"Severe" (fill in the blank; tornadoes, snow, wind, sleet, rain, flooding) seems to be the new norm as much of the eastern part of the country is under weather threats today and tomorrow. Stay safe, hunker down and fill feeders beforehand.   ..read more

                                      HAPPY EASTER COTTONTAIL!!                                               ENJOY YOUR EASTER ..read more

If you came to this blog post because you were expecting answers about why you are not seeing goldfinches in any year, here is the answer. Goldfinches are erratic about where they occur. They move around in winter depending on food sources. They may not appear in winter, spring, summer or fall in areas where they were previously. So at any time of year you may not be seeing them when you saw them before. In addition, Goldfinches breeding range includes most of the northern two thirds of the country and into Canada. In winter, they leave the northernmost part of that range and are found in ..read more

  Happy First Day of Spring! Early arrivals that have been spotted, Tree Swallows and Eastern Phoebe. These insect eaters will have to contend with the roller coaster weather in New England, warm, sunny, and windy today, then next week rain, cold, and even possibly a snow shower. They are a welcome sign that things are moving forward, bring on the other migrants ..read more

  Believe it or not, hummingbirds have already started arriving in the southern part of the U.S. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been spotted in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, so time to get the hummingbird feeders up in those areas. If you're in the northern parts of the country, it seems like a long time before hummingbirds will be enthralling you. These photos may help you dream about it. You can track their progress and see other people's spring hummer sightings at eBird.org ..read more

  Burrowing Owls are special little owls that live in underground burrows they dig or in a burrow they take over from a prairie dog, ground squirrel, or tortoise. They live in much of the West and in Florida in grasslands, deserts, bare lots, and other open habitats. They hunt insects and rodents. Unfortunately, their numbers are declining due to human destruction of their habitat and declining food sources. Enjoy them but don't disturb them ..read more

  Roseate Spoonbills Happy Valentine's Day! Hope your day is "Rosy" Lillian  ..read more

  Our Groundhog, maybe still asleep in its underground burrow today. But Punxsutawney Phil, the "official" weather forecasting Groundhog was trotted out on TV this morning to predict if we would have an early spring. He said, Yes, since he didn't see his shadow, we will have an early spring. Here is a poem from Phil's website in 2007 El Nino has caused high winds, heavy snow, ice and freezing temperatures in the west. Here in the East with much mild winter weather we have been blessed. Global warming has caused a great debate. This mild winter makes it seem just great. On this ..read more

How you can help Evening Grosbeaks! Their population has dropped 92% since 1970. If you see any banded Evening Grosbeaks at your feeder please report it to the US Bird Banding Lab at USGS Bird Banding Lab and email avian ecologist David Yeany at dyeany@paconserve.org. All banded Evening Grosbeaks will have an aluminum leg band, plus up to 3 colored bands. It's important to determine the sex of the bird and record the location of each band – whether a band is positioned on the upper or lower areas of the right leg or left leg – along with each band’s color. You will also provide the date and l ..read more

  "Yellow" subspecies of Palm Warbler photographed in NH in fall "Western" subspecies of Palm Warbler photographed in winter on Sanibel Island, on the west coast of southern FL In addition to many sparrows such as White-throated, White-crowned, Song, Chipping, Swamp, and Lincoln's Sparrows we had migrating through New England, there are some Palm Warblers, top photo above. These late migrating, beautiful warblers have yellow breasts and deep yellow undertail coverts. They constantly wag their tail up and down, a nice giveaway to their identification. These bright "yellow" Palms are the ..read more