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The Event Was Recorded
Bright and early this morning I happened to look out the bedroom window. Not far away, a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), worked away at a fallen tree rotting on the ground. This woodpecker is quite large, the size of a crow. It’s one that I see quite often flying from one tree to another, or…
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Northern Cardinals In The Garden
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). A frequent visitor to my feeders and in other parts of this world they’re found in southeastern Canada, throughout eastern US from Maine to Minnesota, to Texas, New Mexico, southern Arizona, southern California, and south through Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. I think of Northern Cardinals as birds that eat seeds and fruit, but during the summer they also eat…
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GrandKitty Camp And The Birds are Safe
Betelgeuse, the GrandKitty. We’re having a grand time at GrandKitty Camp. In the US outdoor cats kill 2.4 billion (or thereabouts) birds each year. Not Betelgeuse though. She’s a very happy indoor cat, who follows her instincts by pouncing on a feather attached to a string, running round and round to get it. Please help…
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A New Woodpecker For Me
I’m not one that keeps a life list of birds that I’ve seen. But when the Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) was mentioned as being active in Batesville (Albemarle County) Virginia, that got my attention. I’ve never seen one in Virginia, though they are listed as living here year round. Today I got to see a…
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Busy Couple Days In The Garden
A very cold Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The temperature fell to -2° on Saturday, Christmas Eve morning, and by Christmas Day the temperature had risen to a “warm” 32° in the afternoon. This brought at least 12 species of birds to the garden where I had scattered sunflower seeds. Extra calories to help them…
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Just Flurries – So Far
This morning there were snow flurries for a few hours. Perhaps because we had flushed ice cubes last night. That’s good but we’ll still work on it tonight and again tomorrow night, Christmas Eve. This snow stuff requires hard work sometimes, even to get flurries. If you’ve got a snow candle, we’d appreciate your support.…
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Flushing Ice Cubes
A little willowy child has come to visit with one request. A request to flush ice cubes each night until Christmas. The weather forecast not quite perfection. No snow on Christmas. Perhaps we can help. Flushing ice cubes just might help the clouds form. The temperatures plummet. Now, Thursday night. One night, the spell cast.…
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Is This A White-throated Sparrow?
This handsome little bird showed up at the bird bath today. It’s a White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). But this is also a White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). Same species, but two different color morphs. The first image, a white-striped, and the second image, a tan-striped. A coloration that stays with each White-throated Sparrow for life. About…