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One Of Many
March 3, 2025 One of oodles of trips out to the Southwest. Its terrain so different. Its natural world so captivating. This, a trip up Mount Lemmon. Seeming so extremely high compared to my East Coast mountains with an elevation of 9,159 feet, it is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains. _______________________ If…
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Zygodactyl Feet
March 1, 2025 A Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescensa) showing its zygodactyl toe arrangement. Woodpeckers, Owls, and Parrots all share the same sort of foot structure. They have zygodactyl feet. Two toes facing forward, two toes facing back. This allows these birds to more easily climb, grasp, and manipulate. More common in the bird world are…
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Another Day At The Vernal Pool
February 28, 2025 Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) active in my vernal pool today. Males making their distinctive clacking sound to attract females. They are the earliest frogs to emerge from their winter shelters to begin mating. I see them even before Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer). Their tadpoles develop over the course of two to three…
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This One More Obvious
February 27, 2025 This one, quite a bit easier to tell which species of Sparrow it is, in comparison to the Song Sparrow (Melospica melodia) and the White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) which I mentioned in my post yesterday. The Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). Only the male Song Sparrow sings. Its song is described by the…
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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…