Carolina Wren in winter

Tea-kettle, Tea-kettle, Tea-kettle…I hear the resident Carolina Wren throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall, however, until this year, I had never heard a peep in Winter.  When I tidied the yard for the colder months, I neglected to bring in the unused wren house that Uncle Mellie made before he passed on.  Now, I find [...]

Saturday birdwatching

There is chasing, and then there is chasing, and then there is the possibly getting a lifebird a few blocks from my house.  I got an email from the Director of Weis Ecology Center that she had a female RED Crossbill at her feeder.  Red?  Since she only lives around the lake from me, walking [...]

Thanksgiving Turkey Special

All Turkeys are not the same.  According to Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, there are 6 subspecies of Wild Turkey; 4 of them in the US, the other 2 in Mexico.  I have only seen 3 of the US ones.

Meleagris gallopavo merriami — the Western bird–in this case taken in SE Arizona.  Notice [...]

King Eider in Piermont

All Hail the King!  Well, I guess it’s more of a Prince at this point.
Once in a while the birding gods smile on me.  Late last night I saw that a juvenile King Eider had been spotted Sunday afternoon at the pier in Piermont, NY.  It was not verified and reported on the ListServ until [...]

Bird Photography Weekly

The first and only time I saw Tufted Puffins I was so excited I grabbed the guy standing next to me (I am not so sure he was as completely enthralled as I was.) and started jumping up and down.  I had seen Atlantic Puffins in Maine and Nova Scotia, of course; but the western puffins [...]

Fox Sparrow visitor

I stood at the kitchen sink talking to my sister on the phone.  The wind was howling around the house and the thermometer read 6F.  The neglected rusty brown oak leaves in the backyard were swirling and dancing in the gale.  I squinted; one of those blowing leaves appeared to be doing the double-footed backward [...]

Skywatch-Baby Porcupine

Hey, pull over!  What is that?  Over there, in that tree?  We all stared perplexed at the lump.  We got out of the car and crossed the road to get a better view.  Holy mackeral, it was a baby porcupine eating the twigs of a sapling willow.  It was the cutest thing.  I had never [...]

Bird Photography Weekly

Last winter was incredible with a terrific northern finch invasion.  I am hoping for something similar this year.  There are already lots of sightings of Pine Siskins and White-winged Crossbills plus the ListServ has a few reports of Snowy Owls north of us.  I hear the Snow Buntings are here too.  I hope to get [...]

Gift giving for the aging bird lover

While browsing the book table at the local bird festival way back in the summer, I came across the large-print version of the Peterson’s guide.  I picked it up to flip through thinking of my mother but more my sister.  She is always searching for her reading glasses.  The descriptive paragraph has much less information [...]

One of Those Days

I pulled into the parking lot at Liberty Loop and there in front of me was a Red-tailed Hawk trying desperately to balance in the crazy wind.  But no sooner had I got out with my camera when a little something caught his eye.  Rats!  Or rather, Voles!  Deciding it was way to cold and [...]