Wildlife Watch

Did you know that many female birds sing? I didn’t, but read about the phenomenon in the summer issue of Living Bird. I had heard about the female rose-breasted grosbeak sometimes singing from the nest, and some years ago I witnessed this phenomenon. I heard the singing, assumed it was a male rose-breasted grosbeak and … Read more

Have you seen any Monarch Butterflies this spring? I haven’t, and if last year is any precedent, we won’t see many this spring and summer either. Monarchs are declining precipitously. Experts estimate that these migratory butterflies have declined by 90% in the past twenty years. The Mexican Oyamel Fir Forest, monarchs’ wintering habitat, has shrunk … Read more

Maybe you are, like me, a “tree hugger”. One of my earliest memories as a child is of a huge tulip tree in my yard. My friends and I played in our big side yard with the tulip tree as base for all games of Tag, Mother-May-I and Red Light, Green Light. My other favorite … Read more

It might not come as a big surprise when I say that Henry David Thoreau is my favorite author. This winter I have been re-reading much of his work. I have discovered some new essays I didn’t know about in a book titled Thoreau: Collected Essays and Poems, edited by Elizabeth Hall Witherell. One of … Read more