Planting for Hummingbirds Who doesn’t love hummingbirds in their garden? You may already set up hummingbird feeders filled with sugar water, but feeders can require a lot of maintenance, as they must be kept cleaned and filled with fresh food. A Bee Balm better option might be to plant native flowers to attract hummingbirds. As […]
FAMILY FUN: Baby Ducklings Near You Waterfowl chicks are hatching and they are adorable! Most ducks nest on the ground where they might build a Wood Duck Babies: Stan Tekila nest out of wet vegetation, or burrow into a clump of grass. Wood ducks are an exception — they nest in natural tree cavities, or in […]
Feeding Tips to Attract Birds to Your Backyard If you want your backyard to attract as many birds as possible, you are going to need to provide a variety of different food sources, fresh water and a safe spot to feed and live. It may sound like a tall order, but actually, it’s easier […]
FAMILY FUN: Watching Birds Up Close There are many ways to learn about birds. One of course, is going out and watching them in the wild with your binoculars. Another is watching them at your feeders. But there are long stretches of time when birds are nesting and because they are hidden for safety, we […]
One of our favorite birds of prey is about to start their migratory trek north and you can watch it happen! Breeding Osprey are found not just in the US but also in Europe. Scientists have put GPS trackers on some of these birds making it possible to follow their migration patterns, and what a […]
If you want to take part in an ancient avian ritual that takes place every March for about 6 weeks and involves hundreds of thousands of Sandhill cranes, then get over to the Platte River right now! For it is there that every March for millennia, Sandhill cranes which have left their over-wintering grounds in […]
Where To See Bald Eagles Now What kind of birds are around in February? There are always beautiful ducks still pairing off for the season, but often the water is frozen over and they are offshore in the open ocean making it difficult to see them. But February can be an ideal time to see […]
What Are Those Hawks Doing? Cold weather doesn’t seem to put much of a damper on hawks when its time to mate. Now is a great time to listen for mating calls and look up to see the amazing aerial displays some raptors make. You can see some hawks like Red-tails circling overhead and flying […]
In winter birds need fresh open water and lots of calories. You can make your backyard a very popular spot in winter with the addition of a heated birdbath and food with high fat content. Nothing beats food with a lot of calories to keep a bird warm at night and there are plenty of […]
Hooded Merganser Waterfowl are in abundance across much of North America in winter. They are looking for mates so are in their prime plumage, making for great sightings. As long as the bodies of water in your area are not completely frozen over, you are likely to find ducks near you! But there are some […]
It’s that time of year again! Time to be part of the Christmas Bird Count which is a really fun thing to do with the entire family! In its 115th year this year, from December 14 through January 5, National Audubon Society organizes groups of people across the entire US who spend one specific day […]
Hawk Viewing This Fall — Watching the Kettle Hawk watching stations are great places to visit during hawk migration. You can watch Accipiters dive at each other, or see eagles soaring. Many avid hawk watchers love to see Broad-winged Hawk migration because Broad-winged Hawks are the only hawks that are gregarious on migration. That is, […]
WHERE TO SEE BIRDS: California’s Central Valley The Central Valley of California is a great spot for overwintering waterfowl. It has also been making the Snow Geese – Gary Zahm, USFWS news a lot lately as the drought there has reached epic proportions, and it’s not just farmers who are affected. About 60 percent of […]
Watch Osprey Migration Live Online! Compared to other birds of prey, Ospreys start their migration south early. Ospreys cannot tolerate cold weather and they start their trek to warmer climes in August before temperatures start to drop. In recent years scientists have been attaching transmitters to Ospreys, enabling them to track their movements in real […]
Sharing the Beach With Nesting Shorebirds Who can resist the beach in the summer? It’s a fun place to enjoy the surf and sun and can also be a great Piping plover chick place to see birds. Many species of birds depend on beaches for survival, and lots of shorebirds have traveled many thousands of […]
Radar Birding: What’s It All About Stay on the cutting edge of birding with RADAR data! Meterologists have being using RADAR stations throughout the country to track and predict weather patterns for decades. But recently, birders have been using RADAR technology to track and understand bird movements! Here is a brief guide to getting started […]
The Timberdoodle Skydance Have you ever heard of a Timberdoodle? These days the official name for the Timberdoodle is American Woodcock (but if you still want to call them Timberdoodles that’s fine with us!). April is a great time to see Woodcocks displaying. They have a pretty amazing spring mating ritual — made all the […]
IN THE NEWS: Snowy Owls and Airports Snowy owls are coming into the US in record numbers this year, and are being seen as far south as South Carolina! If you enjoyed reading about the current irruption of Snowy owls last month in our newsletter, you might be interested in this news story. Snowy owls like […]
Gale Force Migration Bird migration is heavily linked to weather patterns and systems as they move across the country. In the fall, fast Cormorants migrating moving northwest winds, especially ahead of a front, help speed migrating birds ahead of tempestuous weather. But fall migration coincides with another huge event in North America — hurricane season […]
Making Tracks With Ospreys Ospreys are the second most widespread raptor in the world — second only to Red-Tailed hawks. Colloquially known as the Fish Hawk, Osprey make their annual southbound journey each year starting as early as August. This fall, Ospreys have been counted again in the thousands migrating through some of the biggest migration […]