Uncategorized
Small but Mighty— The Northern Saw-whet Owl Small but Mighty— The Northern Saw-whet Owl The Northern Saw-whet Owl is a small owl (a mere eight inches tall) with a streaked…
Read MoreHappy as a Lark…Believe Me
A cloudy, blustery, cold December day at the foot of the Colorado Rockies and the three of us were doing the Christmas Bird Count. As my husband drove slowly, our…
Read MoreThe Hermit Thrush
For five years, my husband and I covered a Breeding Bird Survey route in Colorado’s high country. One morning during breeding season, starting ½ hour before dawn on a 24.5-mile…
Read MoreWell Worth the Search— Lewis’s Woodpecker What bird climbs trees like a woodpecker but feeds mostly by acrobatically sallying forth from a perch or circling high in the air to…
Read MoreThe Northern Shoveler
As a medium-sized duck, the Northern Shoveler seems just too small for its preposterously large, flat, broad-tipped bill. A paint pallet on webbed feet, the male’s breeding plumage (September through…
Read MoreThe Western Bluebird— Carrying the Sky Above and Reflecting the Earth Below At the wildlife rehabilitation center, I grabbed a dish of fresh mealworms and headed to an outdoor aviary.There,…
Read More
American Pipit-a wonderful and rare find… Five years ago, rain loomed in the forecast for our first Oceanside/Carlsbad/Vista Christmas Bird Count. My rain gear and waterproof binoculars stood at the…
Read MoreMetallica—The Allen’s Hummingbird
Living in Colorado, we had a pretty easy time identifying the four common hummingbird species. Sounds like a cricket flying by, showing bright red throat feathers? Broad-tailed. Slender, dark-headed with…
Read MoreNature’s Path Back
Wildfire and wildlife—what’s the first image that comes to your mind? I’m 7 years old, sitting in a darkened movie theater, watching the fire scene in the Disney animated classic…
Read MoreHummingbird Feeders
Feeding hummingbirds can be simple and inexpensive. Here’s a time- and hummer-tested recipe. Use a 1-to-4 ratio of white table sugar to water (for example, ¼ cup of sugar to…
Read More