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 […]
When Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, the approximately 1 million Native Americans who occupied North America probably never realized they were lost, much less that they need to be discovered.
By 1900, fewer than 250,000 Native Americans remained. There are many reasons for the collapse of the Indian population and culture, but it […]
Though most active between dusk and dawn, weasels hunt any time they’re hungry. Their small size and secretive nature, however, make them difficult to observe.
“Fall migration” conjures up images of honking, south-bound geese and monarch butterflies on their way to Mexico. Each autumn we marvel at the long distance migrations made by many other birds and animals.
Some dragonflies make long distance movements, and salmon make well known spawning runs from the ocean to freshwater spawning grounds. But there […]
Changing day length bird migration triggers bird migration because photoperiod is the only absolutely reliable environmental cue that signals birds that keeps seasonal time.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds have already begun to leave, and chimney swifts and nighthawks are gathering in evening skies as they prepare to head south.
Monarch butterflies
Even more remarkable than bird migration, however, […]
When my daughter, Emma, turned 9 (she’s now 20), she asked for only one thing — a yellow Lab puppy. She had been reading about Labs in library books for weeks, and she knew this was the dog for her.
I tried to talk her into a shelter dog, but it had to be a […]
Compared to spring and early summer, late summer mornings are quiet. Most birds are done nesting. The avian territorial imperative has given way to memories of fall migration.
Other sounds, however, fill the void. More noisy than musical, the sounds of insects define late summer.
In the heat of the day, dog day cicadas drone […]
Anyone who has ever perused a field guide to birds has no doubt wondered how some of the names originated.
By convention, the person who first describes a species gets to name it. The stories behind the scientific names are complex and steeped in Latin and Greek.
Accurate names
Common names are another story. Some are obviously […]
