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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Is it cold or what! No matter where people live – be it Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Kansas, North Carolina, Alabama, or even California – most people are cold the moment they step outside. Temperatures just about everywhere are colder than normal. We here in central Illinois always have about 5-7 nights of below 0 in January, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, Springfield OH 980 Woodburn Road, Urbana https://www.cedarbognp.org There is a fee to walk the boardwalk trail. Money well spent! Of all the places Cleon and I birded in around Dayton and Springfield, OH, this was our favorite. There is a Visitor’s Center with a small gift shop. […]
Woodman Fen. 2409 Newcastle Drive, Dayton. https://www.metroparks.org/places-to-go/woodman-fen/ Some birding places are easy to find – this one would not be so easy. Luckily its address worked on the GPS in my phone which took us straight to the small parking lot. This fen is part of the city park system of Dayton. […]