My "Pics" for the Week...January 1-7, 2017 All the "Pics" for this week are birds (except for two squirrels that sneaked in when I wasn't looking) 😃. All pics were taken in my "Backyard Bird Buffet." The first week in January has been very cold (currently 12 degrees) and more cloudy and wet than sunny, …
Bright spots on a wintry day
Overnight the temperature dropped to single digits and several inches of snow fell. The Backyard Buffet looks much more appealing when the ground is covered with a blanket of white, and because that same blanket had covered over much of their natural food, the birds were looking for food at ALL the feeders. That includes …
Back to the bluebirds
I'm always delighted when I see Eastern bluebirds, especially when they are visiting my Backyard Bird Buffet. When yesterday dawned cold and soggy, I wasn't expecting to see them, but as Bob and I watched the regular, daily visitors to the Buffet, a little flock of bluebirds joined the crowd and made themselves at home. First this …
A joyful ending to 2016
A little flock of Eastern bluebirds came by this week to help me finish off my backyard buffet posts for 2016. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out the window and saw them because I have NEVER before seen a bluebird in our neighborhood. They aren't uncommon in northeast Ohio, but they are …
A rare event
Many years ago, when Bob and I relocated from central Pennsylvania to the south shore of Lake Erie, I was a stay-at-home-mom with three little girls. We moved into our new home in January, and we hadn't been living here for long when I realized that something was missing, something I was accustomed to in my former …
Rapscallions!
Walking into my kitchen, I glanced out the window and there, staring straight at me, were two deer...in broad daylight...the penalty we pay for living next door to Chagrin River Park. Why, you might ask, would I call these beautiful animals rapscallions (an old-fashioned word for rascal; rogue; or scamp)? It's because they consider my Back Yard …
If you can’t beat them…
I've been trying, with a remarkable lack of success, to discourage the starlings from taking over the Back Yard Buffet. So now I'm beginning to think about changing my attitude toward these pesky colorful birds. Until someone can come up with a good idea for encouraging these invaders to change their behavior and move on …
SEEN ALONG THE TRAIL 