

Although huge signs clearly state that no pets are allowed in the Celery Farm, Patty and I happened upon two professional dog walkers with 10 dogs heading into the preserve yesterday. At least one of the dogs was off a leash.

The walkers played dumb until I said I would call the police.  Then they left, in two cars.

Two decades ago, Stiles Thomas led the fight to get pets banned from the preserve. The dogs flushed birds and disrupted nesting ground birds, and dog poop and discarded bags of dog poop were everywhere -- some tossed into the multiflora rosebushes. Volunteers had to clean up.

If you see these guys in the Celery Farm, call the Allendale police. No nature preserves in N.J. allow pets...

A big thank you to Kevin Watson, Neil MacLennan, Ken Wiegand and Patty Finn for tackling some much-needed repairs and other challenges on Lake Appert.

The first trio cleaned out all the Wood Duck boxes, put in new wood chips and repaired or replaced three Wood Duck boxes damaged by people on the ice this winter. One box was broken, with empty plastic bottles inside. Our handy trio replaced one box and cobbled together fixes for the others.

(Click images below to enlarge. The bottom two are a "before and after" of the stick pile. (In the first picture, it's a stick, singular.)

Patty and I rejuvenated the stick pile by the Warden's Watch, where birds and turtles warm themselves in summer.

The day had started with single-digit temperatures but warmed up nicely for the work session. Thank you, sunshine!

And a big thank you, Kevin, Neil, Ken and Patty!