Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission
Mary Lou Mellon Birds of the World Videos
The PHNRC is pleased to present the Prospect Heights Public Library's Birds of the World series they produced with Mary Lou Mellon.
Mary Lou Mellon is a fixture in the Prospect Heights community. She has been leading the PHNRC/Park District Slough bird walks since 2015.
In 2020, the year of the Covid Pandemic, Mary Lou graciously agreed to entertain quarantiners by creating a zoom series of her world travels in the quest of all things Birds. We are happy to give those presentations a permanent home and hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
Mary Lou also leads four bird walks every year and we invite you to come out and join us. There are two in the spring (May) and two in the fall (September). Watch the calendar of events for details.
September 19th, 2022 - Celebrating the Birds of the Chicago Area
Discover the amazing beauty of our local birds, including their songs. Join avid birder, photographer and bird conservationist, Mary Lou Mellon to enjoy the remarkable variety of the birds around us and learn what we all can do to help our cherished feathered friends!
June 6th, 2022 - The Colorful Birds and Beauty of Guatemala
"Guatemala is a beautiful country that has stunning birds and friendly people," says Mellon. "My talk will take the viewers to the amazing Mayan ruins of Tikal, which was a city of 10,000 people that flourished between 200 and 850 AD and then mysteriously collapsed. From there we move on to the charming city of Antigua and finally to spectacular Lake Atitlan, which is surrounded by live volcanos. You will surely want to see some of the most beautiful and captivating birds in the world!"
February 7th, 2022 - The Birds and the Beauty of Spain
This program takes us to Spain to explore the spectacular natural beauty and the fascinating birds. Starting in Seville and the Straits of Gibraltar in the southeast and winding up some 1500 miles later in the amazing and lively city of Barcelona on the Mediterranean Sea.
April 19th, 2021 - Birding Colombia! A 4X4 adventure in the Andes Mountains
This program takes us to the birdiest country in the world, Colombia. Nearly 1800 species of birds have been recorded in this remarkable South American country. Mary Lou will start in Bogota, Colombia’s engaging and vibrant capital, a city of about 8,000,000 nestled in a valley between the peaks of the Andes Mountains.
January 25th, 2021 - The Amazing Wildlife of Brazil's Pantanal
This program guides us through Brazil’s Pantanal, the largest tropical wetlands in the world and it teems with remarkable wildlife. It has been called Brazil’s best kept secret. View jaguars, alligators, the spectacular Hyacinth Macaw and much more.
March 29th, 2021 - The Birds of Great Britain
Come with us as we enjoy looking for birds while exploring historic and charming Cambridge and Cambridge University. We also visit Ely and the Norfolk area of Eastern England, where the shingle beach even has a pillbox left over from WWII.
February 22nd, 2021 - The Beautiful Islands of Seychelles
This program takes us on a cruise aboard a 290-foot-long sailing vessel in the Indian Ocean to the amazing Seychelles Islands, about 1000 miles from everywhere.
December 14th, 2020 - The Birds of Greece and the Islands of Lesvos
This program takes us to mainland Greece with photos of Athens’ Acropolis and the Plaka (old town) and then explore the Mediterranean’s best kept bird-watching secret: the remote, lovely and quaint island of Lesvos, only two miles from Turkey’s coast.
November 16th, 2020 - The Birds, Reptiles and Mammals of Costa Rica
Enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty of tropical Costa Rica: a Central American country with magnificent birds, remarkable reptiles, weird and wonderful mammals and lovely lush flora presented as only Mary Lou can.