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Master Of Camouflage
February 26, 2025 The Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is indeed a master of camouflage blending in with dried grass near the birdbath. Not at all striking in its coloring, streaks of gray and brown. The Song Sparrow is well represented throughout our continent. They’re said to be “the most common and widespread sparrow in North…
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Concern For Beech Trees
February 24, 2025 I enjoy seeing American Beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) in the winter. They’re deciduous trees but don’t drop their leaves until spring, giving my woods a scattering of soft brown patches everywhere. And if it snows, those soft brown leaves turn into snow cones hanging from their branches. This past Saturday I attended…
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Strong Tail Feathers
February 22, 2025 Woodpeckers’ robust tails help them as the descend a tree trunk or work at drumming a hole into the side of a tree. They have stronger tail bones, lower back bones, and muscles that support those bones than other birds. Here, a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) in the snow a couple days…
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A Hermit Thrush On A Snow Day
February 21, 2025 A winter resident here in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, the Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). As the snow was coming down steadily two days ago it was in a typical stance flipping up its tail and slowly lowering it over and over again. Though they eat insects during the warmer months, in the…
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Another Snowy Morning
February 20, 2025 It snowed all day long yesterday, leaving 2.5 inches of snow on the ground. This morning it started back up again but didn’t last very long. Today, just a dusting. Among the birds out looking for something to eat, I counted 13 Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). Beautiful accents of color against the black…
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After An Absence Of A Few Weeks
February 18, 2025 A bit more than a month ago I saw seven Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) gathered at the birdbath. They were enjoying the water which was not frozen on a very cold day. Not any since then until today when I caught a quick glimpse of just one. Just checking things out I suppose.…
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Winter Tree Identification – Bark!
February 17, 2025 Winter and tree identification leaves me looking at the bark. This is Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), a tree that is quite common here. The tree produces a chemical, juglone, in all its parts. Juglone creates a toxic reaction in other plants. An example of its effectiveness is at the yoga studio where…