Imagine arriving to work and finding nearly 400 dead birds on the ground. That’s precisely what happened at the American National Insurance building in Galveston, Texas, on May 4, 2017. In a single night, hundreds of migrating birds slammed into the side of the skyscraper. All but three found on the ground died. The birds […]
There are so many new birds arriving this time of year that I find myself taking shortcuts while birding. Here are 5 examples: 1) Ears only: When I’m walking through the woods I rely mostly on my ears to hear signs of bird activity. If I don’t hear anything then I keep moving. 2) Scanning […]
This weekend I headed to the Sax-Zim Bog with my little dog Pip and my good friend Lisa. We’re in the silent part of summer now, when parent birds are busy chasing their little ones around more than singing, but we got to hear a surprising number of birds on Nichols Lake Road when we […]
Central Winds is starting to get interesting. A couple days ago we had a Blue-winged Warbler there, and there’s been between 8-10 species seen there each day. There are lots of Northern Parula here, sometimes more than 20, and there have been a fair number of Redstarts, Yellow Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, and Black and White […]
The animated and flashy warbler American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is the final warbler featured in my Bestiary. Migrating songbirds are returning to our Western Massachusetts hillside now as I finish the warbler section of A Bestiary — Tales From a Wildlife Garden. I have enjoyed recalling and writing about the numerous encounters I have had […]
‘A Bestiary . . . Tales from a Wildlife Garden’ continues with the gregarious Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens. Each spring this small songbird returns to our wildlife habitat within the foothills of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. There are more photos and stories of my encounters with this warbler over at Native Plants and […]
I had a great morning at Central Winds. It’s always fun to find a Chestnut-sided Warbler, but I ended up with eleven warblers. I got out of my car and had 6 warbler species in the same tree right next to my car, including two early Palm Warblers, a Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, […]
For months I have been working on ‘A Bestiary . . . Tales from a Wildlife Garden’ writing and sharing photos of the wildlife that live here on our land . . . from mammals to birds and now featuring the songbirds. Starting with the wonder of warblers. The Chestnut Sided Warbler Setophaga pensylvanica, returns […]