As the summer winds down and the summer visitors (the avian kind) begin to return to their southern homes, we find that there is still a lot of activity at our bird feeders. Around the black sunflower seed feeders, the glorious male American Goldfinches continue to brighten the day with their deep yellow and black
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End of Summer Hummers
Just as summer begins to wind down in terms of bird song and activity, we are treated to the annual Ruby-throated Hummingbird extravaganza. It really has become a favorite time of year for us. Each spring (around Mother’s Day) we hang up two or three hummingbird feeders and for the next two or three months
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Summers Last Hurrah
We have a red maple tree growing next to our deck and over the years its branches have extended towards the house creating a canopy over our patio table. We call it our treehouse because sheltered by its branches we sit and observe the world of birds as they fly into to our feeders
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Hotter than Hades
We have now experienced two episodes of extreme heat since the beginning of June. And we’re only in the middle of July. Here in Minnesota, records were broken on June 4th, and more than 20 different DNR stations recorded high temperatures of 100F or more on the 4th and 5th. We typically would see this
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Saving Birds
Sometimes I encounter a bird during the week and I can’t get it out of my mind. I always prefer to write about their beauty and success stories, but occasionally I am confronted with the result of deadly challenges the birds face day in and day out. I feel it’s important to talk about these
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Defending The Nest
When it comes to defending their territory, nests or young, birds only have a couple of options. Attack or create a distraction. For the majority of songbirds attacking might fend off the predator, but it’s just as likely to get them killed and do their babies no good whatsoever. Still there are plenty of birds
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Birder’s Best Friend
Binoculars are a birder’s best friend. Sadly a lot of people never expand their enjoyment of bird watching because they have had trouble learning how to use binoculars. Maybe you don’t consider yourself a birder, but if you are looking out your kitchen or living room window at your bird feeders and getting pleasure from
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