Town Crier Articles

The audience then saw his breathtaking pictures of soaring Bald Eagles with eight feet wing spans and chuckled as he demonstrated how they flew. Paul’s knowledge of which trees housed the Barred Owls, which can turn their heads 270 degrees in each direction, enabled him to capture wonderful images of them. He shared his photos of Cooper’s Hawks, osprey and three types of herons, the Great Egrets, the Green Heron and the Great Blue Heron, which has a 55 inch wingspan. It is the type of heron that Paul most commonly sees at Greensprings. This bird spears fish, turtles and snakes with its dagger-like beak and can swallow a six-pound catfish and you can see the huge bulge as the fish goes down the heron’s throat. But Paul was particularly impressed with the intelligence of the much smaller Green Heron which used twigs, feathers and insects as bait.  

 

After discussing the lives of ducks, Paul explained why Canadian Geese which are  frequent guests at Greensprings, fly in a V formation, something I had always wondered about. The answer is that it enables these larger birds to conserve energy as they fly in the down draft and facilitates visual contact and communication within the flock. As they tire, the birds take turns leading the way.

 

From big birds, Paul shifted to small ones, noting that the Hummingbird only weighs .14 ounces. The Ruby Crowned Kinglet, weighing in at .24 ounces, is rare enough that it took him three years to photograph. Amazingly, the Prothonotary Warbler, a tiny one-half ounce bird manages to fly two thousand miles from South America to Virginia each year. The audience then heard a bird call New Towners are very familiar with, that of the Carolina Wren. While only .70 ounces, its call is so loud it could jolt you out of a deep sleep if you left your window open. 

 

The last in this category were his photos of the female Pileated Woodpecker, another bird whose  jack-hammer-like sound reverberates through the forest. He explained why this bird pounds on trees, and why it does not get a concussion. The woodpecker pecks at tree to get at the insects behind the bark and in the crevasses. It has a long and sticky tongue that curls around the inside of its skull and protects its brain from the pounding.

 

Returning to the deer of Greensprings, Paul noted how much he loves their soulful eyes and appreciates their beauty. Deer live in communal groups, washing each other and caring for abandoned fawns. They use lots of energy, eating six to eight percent of their body weight daily. Paul and Lynn spend so much time in the preserve that they have identified several distinct herds including one with long necks, another with floppy ears, and a third with white noses. Paul has photographed one family for three years and keeps a special watch out for them, photographing their lives and enjoying fawns dashing about with the zoomies.

 

Greensprings turtles were the next topic, with Paul describing the wide variety of turtles from the box to mud to spotted and large snapping turtles, which live in the ponds, streams, lakes and swamps.  He touched on the critical role of beavers in creating the wetlands.  A discussion of butterflies, bees and dragon flies rounded out the talk, which ended with many questions from the audience. Throughout the session Paul’s knowledge of and passion for his subject shone through.

 

A few of Paul's wonderful photos are included below. Others can be found on the NTRA website Photo Album - Greensprings Interpretative Trail. 

 

The next Noon New Town Talk is Thursday, October 16.  Jack Espinal will present “Bats:  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”