Summer greets Western Massachusetts with a hot soup of humid heat. The rising sun casts a net of sweltering, swelling, sanguine rays piercing skin and leaf alike. Spreading landscape's spring green evaporates into a darker coating . . . void of its former verdant glow. It is a great time for butterflies, except for all the many round eyes and beaks hunting and tearing at their lovely gowns. Catbirds and Phoebes especially are relentless in their pursuit of the many Tiger Swallowtails … [Read more...]
First Days of Summer Walkabout
Summer greets Western Massachusetts with a hot soup of humid heat. The rising sun casts a net of sweltering, swelling, sanguine rays piercing skin and leaf alike. Spreading landscape's spring green evaporates into a darker coating . . . void of its former verdant glow. It is a great time for butterflies, except for all the many round eyes and beaks hunting and tearing at their lovely gowns. Catbirds and Phoebes especially are relentless in their pursuit of the many Tiger … [Read more...]
Birds in Review Part XXXVI ‘A Bird Parade’ Spring Returns
It's A Bird . . . No A Bud. . . A Corolla . . . A Blossom . . . A Spring Bird and Bud Parade! Chionodoxa forbesii Nesting Eastern Bluebirds Sialia sialis American Robins Turdus migratorius Chaenomeles 'Flowering Quince' Serenading Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis Alluring Viburnum carlesii A Winter Keeper . . . Spring Creeping Brown Creeper Certhia americana Fairytale Lilac Cluster Emerging Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe Wings Its Way From … [Read more...]
Birds in Review Part XXIX ‘A Bird Parade’ Eastern Phoebe Perigee Moon
The Vernal Equinox arrives for the Northern Hemisphere, bringing a perigee full moon and the Eastern Phoebes return to our gardens and wildlife habitat. Back in 1804 the Eastern Phoebe was the very first North American bird to have ever been banded and the threads were wrapped by the great naturalist and artist John James Audubon himself. The Eastern Phoebe is a delightful flycatcher who can be seen often bobbing his tail and darting about harvesting insects on the fly. Just … [Read more...]
