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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Late in August a frequent customer came in to the Native Plant Center. I was all set to commiserate with her about what a rough summer it had been for gardeners and gardens alike – too hot and humid, no rain – when she exclaimed, “My garden was so alive this summer!” I was confused […]
Normally from mid-July until mid-September, there is not as much going on in our yard as in the previous spring and summer months, but this year is an exception. We continue to have a good number of birds at the feeders and bird baths. I am not sure how many House Finch families we had […]
If you have been watching the livestream bird bath cam since May, you will have seen lots of Baltimore Orioles eating, drinking, and bathing. You have probably noticed that in the last week, there were no Baltimore Orioles. We did have at 1 successful nest at our house and 1 at our neighbor’s across our […]
Families! Most especially House Finch families. We must have had a whole neighborhood of House Finch nests. You can easily pick out the males – their red heads and upper breasts are still a brilliant red that just glows in sunlight. The juveniles are brown and striped all over with darker shades of brown. They […]
We had good birding weather when we were in and around Dayton. Partly sunny to sunny days in the high 70’s with low humidity. That has changed. The temperatures and humidity are both climbing. Skies are cloudy and sometimes stormy. Gallagher Fen State Nature Preserve, Springfield, OH. 4709 Old Columbus Rd. https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/gallagher-fen-state-nature-preserve We stayed at […]
Englewood Metro Park. Dayton, OH https://www.metroparks.org/places-to-go/englewood/ There are 4 separate areas that make up Englewood Metro Park. We only had time to visit one of areas: the East Park. And we hit a bonanza of birds – the mother lode. You can get the addresses for each of the entrances from the above website. […]
One of the biggest birding hotspots in Ohio is Magee Marsh which is in the northern part of the state near Lake Erie. In fact, for 2 weeks every May, It is probably the hottest spot anywhere in the U.S. for migrating warblers. I have yet to go, but understand from friends who have been […]