In addition to the geese and red-wing blackbirds, spring also means the return of the robin. Soon after robins return, it’s nest making time. Last spring I watched a pair of mute swans make a nest, and they seemed to have it pretty easy, just mounding up a bunch of cattails and muck. But a few days […]
Robin Attempts to Make a Nest Read More »
Spring mornings got even more amazing as of Wednesday last week when the red-wing blackbirds returned to our yard and nearby wetlands. After checking me out, this blackbird broke out in song. When he was done signing, he gazed upward. After another moment passed, he broke out in song again. It’s wonderful having the red-wing blackbirds
They’re Back! The Red-wing Blackbirds! Read More »
Over the last couple of weeks, geese began calling out in the night again and song birds started waking me up before my alarm clock. When morning dawns, I can look out across the lake and see a pair of mute swans curled up on the ice. The swans resting on the ice made me wonder what
Spring is in the Air . . . and on the Ground Read More »
Last Friday I was watching a finch hop its way across the top railing of our deck toward one of our bird feeders. Right behind him was a mourning dove walking with its usual head jerky walk. Both were within inches of one of our bird feeders when I saw a blur of color which suddenly morphed into an
The Defiant Cooper’s Hawk Read More »
The poorly named red-spotted purple butterfly
Stupid butterfly name Read More »
Having established that the palm warbler and other smaller birds are poorly named, I began to wonder about the larger birds on my lake, namely, the geese and swans. I got online and learned that a male swan is a cob, a female swan is a pen, a female goose is a hen and a
More stupid bird names Read More »
In early May 2009, a variety of different birds migrated through my backyard, including a bird I’d never seen. The Alma College bird guru, whom I shall refer to as BirdNerd, later identified my new bird as a palm warbler. Being in Michigan, I was amazed to see a palm warbler on my pine tree,