When my husband and I moved into our new home in Leland in 2017, we were quickly captivated by a blue heron and a white egret circling the pond.

We even gave them names – Yankee (because my husband is a big New York Yankees fan) and alabaster (because the bird is white and sits so still sometimes that you might think it’s made of stone).

There’s something very soothing about watching them hunt and peck for food along the bank of the pond. And they are simply beautiful when they fly away and show off their full wingspan.

I can also remember the day that I spent quite some time online trying to identify the bird sitting in our weeping willow tree. I eventually determined that it was a belted kingfisher.

So it’s no surprise to me that bird watching is a favorite pastime in the Wilmington area. I was fascinated to learn in today’s cover story about the rare birds found in the Cape Fear region and what’s being done to protect our featured friends as more and more development takes place.

While I mostly just like watching birds outside my window, it could be fun to spend more time learning about the specific types of birds I’m seeing.

On a less happy note, today’s StarNews also includes a Q&A about Wilmington’s red-light cameras.

MyReporter: Which intersections see the most red-light camera violations in Wilmington?

I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I can never remember where they are. Every time a traffic light turns yellow as I’m approaching an intersection, I worry that I’m going to get a citation in the mail. Our MyReporter story today will tell you where the cameras are, which intersections produce the most citations and how much money is collected.

All I can say is that you need to be careful out there. You never know when the camera’s going to get you.

Sherry Jones is the StarNews executive editor. You can reach her at sjones1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: From the editor: Bird watching makes me happy; red-light cameras don’t