Feather Maintenance

November 6, 2025

A Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) at a birdbath caring for its feathers. A tiny bird that is here only in winter. Smaller than a Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), measuring 3.1 to 4.7 inches in length. The smallest Wren in North America.

Both Winter and Carolina Wrens are in the Troglodytidea or Wren family. While Carolina Wrens are boisterous, Winter Wrens are the quiet and secretive ones in the family.

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Migrating Through Or Here For The Winter?

November 5, 2025

I get to see one every now and then, as they migrate through. Rarely do they stay for the winter. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula).

Smaller than a Chickadee (Poecile), only a little larger than a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Among the smallest songbirds in North America, with a wingspan of 6.3 to 7.1 inches. An average length of about 4.25 inches.

Thank goodness for the birdbath. That’s how I often get to see birds that I otherwise would miss.

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Despite The Wind

November 4, 2025

Despite the high winds that howled through the mountains a few days ago there are some Flowering Dogwoods (Cornus florida) that are clinging to the last of their crimson leaves.

Along with those leaves you can see buds that formed during the summer. Those buds will brave cold weather, ice storms and snow to bloom in spring.

I love being here with nature and four seasons to entertain me.

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A Cardinal In The Unkempt Garden

November 3, 2025

I leave my gardens and their seeds for the birds. This picture, a look of appreciation from a Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) as it chows down on the seeds of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida).

So many benefits of leaving those seedheads.

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An Abundance Of Dogwood Berries!

November 2, 2025

A Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) lush with crimson drupes. Fewer today than there were just a week ago, since they are quite popular with countless birds. The leaves too, were brilliant in their color, then the wind came along this past Thursday and Friday, Halloween Day, blowing nearly all of the leaves away.

I notice a rhythm of production of berries, or drupes, on this Dogwood in particular since it is easy to see from the kitchen and dining room windows. The tree takes turns producing numerous berries one year and the next a meager number. This is normal for Flowering Dogwoods, but there are always environmental factors influencing this cycle.

Wondering how long the drupes will last. Robins (Turdus migratorius) that send out word to other Robins, when there is a particular abundance of their favorite foods, have already telegraphed word to their family and friends.

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White Oak Leaves

November 1, 2025

White Oak (Quercus alba), quite a large tree, reaching heights of 50 to 80 feet, sometimes reaching over 100 feet; and a width of 3 to 4 feet (or more) in diameter. The life span of this tree is 200 to 300 years, with some trees living to be much older.

During autumn, like other deciduous trees, White Oaks drop their leaves. But there are some of this species that exhibit marcescence, holding dead leaves until early spring. This can happen in young White Oaks retaining their dead leaves, or on the lower branches of larger trees, until spring. As spring approaches the new buds will push the leaves of the previous year off. Whether this happens or not may depend on genetics, local climate, or stress.

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Sighting Of An Elusive Creature

October 30, 2025

A picture not from today but from 2010 when my camera was right there. At lunch today a Bobcat (Lynx rufus) made a quick slink across the lane. Just a swift glimpse, just enough to identify it. No time for the camera. Poof! It was gone!

They’re most often nocturnal or crepuscular, meaning active at dawn and dusk, but it’s not unusual to see them during the day as well. One might be hunting, foraging, or just moving from one resting spot to another.

Delighted with today’s sighting!

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Swainson’s Thrush Migrating Through

October 29, 2025

Leaving its breeding grounds of northern North America, from Alaska and Canada down the Rocky Mountains into parts of the northeastern United States. Now migrating through Virginia, a Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), on its way to its winter home in Mexico, Central America, or South America.

In the first image, notice the olive-brown of its back, and here, another view of the same Thrush showing off its speckled breast.

Still, a long way to go to get to that winter home.

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Waiting For A Chestnut Miracle

October 28, 2025

American Chestnut (Castanea dentata). Once abundant in its native range of the eastern United States, principally in the Appalachian Mountains.

It was at what is now the Bronx Zoo, in the borough of The Bronx, New York City, that the Chestnut Blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) was first discovered in 1904, by 1906 it was estimated that 98 percent of the American Chestnut trees in that borough had been infected.

Today there are very few mature examples of these Chestnut trees surviving in their native range. On rare occasions I see a tree that has been attacked by the blight. Most often the tree will die but the root system will survive to sent up new shoots. This will create a small tree that will repeatedly succumb to the blight and send up new shoots. I have a couple that are doing this here near my cabin. The result of my planting pure American Chestnut burrs.

Scientists have been working on this problem and I’m hoping one of these days they will come up with an answer.

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