Autumn 2012 will go down in the annals of birding lore as one to remember. True to Ron Pittaway’s Winter Finch Forecast, Canadian birds are being seen at feeders in record numbers. Reports across the northeastern US abound of western hummingbird species showing up in backyards. And Hurricane Sandy pushed many shore migrants and pelagic… Read More »An Autumn To Remember
Birders anxiously await the publication of Ron Pittaway’s Winter Finch Forecast each autumn. His forecast for winter 2012-13 is out and the news is exciting for backyard birdwatchers! “Winter finches” is a generic term that refers to a group of seed-eating songbirds that normally are found in the Canadian provinces. We refer to them as… Read More »News Flash! The Winter Finch Forecast Is Here!
A feeding frenzy is developing at my hummingbird feeders. While I have been hosting ruby-throated hummingbirds since the first one appeared on May 4th, summer numbers have been limited to a pair or two of adults, and then their young. For the last week or so, the number of birds present has been rising. This… Read More »An Olympic Marathon Begins
Serendipity. What a cool word that is! It means good fortune or luck. Serendipity is one of the reasons I keep my feeders filled all year long, continually change things up, and try new things. When it comes to backyard bird-feeding, you just never know who might show up! This has been one of those… Read More »Cinnamon Girl
The summer solstice occurs this evening at 7:09 P.M. (EDT). For birdwatchers like me, the thrill of discovering returning migrants has past. It is always a bittersweet event when I find a Blackpoll Warbler each spring, as this is one of the last neotropical migrants to pass through the northeast. To me they represent a… Read More »Fledgling KinderCare
“Yank-ank-ank!” The sound caught my attention as I was weeding a raised bed in the garden. I recognized the vocalization immediately. It was not the bold, emphatic call of a White-breasted nuthatch, but softer and more musical to my ear. The description often given for what I was hearing is this: it sounds like the… Read More »A Hatched Up Story?