Tuesday, November 27, 2012

thanks, Panther Nation!





One of my annual traditions is a visit with the AP Environmental Science class taught by Coach Will Roberts at Powell High School, a.k.a. Panther Nation.

The students were asked to read various parts of either of my two books: Natural Histories and Ghost Birds and be prepared to ask me questions about nature, the out-of-doors and/or conservation issues. If our environmental woes are to be fixed it'll be the bright young minds this generation has produced since the bright young minds my generation produced mucked things up even more.

For me, the visit is always a fun experience. For them? Well, it's required reading not quite as hefty as Silas Mariner.

One question broached by a student was a query about the sound of a male American toad crooning for a mate which I wrote about in my first book. Here's a link: Toad

Here's what a brown creeper looks like: creeper

And the sound of periodical cicadas singing: 17-year cicadas

Click these links for a look back: 



Plus, we talked about bats, in particular red bats that hang upside-down and sleep out in the open which makes them look like furry cocoons dangling from trees. (They actual hibernate under the leaves on the forest floor. Now how cool is that?) Here's a photo I took at Ijams last year.


Eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis)

Thanks Coach Will and all! Go Panthers!!



No comments: