My husband Cleon and I set aside each Monday morning for an hour drive to Springfield – a city area of about 125,000 people and the capital of Illinois. Lots of big stores. And home to Lulu’s – our favorite diner. We always begin our morning of errands with a great breakfast, a whole lot […]
In my last blog, I told you how this website would be nowhere without the work from Mark Roberts and Lara Donovan of GoWeb1. And I shared Mark’s photos with you that he took when he was on safari in Tanzania. Today, the first thing I want to share with you is a photo Lara […]
Mark Roberts and Lara Donovan are the heart and soul of GoWeb1. They not only administer this website, but they also hold my hand, teach, encourage me through all my ideas, and they make all my changes. And keep in mind that technology and I have an uneasy relationship at best, so this has not […]
This past February, we had a Pileated Woodpecker visit our backyard for 3 days in a row and then it did not return. These crow-sized woodpeckers live across the lake from us in an over 200-acre riparian woodland*. Our Pileated flew straight across the lake from this riparian woodland and landed on the trunk of […]
The birds are having an unsettled time in our yard this week. This is a week of severe thunderstorms, high winds, and tornado warnings. Cleon and I have our emergency bag all ready for the storm shelter we have in our basement. Water, snack, laptops, cell phones. Today is the worst forecast – severe tornadoes […]
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 […]