Site Discussions

Please include in my previous comment that we live close to the Ohio river in Cincinnati. We love watching these hawks.

We’ve had a pair of Northern Harrier hawks in our suburban backyard for several years. One landed on the rail of our deck several days ago. My husband took some pictures of it. After comparing the tail to online photos, I realized it was a harrier.

I have gray squirrels and white squirrels. Botflys seem to prefer the greys! And some years they don’t bother the squirrels.

I was talking to some of the Mass Audubon people in charge of monitoring these fields and they said that they just counted 45 male and 59 female bobolinks!  Some of those birds had been displaced by mowing in unmanaged, adjacent fields, but there were an estimated 30-40 pairs of bobolinks nesting in the managed fields this year.

I have definitely seen the cellar spider-mom with her little babes nearby! At first I thought they were the remains of gnats or something, but upon closer inspection, determined that they were tiny spiders, hanging upside-down just like mom. I very gently re-homed them. I enjoy spider-watching quite a bit.

Do Mockingbirds in different states only learn what bird species that are within that area?

“empty nymph exoskeletons . . . can be can gently unhooked from the bark, and gently (and stealthily) attached to a brother or sister’s clothing.”  Thanks for the laugh!

@Shawn: I had a overgrown hedge at the back of my property. Same problem. I cut it down about a foot off the ground and it grew right back (Much fuller than it had been). Now it just cut it down every year to a height I can keep it trimmed down to.

Wonderful article! Thank you! Superb illustration too.

Thanks for this article! I have always enjoyed the mockingbirds’ repertoire in an urban environment.

Proves the old adage: when you want something done ask a busy person.

I have a 60 acre island in Nova Scotia connected by a causeway and over the years have noticed that all the milkweed has been taken over by cow parsnip since the summers started getting wetter and more humid . The butterflies have mostly dissapeared.

Thanks for this informative article.  On my way in and out of a nearby Home Depot I have often stopped for prolonged periods to be fascinated by the never ending songs from a mockingbird perched atop a nearby light pole.  Other shoppers seem to have no interest in this glorious concert and I want to scream at them to just stop for a minute a listen to this marvel of nature.

Shrews look like a cross between a mouse and a mole or something like that. That’s what I always thought. Come to find out they aren’t. They have they’re own category. Lol

This is so much fun to read! I love the description of the sounds! Chainsaw? Rusty hinges, sirens and car horns! Been hearing mockingbirds for many years, and they always amaze me. Thank you so much for giving us this article, Laurie!

This article made a wonderful, engaging and informative read for me.  Please keep writing.  I wish I could visit and apprentice with your wife.  I would like to live in the country.

I always look forward to these highlights. Thank you, Hilda, for sharing your story.

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing Hilda.

How does the cost of a slash wall compare to planting and tubing individual trees? One advantage of planting and tubing is re-introducing tree species such as white oak that have been eliminated by past over utilization.  Increasing species composition is becoming more important as tree species are eliminated by insects, disease and deer browsing leaving the forest with less species diversity.

BBB

Lovely!