Birdie of Mississippi

Yesterday was a cool rainy day, so I pulled up my recorded NOVA episode called “Saving Notre Dame.” On April 15, 2019 a fire broke out at 6:18 pm that nearly burned down the 850 year old cathedral.   As I have revealed before, I am sort of a science geek. I loved this episode not only because I am interested in finding out more about the fire, but because this NOVA episode shows that there is a lot of science involved in resolving the many issues that have stemmed from the fire.   The damage is so bad that it is taking a large team of researchers to figure out how to salvage as much of the original Notre Dame as possible and to restore the cathedral to its former glory.       The fire began in the attic and quickly spread to the roof because the dry timbers under the roof burned so quickly.   As the lead roof and spire burned they sent out toxic lead into the air and coated the whole cathedral and its stain glass windows.   The researchers had to d...

At my house, Friday is called “Bird Friday”.   On Friday afternoons I have a Facetime bird class with my Southaven grandchildren.   It’s a wonderful way for me to share my love of birds and photography with them. Since we all take this class seriously, I know that it also adds to their education.   They are only 8 and 5 years old and I am sometimes amazed at how much they retain.   And since we are in the middle of this pandemic, I am thankful that this gives us a set time to visit and I can find out what they have been up to during the week. I have found that when I prepare for my weekly Birdie article and for “Bird Friday,” I learn a lot from the preparation. Several years ago, I bought my grandchildren copies of the field guide - “Birds of Louisiana & Mississippi” by Stan Tekiela at Wild Birds Unlimited in Southaven.   It is a small book that is just right for kids to handle and it is also easy to throw into my backpack for birdie field trips.   We...