How much time do you spend looking at wildlife? Watching wildlife can be an important antidote to the stresses of everyday life.
February 2021
January 2021
As the holiday season draws to a close, an annual holiday tradition also is coming to a close – the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Since 1900, when 27 birders conducted 25 surveys and tallied 96 species, the CBC has grown in 2019 to 81,601 people who participated in surveys in 2646 count circles and tallied 672 species and nearly 43 million birds.
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
Goldfinches always make me smile. The male birds’ bright yellow plumage and black wings with white racing stripes liven up our garden as the flowers are starting to fade away. Goldfinches are the circus acrobats of our garden as they balance on our coneflowers while pulling them apart to reach the seeds.
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
While working in my garden the other day, I simply had to stop and listen to the chorus of birdsong coming from a nearby tree. In rapid succession, I heard the “peter, peter, peter” of a Tufted Titmouse, a Northern Cardinal’s “cheerily, cheer-up,” the “teakettle, teakettle” song of a Carolina Wren, and assorted chip notes that I couldn’t place – followed by what was unmistakably the ring of a cell phone.
April 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
In late November and early December my mailbox is filled with requests from charitable organizations. Some days there are so many, I’m tempted to ignore them all. But I try not to because sadly, charitable donations have declined over the past several years. Without funding, charitable organizations cannot do the work that is critical to protecting birds and the environment.
November 2019
Each November I look forward to seeing some of my favorite birds – Tundra Swans. More than 100,000 of these birds are just finishing their three-month migration from north of Hudson Bay in Canada to the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay and the coast of North Carolina, where they spend their winters. A sizeable flock usually winters from November through February at the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Sanctuary just south of Lorton.
October 2019
When I first became interested in birds about 15 years ago, I was simply attracted by their diversity. But the more I observed them, the more I recognized what amazing creatures they are. I have found great enjoyment learning about birds but there’s been a depressing side to my education. People who have been birding far longer than I have, lament that there are so many fewer birds than there were in previous decades. It turns out they are right.