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 […]
Spring is a wonderful time to look for and observe birds. Our migrating ducks, grebes, mergansers, and cormorants have started to arrive on our small lake. They rest here generally about 2-3 days, sometimes a week, and then they are off. Here are a few photos of what we are seeing. And yes, it is […]
April is a great time to put up feeders for hummingbirds, orioles and bluebirds. These birds are primarily insect eaters in spring and summer, but all love fruit any time of the year – or as in the case of hummingbirds, sugary water. First, the orioles. If you live surrounded by big trees, many of […]
April is almost here – and in my opinion, this is one of the best times to look for and observe birds. They are migrating, setting up their nesting territories, mating, and even beginning to start nests. And all of this is done right out in the open where we can watch. Even birds who […]
Most of us know that the American Chestnut was once a common tree throughout the Appalachian Mountains, but because of a blight, the tree is now almost extinct. What I did not know was how much work is being carried out to restore this tree and that there are two sides to this. One side […]
Everything you do in your yard affects all the creatures that live there: birds, insects, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, plus every organism that lives underground. And that includes making the decision to feed birds, provide a bird bath, add nesting boxes, create new gardens, or even adding a patio. Should you not do those things because […]
Geese! And they were everywhere!!!! Not everyone likes geese and depending where you live, I can understand the reasons for wishing them elsewhere. But I love them! Particularly the Canada Geese who live year-round on our small lake here in central Illinois. If you have been reading my blog, you know that last spring we […]
If you were watching the bird feeder livestream this morning between 9:15 and about 9:30AM Central Time, you saw no birds, but you did see a large, beautifully furred, well taken care of gray cat sitting on the ground under the feeders. I was upstairs talking on the phone and happened to glance out the […]