WHEN YOU TRAVEL to different countries or different places in this country, it’s easy to pick up local slang. After two weeks of birding in… Continue reading
THE MORNING PHONE call was one of those surprises that rouses your curiosity. Neighbors sometimes call, but most of our visiting is done “over the… Continue reading
THE SOUND COMING from somewhere on the outside of the house was one homeowners never want to hear. Was a woodpecker poking about on the… Continue reading
“YOUR GULLS COULD eat ours!” That’s the impression our glaucous-winged gulls made on friends visiting from Australia. I think Don was only half-joking. Australia’s common… Continue reading
WHEN A GOOD friend arrives and it has been several months since you last saw them, it’s a happy day. Two such “friends” arrived this… Continue reading
STRANGE SOUNDS IN the walls or the attic are never good sounds, especially at this time of the year. When some rather muffled “thuds” were… Continue reading
THE SOUND IN the garden was as pleasant as 10 fingers scratching their nails on a chalkboard. It wasn’t being made by a human. After… Continue reading
I LOVE TEXAS. I’ve considered it special ever since childhood. You can’t grow up crazy about horses and cowboys without giving part of your heart… Continue reading
THE YARD HAD gone totally quiet. There wasn’t a breath of air. The 2017 eclipse was underway, and then a familiar sound was heard. A… Continue reading
North to Alaska THE PASSAGE OF43 years will see momentous changes in most areas. That’s how long it has been since I visited southeast Alaska… Continue reading
THERE ARE ALWAYS birds that seem to go with a particular season in the way some plants and flowers do. When the red currant begins… Continue reading
THE IRRITATION SOME experience when a crowing rooster greets the dawn is being directed at another avian vocalist. Eurasian collared-doves begin “cooing” at first light.… Continue reading
I HOPE EVERYONE reading this has a birdbath in their yard or in another spot where it can be observed on a regular basis. That’s… Continue reading
BEFORE REFERRING TO something taking place in my garden, I thought it prudent to see Webster’s definition of an “orgy.” One definition for this word… Continue reading
SOMETHING ABOUT THE lone gull perched on top of the ferry landing’s dolphin was different. It looked smaller than the familiar glaucous-winged that are so… Continue reading
THANKS TO OUR cold, wet spring, the weeds took over various parts of the yard. One of those was the manmade waterfall and its stream… Continue reading
THE PICTURE WASN’T very clear but the description that went with it was. The writer was concerned about a Steller’s jay in her yard. It… Continue reading
NEWLY FLEDGED BIRDS mean more and more action from late spring to midsummer. Later this month, the cries of young osprey will make things interesting… Continue reading
“OH, THAT’S A pretty little bird! I wonder what it is.” It’s almost impossible to realize I once said that when I saw my first… Continue reading
IF THERE WERE more serious hikers who were also serious birders, we would have better data on the birds in the Olympic Mountains. I recall… Continue reading
