I had some unusual visitors at my feeder this week. It was a small flock of blackbirds, and they were small – not nearly the size of a grackle and smaller still than a starling. They were brown headed cowbirds, but their heads weren’t dull brown as I remember from spring, but almost a burgundy. Their jet-black feathers shimmered with streaks of neon purple. They were quite lovely. I don’t … [Read more...]

They come and they go, birds that is. The catbirds are gone, the hummers are headed for Mexico and the robins – well, who knows where the robins are. But I saw three snowbirds – Dark-eyed jucos – below the feeder this morning. I hadn’t seen them since last March. Juncos are common over much of the country – in winter. During the warm months, they head north, even up into Canada. Juncos are … [Read more...]

  We position the cage of our pet parakeet, Foster, beside the window in the den. She enjoys seeing and hearing the birds outside. Sometimes she fusses at them and sometimes she chirps and tweets, but it keeps her occupied and entertained. The feeder I use to attract the birds is a glass bowl, fly-through feeder. Birds can eat from the rim or hop inside during bad weather. The largest … [Read more...]

I really hadn’t missed them, until I saw them. Robins! Lots and lots of robins! There they were, behind my yard, then in my yard scratching beneath the wet leaves, looking for juicy grubs and worms. I suppose the last time I saw them was mid-August. Then they were gone. Hey, fellows, where have you been? The Audubon people say that after the robins finish up nesting duties, they often … [Read more...]

  (Juvenile Northern Black Racer) Here’s a comforting thought. It’s baby snake season. The little slithery guys are out there in large numbers, waiting for an opportunity to scare the bejeezus out of approximately half the human population. I don’t mind snakes, if I can see them. It’s the ones I don’t see that cause concern. D. Kleopfer with the Game Department says that now is … [Read more...]

  For the first time in memory – I mean ever – I have mowed the grass every single week. I started in early April and am still mowing strong. Usually (always) there is week or two of extreme heat in the summer without rain and the grass takes a few weeks off. I think I recall a 6-week period a few years ago that I left my mower in the shed. But not this year. This is a year that the … [Read more...]

  I was in the back yard looking at a collage of high school reunion pictures when a Monarch Butterfly paid me a visit. The laptop computer screen was alive with color and the butterfly thought it was surely flowers. She – I think it was she – flew right into my lap and began bumping into the computer screen. When she bounced away, she came back again and again. Anything that colorful has … [Read more...]

  Early this summer, a lovely vine emerged from beneath our mailbox beside the road. It was a melon or squash of some type, and I assumed a squirrel had buried one of the seeds I regularly discard from melons or squash. The squirrels love them, but they bury a few and one of the rodents buried his seed at the edge of the road. The vine exploded in size and finally a fruit appeared. Then … [Read more...]

  Any time I see a product advertised as “squirrel proof” I have my doubts. These industrious pests spend their entire squirrelly lives trying to figure out ways to confound humans, and they generally succeed. Baffles on a pole can prevent squirrels from climbing up, but not from jumping down. Sometimes squirrels will take gigantic leaps from far away limbs or overhangs to land on top of a … [Read more...]