Tag: chickadees

It’s For the Birds!

Black-capped chickadee outside my window

2018 is the year of the bird!

What does that mean? It means Audubon, National Geographic, Cornell, BirdLife International, and most importantly, bird lovers everywhere are teaming up for a year of action for birds! 2018 is the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and what better way to honor our most important bird-protection law than with our own small ways of protecting birds.  Sign up to take a pledge to help birds here.

 

My bird friendly yard. The birds eat the seeds of these cone flowers all winter

Birds are struggling because of loss of habitat, and heavy use of pesticides and other chemicals by farmers, corporations and gardeners. My thing is creating a friendly habitat for birds. Audubon has plants for bird friendly yards. Read at Audubon

 

Superior Views, November and December

“In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.” Aristotle

Lake Superior in November
Lake Superior in November

Both November and December have been unseasonably warm! Warm sunny days alternating with rainy days.  It is quiet, very quiet.  Crows, the call of the pileated, and bald eagles maintaining a continuous chatter are about the only sounds.  Even the big lake has been on the quiet side especially with the wind from the SW.

Eagles sit in this white pine tree
Eagles sit in this white pine tree

Rough grouse and mystical snow buntings entertain as they fly up from the roadside. The large number of chickadees and grey squirrels is unusual, and I assume the mild weather has something to do with their numbers. Both chickadees and squirrels peek through the windows of our house watching our household. Chickadees were still eating flies off our house the first week of December, but cooler nights have turned the chickadees to the feeders, plants and trees.

An occasional 1000 foot ore boat passes through on horizon
An occasional 1000 foot ore boat passes through on horizon

While I was delighting in the charming chickadees. These stories about chickadees came from one of my favorite bird authors:  http://www.startribune.com/chickadees-go-to-charm-school/360852661/

Superior Views, my observations on Lake Superior