It began Dec. 14 and runs through Jan. 5. Birders all across the Americas will gather in small groups to census bird populations in the annual Christmas Bird Count.
Volunteers from hundreds of locations will devote one entire day to counting all the wild birds they can find. Local leaders determine the exact date that […]
If you’ve never put out food for wild birds, this column is for you. Perhaps you are motivated personally — you’d like to see if you can attract beautiful winter birds to your backyard.
Or perhaps you envy the birds you see in your neighbor’s yard. Or maybe a child has come home from school […]
If you’ve got a few outdoor enthusiasts on you holiday gift list, a good book is always appreciated.
Recommended
Here are some recent titles that I recommend.
- Shadow of the Alleghenies: the Wilderness Adventure of a Frontiersman and his Wolf Pup by Edwin D. Michael (2009, $22 ppd., Quarrier Press; order from Ed Michael, […]
The breeding season, commonly called the rut, takes a differential toll on female and male white-tailed deer. Does are fertile only 24 hours every 28 days.
If does are not impregnated during that time, they come into estrus again in about 28 days. Bucks, on the other hand, are on call 24/7 from October through […]
I have a new favorite bird — the northern saw-whet owl.
Until last week, I’d never seen one in the wild. But on Wednesday, Joey Herron invited me to his banding station at Valley Falls State Park, just east of Fairmont, W.Va.
“That storm on the East Coast,” he told me, “is going to push […]
Last week I suggested that mandatory national service in one of many different fields would be a good way to bridge the gap between high school and the real world.
Furthermore, I suggested that FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) be resurrected as a form of national service. My perspective was to provide a work force […]
Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called our national parks “the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than at our worst.”
That was the message of the recent Ken Burns series that aired on PBS (www.pbs.org/nationalparks), and I couldn’t agree more.
Watching this 12-hour documentary brought […]
When I checked my nest boxes this week, about half were still occupied — by mice. When I gently probed the mass of dried leaves with a stick, it was only a moment before I had a mouse running down my leg.
Deermice and white-footed mice commonly use nest boxes intended for cavity-nesting birds, and […]
A day after the first hard frost of the season, a flock of nomadic cedar waxwings appeared in the backyard. I counted 42, but probably missed a few. They were filling their bellies with fruits from a bittersweet thicket.
More handsome than beautiful, waxwings always seem immaculately groomed. Only the distinctive crest disrupts the body’s […]
The parade has begun.
Yesterday I counted six as I walked from the house to the garage. This morning I spotted another handful crossing the road as I walked to the mail box. Woolly bears are on the move.
Seasons changing
Woolly bears are just one of many reliable signs of seasonal change that begin in […]
