- TABLE of CONTENTS - (Web site updated 01/25/12) On-Line Search Engine for Hilton Pond Center's Web Site Current Installment #533 Bat In The Bathroom, NOT In The Belfry (17-25 January 2012) Last Week's Installment: Winter Hummingbirds In The U.S. (Ruby-throats & Global Warming) INDEX to all 500-plus installments of "This Week at Hilton Pond" Request a free e-mail reminder for each new installment of This Week at Hilton Pond, part of the Nature Blog Network Hilton Pond Center offers Operation RubyThroat expeditions to Costa Rica & Belize Hilton Pond Center receives grants totaling $329,000 in support of Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project Operation RubyThroat T-shirts are now available Please report your sightings of Winter Vagrant Hummingbirds Please report your sightings of Color-marked Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Join the Nature Study Network™ Book Bill Hilton Jr. for a Presentation or Workshop for your school, club, nature center, or environmental festival (including the "Naturalist-in-Residence") Come visit Hilton Pond Center on a Guided Field Trip ENJOYING NATURE: Time NOT to Take Down Your Hummingbird Feeders HILTON POND HAPPENINGS: Hilton Pond researcher re-traps American Goldfinch banded in Canada; Operation RubyThroat affiliates with The GLOBE Program for international hummingbird data collection.

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GENERAL INFORMATION about Hilton Pond
-- Introduction
-------- Location
-------- Origins
-------- General Activities
-------- On-site Guided Field Trips
-- What's New?
-------- (Items in this section change on a regular basis.)
-- Funding & Support
-------- List of Supporters
-------- Contributions Form
-------- Order an Operation RubyThroat T-shirt
-- Staff, Board of Trustees & Advisory Council
-------- Staff
---------------- Bill Hilton Jr. (Executive Director)
------------------------ Biographical Sketch
------------------------ Resumé
------------------------ Publications
------------------------ Genealogical Research (Ballard, Byars, Dressler, Franks, Hilton, Krug, Lauderback, Schade, Strange, Werle, and others)
-------- Board of Trustees
-------- Advisory Council

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RESEARCH at Hilton Pond
-- Birds, Bird Banding & Bluebird Trail
-------- General Bird Banding Activities
---------------- Charts & Tables of Banding Results
------------------------ Table #1: Checklist of Birds & Species Banded at Hilton Pond
------------------------ Table #2: Birds Banded at Hilton Pond and Recovered/Recaptured Outside York County SC
------------------------ Table #3: Birds Banded at Hilton Pond and Recovered/Recaptured Within York County SC
------------------------ Table #4: Birds Banded Elsewhere and Recaptured at Hilton Pond
------------------------ Chart #1: Annual Numbers of Individual Birds & Species Banded at Hilton Pond
------------------------ Chart #2: Species with more than 400 Individuals Banded at Hilton Pond
-------- Photos of Birds Banded, Grouped by Family
-------- Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
-------- Vagrant & Winter Hummingbird Banding
-------- Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus) & House Finch (C. mexicanus)
-------- Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)
-------- Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
-------- Nestbox Studies
---------------- Barn Owl Nestboxes
------------------------ Blueprint for Barn Owl Nestbox
---------------- Bluebird Nestboxes
------------------------ Maintaining Bluebird Nestboxes
------------------------ Blueprint for Bluebird Nestbox
---------------- Hilton Pond Center Bluebird Trail
---------------- Wood Duck Nestboxes
---------------- First South Carolina Banding of Tree Swallow Nestlings
-------- York/Rock Hill Audubon Christmas Bird Count
-- Plant & Fungi Inventory
-------- Plant Family Master list
-------- Trees
-------- Shrubs
-------- Vines
-------- Herbaceous Flowers
-------- Aquatic Plants
-------- Ferns
-------- Mosses & Liverworts
-------- Fungi
-------- Lichens
-------- Grasses
-- Animal Inventory
-------- Birds
-------- Mammals
-------- Reptiles
-------- Amphibians
-------- Fish
-------- Insects
---------------- Orders of Insects
---------------------------- Dragonflies & Damselflies
---------------------------- Beetles
---------------------------- Butterflies & Moths
---------------------------- Flies
-------- Miscellaneous Invertebrates
---------------------------- Spiders, Ticks & Kin
---------------------------- Millipedes & Centipedes
---------------------------- Crayfish & Kin
---------------------------- Segmented Worms
---------------------------- Snails, Slugs & Mussels
---------------------------- Other Invertebrates
-- Ecological Investigations
-------- Natural Succession at Hilton Pond Center
-------- Control of Foreign Invasive Plants
-- Other Research
-------- Small Mammals of the Piedmont
-------- Monarch Watch®
-------- Schweinitz's Sunflower Recovery

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EDUCATION at Hilton Pond
-- On-site Guided Field Trips
-- Workshops & Presentations
-------- HUMMINGBIRDS --
---------------- Hummingbirds & Hamburgers: The Tropical Connection
---------------- Hummingbird Mornings™
---------------- "Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" (An International Cross-disciplinary Learning Initiative)
---------------- The Hummingbirds of WINTER!
-------- OTHER BIRDS
---------------- The Excitement of Ornithology
---------------- Blue Jays Ain't All Bad: Behavioral Ecology of a Common Bird Species
---------------- Feathers in the Wind: The Story of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
---------------- Winter Site Fidelity in Purple Finches
---------------- Bluebird Trails: Conservation in Action
---------------- Trends in Eastern Populations of House Finches
---------------- Watching Winter Birds: Better Than Television!
-------- BIRD BANDING
---------------- A Bird in the Hand: The History & Usefulness of Bird Banding
---------------- 42,000 and Counting: 21 Years of Banding Birds at Hilton Pond
-------- WILDFLOWERS
---------------- Simplicity & Complexity: Wildflowers of North America
-------- OTHER NATURE TOPICS
---------------- Critters of the Catawba: Secrets of a Piedmont River
---------------- Tales of "The Piedmont Naturalist"
---------------- Snake Therapy for the Serpentophobic (and Others)
-------- AUSTRALIA & ARIZONA
---------------- Hunting for Honeyeaters: Keeping Things Hopping on Kangaroo Island
---------------- From Saguaros to Sidewinders: The Amazing Arizona Desert
-------- GARDENING
---------------- Fall Plantings for Spring Birds
---------------- Form & Texture in the Winter Garden
---------------- Goin' Natural: Growing Native Plants in Your Own Backyard
-------- MOTIVATIONAL
---------------- Sex Life of the Red-eyed Turtle
---------------- Conservation for the Christian Consumer
-------- EDUCATION TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHERS
---------------- Teaching Science Across the Curriculum
---------------- Overhead Projectors: They're Not Just for Transparencies Anymore
---------------- Why Teachers Don't Take Field Trips, And Why They Must
---------------- The Effects of Alcohol: Evolution in Reverse
---------------- Hummingbirds & Hamburgers & Higher Scores on PACT
-------- SPECIAL TEACHER WORKSHOPS (half-day and full-day; can involve lab & field work)
---------------- Teaching Science Across the Curriculum
---------------- Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project (Focus on Hummingbirds for Cross-disciplinary Learning)
---------------- Fighting Fire with Fire: Teaching Science to the MTV Generation
---------------- Teaching Science (and Writing and Math!) in Outdoor Settings
---------------- Needles, Leaves, and Trunks: Secret Lives of Trees and Woodlands
---------------- I Can Teach Science!
---------------- Learning Experiences: They're Where You MAKE Them, Not Where You Find Them
---------------- Supervising Long-term Projects: Living the Scientific Method
-------- SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS FOR STUDENTS
---------------- Patience & Perseverance: What Makes a Really Good Scientist-or Science Student?
---------------- Hummingbirds, Hamburgers, and the Need for Minority Biologists
---------------- Meet the Boa Constrictor: Are You a Good Observer?
---------------- Meet the Boa Constrictor: Two-and-a-Half Meters of Math & Science
---------------- Meet the Boa Constrictor: Twisting Our Way Through English (or Social Studies)
-------- WEEK-LONG "NATURALIST-IN-RESIDENCE" PROGRAM
-------- PLUS . . . Lectures, Workshops & Field Trips on any aspect of Natural History, Science Education & Conservation.
-- Consulting Services
-- Operation RubyThroat
-- Mentoring, Student Research, and Internships

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PUBLICATIONS from or about Hilton Pond
-- The Piedmont Naturalist, Vol. 1 (1986): A collection of newspaper essays about nature; available now (or very soon) as an e-Book download via Amazon (Kindle), Google Books, Barnes & Noble Nook), and Apple's iTunes Store (iBooks); all proceeds from the sale of the book support education, research, and conservation work of Hilton Pond Center. Volumes 2 & 3 will follow shortly.

-- This Week at Hilton Pond: A continuing series of more than 500 on-line weekly photo essays about nature happenings, started 2 February 2000
-------- 2000 (56 photo essays)
-------- 2001 (53 photo essays)
-------- 2002 (49 photo essays)
-------- 2003 (49 photo essays)
-------- 2004 (49 photo essays)
-------- 2005 (46 photo essays)
-------- 2006 (44 photo essays)
-------- 2007 (43 photo essays)
-------- 2008 (37 photo essays)
-------- 2009 (38 photo essays)
-------- 2010 (38 photo essays)
-------- 2011 (current)

-- General Articles About Birds & Other Nature Topics (more to come!)

• Hilton Jr., B. 1996. Animal colors. South Carolina Wildlife 43(4):10-15.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1995. Hidden treasures: Rocks and minerals of the South Carolina Piedmont. South Carolina Wildlife 42(2):34-36.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1994. Migration of ruby-throated hummingbirds. WildBird 8(5)42-45.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1994. Red-tailed hawks. South Carolina Wildlife 41(5):48-49.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1994. Variety--The price of life: South Carolina biodiversity. South Carolina Wildlife 41(6):36-39.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1993. Hot spots for birds. South Carolina Wildlife 40(2):40-47.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1993. Amphibian acrobats. South Carolina Wildlife 40(2):6-10.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1992. Bogs & bays & ponds. In: Wetlands--magic lands. South Carolina Wildlife 39(1):58-77.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1992. Boisterous blue jays. WildBird 6(2):28-31.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1992. Birder's guide to Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina. WildBird 6(1):40-45.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1991. Bird-banding basics. WildBird 5(10):56-59.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1991. Four-season state. In: Carolina all outdoors. South Carolina Wildlife 38(1):58-79.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1991. Lyme disease: Birds, ticks, and people. WildBird 5(8):20-23.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1991. Mythical, mystical owls. South Carolina Wildlife 38(6):32-39.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1991. Trails from rails. South Carolina Wildlife 38(4):44-49.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1990. Telling nature's secrets . . . The interpretive naturalist at work. South Carolina Wildlife 37(5):12-15.

• Huntley, D. 2000. Love it or loathe it, the South's sweet-smelling weed here to stay. The York Observer, May 10, pp. 1-2.
• Longland, V. 2006. Say "Aloe" to visiting hummers. Costa Rica Outdoors 11(3):15-17.
• Rochester, M. 2006. Ripple effect: Hilton Pond teaches life's lessons at the water's edge. Carolina Gardener 18(7):18-22.

-- Technical Publications (more to come!)

• Hilton Jr., B. 2010. Broad-billed Hummingbird, Cynanthus latirostris: First South Carolina banding and photographic record. Chat 74(2):14-17.
• Hilton Jr., B. 2009. Confirming fall migration routes for South Carolina Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Archilochus colubris. North American Bird Bander 34(2):41-45.
• Slansky, F. and B. Hilton Jr. 2003. Distribution of the Bot Fly Cuterebra emasculator (Diptera: Cuterebridae) in South Carolina. Journal of Agricultural & Urban Entomology 20(2):83-91.
• Hilton Jr., B. and M. W. Miller. 2003. Annual survival and recruitment in a Ruby-throated Hummingbird population, excluding the effect of transient individuals. Condor 105:54-62.
• Wagner, S, S. Stegenga, and B. Hilton Jr. 2002. First breeding records for Tree Swallows in South Carolina. Chat 66(4):145-148.
• Hilton Jr., B. 1994. Carpodacus finches in South Carolina's Piedmont: Migration, site fidelity, sex ratios, and longevity. North American Bird Bander 19(1):1-11.

-- Photo Gallery
-- Contributors' Gallery
-- Whatizit?
-- Archives

MISCELLANY

-- This Week at Hilton Pond (regular series of photo essays about nature)
-- Report Winter Hummingbird Sightings
-- Attracting & Feeding Birds
-- Join the Nature Study Network
-- Nuts About Nature: Audio/Video Web Chats for Students
-- Nuts About Nature: TappedIn™ Monthly Web Chats for educators
-- Protocol: Humane Treatment of Birds Used in Educational Bird Banding Projects at Hilton Pond Center
-- Invite is for a Presentation or Workshop
-- Take a Guided Field Trip at Hilton Pond
-- Catawba River Watershed
-- Catawba Indians and Their Pottery
-- Technical Information about this Website
-- Web Site Awards & Kudos
-- Hilton Genealogical Research (including Ballard, Byars, Dressler, Franks, Hilton, Krug, Lauderback, Schade, Strange, Werle, and others)
-- Other Carolinas & Piedmont Nature Sites

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Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this website--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this Web site, contact the Webmaster.