Eastern Bluebird The weather is still too cold for spring. Night time temperature a little bit above the freezing point most nights. Making matters worse, we had an ice storm four days ago. The birds, on the other hand, seem to know better since they have started to shed their winter down. This is the time of year I see a lot of fine feathers … Continue reading First Family Of The Season
The Intelligent Hoarder Today was very cold and windy, the temperature barely made 20° F. Taking wind chill factor in to account, it was close to 0° F. This is the time the birds need us the most. There’s hardly any food around, water turns to solid ice and the wind factor is over 40 miles per hour, so we provide them with food, warm water … Continue reading Learning To Love Blue Jays
Eastern Bluebirds Have Settled However bad this last winter was, the Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis) elected not to leave us for warmer digs down south. Maybe because we provided everything they needed here: food, water and places to roost inside from the cold wind and snow. This last winter was the first time that they were really present on an almost daily basis. Once the weather started to get warmer, they started … Continue reading First Family of the Year
Population Control Officer At Work It snowed again today. There was some snow on the ground when I woke up and it continued to snow all day. I looked out the kitchen window while getting water for the coffee machine and saw the commotion in the garden. All the small birds scattered, dashing for cover, while a hawk flapped his wings like crazy in the … Continue reading Cooper’s Hawk
A Tough Act To Follow Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) come to stay in our garden every winter. They mostly stay in one of the woodpiles and come to the feeders or search the woodpiles on the patio and all the nooks and crannies of the patio roof for food. They have no fear of us and allowed us to get close enough. Our relationship is … Continue reading Carolina Wren
Residents And Visitors Spring is the busiest time in our own garden aviary. We have both resident aerialists that stay with us year round and the ones that travel back and forth from North to South America annually. Every spring we roll out the red carpet for them, helping them stay strong and nurturing a new generation. By the end of spring some of them … Continue reading Spring Recap On Birds
Looking For the Perfect Place It’s that time of year again…a time to look for a perfect place to raise a new generation. The birds that usually hang out together during winter start chasing one another, claiming their territory. A few of them checking out the nest boxes we put up in the garden. I cleaned them in mid-fall and put them back up for … Continue reading Bluebird House Hunting
…And The Birds Are Still Happy I checked on our vegetable garden early last week and was happy to see the garlic I put in last October came up. The Daffodils and tulips have also pushed themselves above the soil. But Mother Nature doesn’t seem to give up on winter just yet, she dumped a whole load of snow on us again last Friday. The … Continue reading Another Snow Storm
When Nothing Blooms Outside Winter. I have a love-hate relationship with winter. I love winter best when it’s snowing and its aftermath. The snow wipes out the sad look of bare branches and turns the world picturesque with dull gray turning to glistening white. The quietness, since the snow absorbs sound so effectively, renders the world peaceful too. There is not much I can do … Continue reading Birds of Winter
A Magnificent Bird I had a visit from a very shy bird, a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), last weekend. It is the largest woodpecker around since the Ivory-billed (Campephilus principalis) is presumed extinct. It is a crow-sized woodpecker, with a 17″ long body and a wingspan around 29″, according to National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America by Edward S. Brinkley. … Continue reading Pileated Woodpecker
Petals and Wings 