Spring migration followed by nesting season is just the best time in our yard to sit and watch birds. We have a patio and fire pit close to our small lake and as it is on the north side of the house, it is always shaded. Perfect for these late afternoons and evenings. If there […]
Cleon and I have to get up early these days to spend time in the garden. Neither of us are as tolerant of heat and humidity as we once were. But this morning was simply beautiful. Clear blue sky, only a slight breeze and at 7AM, it was 53ºF. About 8AM, I spent some time […]
You know how you can go along for years – totally oblivious to something? Well, I had a moment of realization this past week. I was working outside in the front of our house, glanced up at the big hickory tree you can see on the bird bath livestream, saw a small, agile black and […]
Our good friend Janelle, who lives here in central Illinois, has been updating all of us with videos of her Red-shouldered Hawk nest in which there are 2 youngsters – who look like they are getting bigger and bigger. We have been to her house to watch through our scope, and we must remain at […]
When I was a beginning birder – and actually way past those first years – I tended to ignore Vireos. These are not obvious birds at all. They are all small, most often not brightly colored, and their songs can be easily overlooked. And in those first years of birding, I was overwhelmed by warblers […]
Spring! Every day it is something new! New plants breaking ground, spring ephemerals coming – and sadly going till next year, glorious spring flowers such as lilacs and irises. Birds leaving and arriving. Our juncos left last week. We have not seen the White-throated Sparrows for two days so maybe they have also left? One […]
If you have been following the livestream on our bird feeders for a few years, you know we have 2 feeders for Nyjer seed. They are the same style, but one is large and the other small. We have American Goldfinches in our yard and at our feeders all year round. We put the large […]
Baltimore Orioles! Here are photos Cleon took of the male who has just arrived. The male orioles will be setting up nesting territories in ours and our neighbor’s trees and so for the next few weeks will only be at the birdbath and feeder off and on. The females will arrive in 1-2 weeks. Once […]
My large screen computer, which is the center for both live-stream cameras, is right across the room from my desk. I have the livestream on all day – I switch from camera to camera because I am always interested in who is using what, how everyone is behaving and interacting, and if anything has gone […]
Continuing from my last post: Janelle lives here in central Illinois and showed me this video on her phone. I was simply amazed! She lives at the end of a cul-de-sac in a small town. Her house sits on top of a steep hill of grass and prairie plants that she mows. At the bottom […]