If This Area Isn’t Eden, It’s Edenish, Right?

This area, crisscrossed by waterways, dotted with ponds and with the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean lapping at the edges, is a haven for people and for wildlife.

We are fortunate to have four wildlife refuges, two state parks, Norfolk Botanical Garden and Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, among other magical places that keep critters close at hand.

We’re also located on a major flyway. Birds and butterflies funnel down the Eastern Shore, fly with favorable winds across the Chesapeake Bay, then right through our neighborhood on their way south.

When I look back over the Close Encounters you have had and the delightful stories you have sent me, I’m always reminded of the unique features of our land and water that are responsible for keeping us in touch with nature.

I also continue to be amazed and happy that most of you out there truly enjoy your unexpected meetings with wild things, and you really care when you see what havoc we humans can wreak upon them and their habitat.

Looking back at 2007, I have come up with a few favorite stories and photos. I was able to use a lot of your photos in Close Encounters this year, but many good ones went unpublished. I wish I could have used them all. One of the most heartwarming and quirky stories of 2007 was about the male Canada goose that, for the second spring, protected a female mallard duck and her youngsters in Lynnhaven Elementary School’s courtyard. The surrogate father continued his highly protective behavior when mama led her young to water. Male mallards are dead-beat dads, so father goose must have been an eye-opener for the mallard.

Seeing unusual species is always a treat. In early January, a big black and white wood stork strayed from its Florida home and visited First Landing State Park. It stayed there long enough for many of us to see it.

I also loved seeing the rufous hummingbird that spent the winter in Witchduck Point. This brownish-colored hummer, a denizen of the far west, left for the summer, but returned for a brief visit in the fall.

The nesting of the Norfolk Botanical Garden eagles in full view of the Eagle Cam was exciting for all and so were all the other eagles that soared over and perched in backyard trees in every city this year.

Foxes, both red and gray, have become part of our lives, too. Like eagles, they were nowhere to be seen a decade or more ago.

The resurgence of eagles and foxes means that you must be doing something right. Let’s hope that 2008 brings more of the same.

(c) 2007 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.