The Ruffed Grouse in New England has declined by 69% While out afield this week by the shrubby banks of a lake, I came across something very exciting. The shadowed profile of a mother grouse emerged from among the thick shrubs followed by two or three young ones who were about the size of a… Continue reading Little Signs of Hope Among the Sadness
One of the things I love about being out waterfowling, or really just outdoors and quiet, is the unexpected things nature chooses to reveal. This last fall, I was tucked into a screen of trees with my dog beside me. We were standing above floating mats of sphagnum moss in a beaver pond. I hid… Continue reading Wood Duck with a Southpaw
Some fun info on North America's smallest woodpecker and reflecting on nature writing, indigenous justice and land acknowledgment statements
What to do when you come across an injured bird? Particularly when injured by humans? A lot of times in this blog I write more about dangers to birds from the climate crisis, acid rain, pollution, habitat damage and disruption in New England and elsewhere. These concepts are hugely important and helping birds won't get… Continue reading 7 Essential Helps for Injured Birds (& other animals)
What will become of this grassland bird?
Noah's ark: all the animals walking into the big wooden boat two by two*- this commonly shared Bible story has been told through storybooks, bath toys and art work. I believe both a positive influence and negative influence arise in our American culture from reading and misreading this story in regards to conservation. The positive:… Continue reading Shall we avoid local extinctions?
Is this the rise of a 21st Century woodpecker? Or is it something different?
Threatened & harried, you can read about these spectacular birds and the riddles of their plight here
"Pee- a -weeeeee!" In the frigid days of January, my mind drifts to the cozy warmth of summer. During my first year in New England, I took enthusiastic delight in the vociferous call of the Eastern Wood Pewee. Trying not to anthropomorphize is so hard for me when it comes to this bird who dashes… Continue reading In Defense of Flycatchers
Walking the rock piled cliffs and windy heights of the Marginal Way in coastal Maine, an interesting sight appeared late this fall. While many of the regulars were there among the waves- scoters and eiders, loons and gulls, a bird strange and unknown to me arrived drifting through the air heading southwest along the coastline,… Continue reading Surprised by Gannets & Global Warming
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