One thing signals the start of spring to me — when the white-throated sparrows start to sing. So, according to me, spring started this past Wednesday when I heard the first one right outside my window. Today they were singing all over Brooklyn. The song is distinctive and once you know what it is you […]
Tag: White-throated sparrow
Spring Birds in Winter
Remember the polar vortex winter we had last year? This robin came to my window every cold morning of it with his feathers so puffed up he looked downright chubby. I fed him raisins for breakfast straight through until spring. He’s back! He (or so…
Dark-eyed Junco
This past week I was in St.Louis, and I had no time for any birding, but I did walk around the campus where I was working looking to see what may be lurking around. I didn’t see anything unusual, but it was nice to see many White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, which we don’t get […]
Polar Vortex Winter Birds
It was a cold week in New York. As I sat writing at my desk by the window I saw the neighborhood birds in another light. One of the ways birds keep warm is by fluffing up their insulating feathers; they looked like puffballs all week. They have other ways to keep warm. Their feet […]
Bladder control, mild hypothermia and kinglets
It’s approximately 23 degrees in the library right now, so since I’ve lost the feeling in my hands and I’m banging around on the keyboard like a camel or something, I can’t write you up another novel this blog around. So here are just a few quick and very important notes: I saw The Waterboys […]
Rain Day
Got a whole bunch of rain here today and therefore the birds got pretty soaked, which I always find rather cute. The Carolina Chickadee shakes it off, the Cardinal looks a little bummed, and the White-throated Sparrow just doesn’t care. Speaking of birds, I watched two chickadees this afternoon going all out in some courtship […]
Sunday Breakfast
I scatter seeds on my porch for the birds when the weather gets cold. This morning I had lots of visitors. Click on the photos to enlarge. House sparrows, Passerdomesticus, are always the first to arrive. They like seeds and breadcrumbs. They usually come in a group. The cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, eats seeds, nuts, and […]