Parrots, Penguins and Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk

Availabe as both books and DVD's in the library collections are these three tales of "birds" and the diverse places they inhabit.

New York City is home to the Pale Male, a red-tail hawk caring for his offspring, after his mate meets an untimely death. His predicament and how he raises the babies, nesting in a ledge of an apartment complex, is a point of fascination to the worldly New Yorkers who flock to Central Park to view the progress of this apartment-dwelling bird and family. The DVD is narrated by Joanne Woodward, and originally aired on PBS.

San Francisco is one of the homes of a colony of Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill . Follow the ups and downs of a flock of wild urban parrots within the green niches of San Francisco. Along the way meet unforgettable characters like Picasso and Sophie, the inseparable parrot lovers, and Connor, the lovable outcast of the flock. And the humans involved in have their own stories too. Read about Mark Bittner's experiences in The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill : a love story ... with wings


From the United States to Antarctica, the award-winning documentary
March of the Penguins on DVD includes special features: "Crittercam: Emperor penguins" documentary; "Of men and penguins" documentary; "8 ball Bunny": a classic WB animation short with Bugs Bunny and a penguin.
The official children's companion to the documentary, March of the Penguins
is available at all library locations.

Earth, Sea and Sky

Planet Earth on DVD is now available at all library locations.
Narrated by David Attenborough, this is a
stunning 11-part series that captures rare action, impossible locations, and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest, and most elusive creatures.
In addition to the series, the DVD's include these
special features: 110 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage - one 10-minute behind the scenes program for each episode; "Planet Earth: the future" 3-part, 2 1/2 hour documentary.

Blue Planet
Again, the familiar voice of David Attenborough narrates this exploration of the earth's oceans featuring incredible undersea videography on 4 discs, including eight behind the scenes featurettes, interviews, compelling exploration of men's impact on the oceans, photo galleries, fact files, trailers

Winged Migration Follows bird migrations flying over the seven continents: from one pole to the other, from the seas to snowcapped mountains, from the canopy of heaven to mangroves and swamps-shot over the course of three years, exhilarating footage includes the Himalayas, with an acclaimed soundtrack.

Virginia Wildflower of the Year

The Jamestown (Atamasco) Lily has just been named by the Virginia Native Plant Society as the 2007 Virginia Wildflower of the Year. This was among the early native plants noticed by Jamestown colonists in the Tidewater region.
It is found in southern Virginia, most commonly in the southeastern coastal plain and blooms in April/May.
For more information about this plant and many other native Virginia plants, visit the
Virginia Native Plant Society

Related resources available at the library include:
Virginia Naturalist by John Trott, which was co-published by the Virginia Native Plant Society and the Middleburg Garden Club. It contains essays originally written for John Trott's column in the Fauquier Times-Democrat. He was a naturalist and worked with the Mediera School. The essays cover plants, wildlife and seasonal ruminations.

Spring Wildflowers of the Mid-Atlantic Region is a DVD produced for the Foundation for the Flora of Virginia Project, with Marion Lobstein, John DeMary and Suzanne Lohr. More than 100 common spring wildflowers, shrubs and vines are identified.