Naturalist Book Nook

Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird by Bruce Barcott I had this book in my possession for a good six months before picking it up to read, encouraged by a fellow birder who said it was a great story.  And although it was published in…

Naturalist Book Nook

Poseidon’s Steed: The Story of Seahorses, From Myth to Reality by Helen Scales, PhD Seahorses, the modern day ‘poster child’ of healthy oceans, are fascinating creatures that have captured the human imagination for millennia.  Although they are not a keystone species, the author answers the question of why they matter because they “…..offer insights into…

Naturalist Book Nook

Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island by Will Harlan Carol Ruckdeschel grew up along the Chattahoochee River in Georgia and immersed herself in nature from a very early age.  She became the ultimate extreme naturalist, learning to eat D.O.R. (dead on the road) critters, constantly exploring and searching and…

Shake, Wattle and Gobble: Talking Turkey

Just how did the phrase, ‘talk turkey’ or ‘let’s talk turkey,’ originate?  As with many phrases, there are quite a few versions but one that was recorded in an 1872 publication of phrases states that to ‘talk turkey’ was to talk in a silly, foolish way because of the way a male gobbles during courtship. …

VA Wildflower of the Year

by Stephanie Gardner Hurray for Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), recently succeeding Redbud as Virginia Wildflower of the Year (WOY)! Coral honeysuckle was voted WOY 2014 by the Virginia Native Plant Society Board of Directors after consideration of all wildflowers nominated this year by Virginia Native Plant Society members. Coral honeysuckle is one of three native…