My birdwatching friends know it is unusual for me to miss making posts for so long.
I even missed participating in the Christmas Count this year. But Winter continues and bird watching opportunities have not gone away completely! I hope they never do!
One way many birders appreciate this season is by participating in the annual and International Project FeederWatch. It is a great way for the everyday citizen to be directly involved with real science research. Partnering with Cornell University Ornithology Labs and Bird Studies- Canada, you can be a part of this year’s data collection until early April. I enjoy watching the birds that frequent our backyard feeder too when I cannot get out into the field, forest or swamp.
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln established a national holiday for Americans to take time to express their gratitude for the many freedoms and gifts and blessings that we have.
That has become our Thanksgiving holiday. Pilgrims in 1620 celebrated a harvest feast even after a year of exceedingly difficult colonization and settling. Turkeys and other game birds were believed to be part of the feast, along with fish and venison and a wide variety of vegetables from the harvest- which actually was quite paltry due to a drought.
Nonetheless. This weekend we celebrate Thanksgiving. I with you and your families all the best and I am thankful for your friendship and support through this year of many challenges.
Birds seems to fly by challenges. Yet that is an illusion. They are predator and prey. And their hardships are more than most of us could imagine in our everyday lives. So be thankful for what is.
Autumn is my favorite time for hiking.
Today came close to being absolutely heavenly! Magnificent weather. Muted yet soft leaf color giving the hills an amber-rust overall appearance. Just enough gentle gusts of wind to send waves of colorful leaves across my path.
At the Azalea Cascades path in Desoto State Park the brittle brigades paraded across [...]
