I was standing next to the trail, watching a house wren "feathering her nest," when I spotted two birds on a branch high over my head. I couldn't see them clearly with my naked eye, so you can imagine my surprise when I downloaded them to my computer after I got home. Talk about serendipity! I …
He’s still here, and guess what…
...He's not alone! He brought a friend. Yesterday morning I heard the distinctive call the pileated woodpecker makes when he swoops in for a landing at the backyard buffet. So of course I picked up my camera and headed for my post at the kitchen window (It actually makes a good bird shooting blind, although I do …
Three owls
Look closely! Can you see all three great horned owls? There's Momma Owl on the left, and next to her are her two owlets taking their naps. I'm not sure how old the babies are, but rumor has it that they were first spotted by a sharp-eyed birder a week or more ago. But that …
Back to my search for spring
Lisa and I were trailwalking in the Arboretum, in search of more early signs of spring. Treading through a marshy area on our way to Blueberry Pond, we spotted some marsh marigolds. The vibrant yellow of this early bloomer is pretty hard to miss. Then, when we reached our destination at the top of a grassy …
A guest for lunch
One of our neighborhood big birds, the pileated woodpecker, came for lunch today. He swooped in for a landing on top of the hopper feeder, and Bob spotted him feasting on the suet cake that is right below his "landing pad." Leaning over the end of the feeder, he would grab a bite of suet, take …
Big birds in the backyard
To my delight the sky cleared this afternoon, and I was even more delighted when I heard a familiar sound in the neighborhood. I hurried to the window and, sure enough, the pileated woodpecker was in our backyard. It didn't hang around for long, but before it swooped through the air to land on a …
A sure sign of spring!
Spring has been wearing its fickle face recently, bringing lots of rain, wind, and even a few rumbles of thunder. Thankfully we haven't had any severe storms, although at times the rain was heavy enough to create a large pond in our neighbor's backyard. This happens every spring, of course, and, without fail, when the …
Continuing my search for spring
Rain and thunder through the night and into the morning hours convinced me that this would not be a good day for another trail walk. Instead I will continue with part 2 of yesterday's post: Searching for Spring in the Arboretum. I ended that post when we reached the entrance to the Rhododendron Garden, so I will pick up there …
Dreary…again!
Hoping to see a little sunshine this morning, after a cloudy weekend, I was disappointed to wake up to overcast skies. Had it been a sunny day, I would have grabbed my camera (and jacket) and headed to the Arboretum. However, completely unmotivated by the dull weather, I decided instead to park myself in front of …
And then the sun came out!
As I wrote in my last post, Tuesday morning was chilly and completely overcast, but my friend Lisa and I had agreed to meet at Holden Arboretum for a "walk and talk," so off I went. As I drove down Sperry Road to the Arboretum entrance, the clouds parted, the morning haze vanished, and then, …
SEEN ALONG THE TRAIL 