Site Discussions

Thanks for the article. Am wondering if anyone might suggest a book on identification of bird nests?

Here in WNY State we have had an explosion of breeding orioles for the past 3 years.  Our neighbors - mostly Amish - report the same.  They used to be a rarely seen bird in this area.

A variation on the story was a favorite of the farmer from whom I bought my land.  In Rupert’s telling it was a guy in a sports car. ” What you doing old timer?  Picking stone. where did the stone come from? Glacier brought it. Where’s the glacier now ?  Gone back for more stone”

Yesterday my video camera captured a house wren (possibly another female) stealing the 4 hatchlings! The parents kept flying back in the bird box to feed the missing babies. Is this a territorial dispute?

This beautiful moth was on the railing of our log cabin porch but is now on the ceiling. Saved your article for my granddaughter to read. Today’s date: June 20th, 2020.

There is a large rotten silver maple stump in my back yard.  A month or so ago my wife and I noticed a large scattering of wood chips around it.  We wondered what could make such a mess, guessing most likely raccoon or skunk.  A week or so later she came in from the deck and said, “you will never guess what shredded the stump.  It was a huge woodpecker!”  I have seen it twice since then, a pileated woodpecker aka Woody Woodpecker.  Thanks for the article.

Years ago (I’m 74) the wind blew an oriole’s nest out of our big old elm tree. There were two babies, still in pin feathers, mother no where to be found, so my mother took them in. She fed them well, worms and hard-boiled eggs, and they thrived and became big beauties and flew out to return and sit on my mother’s shoulders. One day they came back and dropped dead in her lap. Our neighbour had an apple orchard and had recently sprayed it with God only knows what toxic substance. Our poor beautiful birds.

Earth worms will extend the life of a tree.  I have several maple trees that were dying until we place the worms around the trees and the tree got healthy.

We found a Luna moth in our yard tonight. Very beautiful.

Blair,
I’ve seen wild chips do something similar with leaves, where the neatly fold a leaf much larger than them, using their hands and mouth… And I’m not sure if they are doing it to transport the leaf easier, or if they then use the leaf in a similar fashion to what you described.

I love having the weekly nature look outs available on line.  I don’t often carry the magazine around with me but I love having access to the info.!
Thank you!

You lucky ducky! I love the description of the nose cleaning. These guys top my life list too!

Thank you, Sylvia! We have fun putting it together.

I have to say this is an awesome series! Thank you:)

This has got to be one of the cutest pictures out there.

to Rose I think you are so kind for raising all those monarcs!!!

A few years ago I was walking through woods at night and noticed a tiny round reflection in the leaves.  Wondering what it could possibly be - water? covered trash?  I looked closer and when my headlamp lit up the area, saw it was a small spider. 

*Clearly* watching the giant walking by.  Eye shine!  On a spider.  Once I started looking, there were one or two in each square yard. 

The things happening in nature all around us and we have no idea!

Hello Isabelle & Peter.  We live in Colorado east of Boulder & north of Denver and the vast majority of our ash trees have not a single leaf yet.  Last year, they leafed out in late March and we got that bomb cyclone and the leaves got frozen and fell off.  More leaves emerged, another hard freeze came the next month, and they turned black & fell off again.  However, third time was a charm and the tree was fully leafed and beautiful by Mother’s Day.  Not so this year.  We didn’t have a particularly cold or harsh winter but it has been a dreadfully dry spring and temps are already around 90.  So I am keeping my fingers crossed that these are all just late-leafers this year and that they haven’t all succumbed to the ash borer as that has been a big problem here as well.  Not really an answer as to why yours are early, more just an observation that ours are very late this year.

Great article!
I absolutely love all the creatures in our environment. I would like to encounter one of these awesome mammals. The closest I’ve ever come to it was a Northern Short tailed Shrew which is also quite an interesting creature!

These are such a nice sign of spring!

Thanks for the article.