Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Vau x's s w i f t s
community's shoring up of the teetering structure, rather than demolishing it,
has provided swifts a critical resource and allowed students and local resi-
dents to enjoy a yearly spectacle. Similarly, by not i lling and developing
a l ooded cottonwood grove, Kenmore, Washington, has provided a unique
nesting area for its urban great blue herons. The elegant arrivals and depar-
tures of the massive birds thrill commuters waiting in the adjacent bus lot.
Small buf ers around sea clif s enable other colonial birds to i ll the skies of
many coastal cities. Northern fulmars, moderate-sized relatives of albatrosses,
for example, can be viewed at close range as they tend their eggs and young on
the grassy clif s of St. Andrews, Scotland. Even ruins, saved for their cultural
importance, help distinguish a city's biota. More than 40 percent of all lichens
that exist in England can be found on the old stone walls within London. Re-
taining unique urban legacies trims the urban tree of life with especially
bright ornaments.
