BASICS


BASICS: "Hummingbirds.....where is the person, I ask, who, on observing this glittering fragment of the rainbow, would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with reverence..." (J. J. Audubon).
This is a blog about my summer life at the Baiting Hollow Hummingbird Sanctuary, at my winter garden, Calypso, in the Bahamas, and aspects of life in general.
This private sanctuary is now permanently closed to the general public, as a result of a lawsuit brought by a neighbor. Only my friends and personal guests may visit (paul.adams%stonybrook.edu).

Saturday, August 15, 2015

New Newsday Article

One of my guests today mentioned a recent article in Newsday about the hummingbird sanctuary. Here's a link: http://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/family/kidsday/go-to-the-baiting-hollow-humingbird-sanctuary-1.10280138
It's behind a pay wall but by answering a few questions you can get access. What's nice is it's in their section for children, "KidsDay".  I'm always very happy when children visit (closely supervised by a responsible adult) - the future of our planet is in their hands, and even if I can get one child to get interested in nature, and put aside the electronics for an hour or 2, I feel the whole idea of a hummingbird sanctuary on Long Island is a good one. And what better way to enjoy nature than to watch hummingbirds performing their incredibe acrobatic antics. Of course it brings quiet, innocent, natural pleasure to people of all ages: yesterday we had a 93 year old lady, who has been coming for many years, and still as alert, lively and happy as ever, though now she uses a cane. She spent several hours on the front deck and was very quick at spotting the birds.

The new Newsday piece makes it clear we are open only in august, by appointment, and fortunately came out in april. It provides a link to our website lihummer.org, which spells out that visiting is BY PRIVATE APPOINTMENT only, and provides a link to this blog, where the appointment procedures are detailed (see right-hand column). Hopefully Newsday realizes that their last rather misleading and ill-timed article nearly closed the sanctuary down (and because of the ongoing lawsuit and the outstanding, though inactive, ticket issued by the Town of Riverhead, it might still be obliged to do so; of course Riverhead is serious about hummingbirds but not criminal activity)

Here are some great recent butterfly pictures from the sanctuary by Greg Olonoff.




In all 3, the flower is Butterfly Bush. The first 2 show Spicebush Swallowtail, and the last one Tiger Swallowtail.


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