WHAT IS ALL THAT NOISE AND FLUTTERING? Why is everyone feathered having a meetup in the twig dogwoods out front? Oh, I see–it’s the (apparently delicious) white fruits that have just ripened. [read more…]
bird sh-t
More than 60 kinds of birds visit my rural garden in New York State, near the Berkshires of Massachusetts, and the garden was begun with them in mind: no chemicals, water year-round, lots of fruit- and seed-rich plantings, plenty of cover.
bird food! an avian ruckus in the cornus
July 18, 2011 at 10:51 am
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cecropia moths, millipedes and other wonders
July 3, 2011 at 11:57 am
TIME FOR A LITTLE NON-PLANT MOMENT, captured in a quick jumble of other-than-botanical snapshots from around the garden lately. There are moths and millipedes of size XL proportion; baby birds everywhere–the stuff you get to see if, and only if, you keep your eyes, and ears, open and don’t move too fast on to that next garden chore. [read more…]
that crabapple moment 2011
May 15, 2011 at 10:43 am
ONE OF MY TOP BIRD-GARDEN PICKS (and not bad from a gardener’s-eye view, either) has been stealing the show the last few days. It’s crabapple season here, so I wanted to be sure to invite you to stroll through my slideshow on them, which includes lots of tips and links loaded with crabapple information as well. (That’s a detail of ‘Prairifire,’ by the way.)
great shrub: koreanspice viburnum, v. carlesii
May 8, 2011 at 1:18 pm
WHEN WOODY PLANT EXPERT MICHAEL DIRR writes in his book “Viburnums” that the fragrance of the Koreanspice viburnum, Viburnum carlesii, “actually reaches out and engulfs passersby,” he is not exaggerating. This is a smell-it-a-mile-away shrub that I would not garden without, and it’s currently doing its engulfing thing here. Delicious. [read more…]
teachers from on high: my bird essay in ‘parade’
March 20, 2011 at 8:51 am
IWROTE A PIECE FOR TODAY’S ‘PARADE’ MAGAZINE about birds, and how many things these avian messengers have taught–and continue to teach–me. It’s a theme in my new memoir “And I Shall Have Some Peace There.” The birds that visit me are among the book’s leading characters, in fact. Sometimes their arrivals are unfortunately abrupt, like the one, above, who bounced off a window, but had a soft landing in Jack the Demon Cat’s outdoor pet bed on a chair on the porch). Bad news, good news, huh? More about birds and “Parade” and all of it here.
links i liked: from bird song, to gmo food perils
January 9, 2011 at 1:43 pm
FROM THE SWEET SONGS OF BIRDS to the scary business of GMO crops and our imperiled food supply, the latest links I’ve been stockpiling are all right here. [read more…]
4 and 20 waxwings, in from the sky
January 5, 2011 at 11:53 am
WINTER’S FIRST FLOCK OF CEDAR WAXWINGS took on fall’s remaining supply of crabapples yesterday. Guess who won? (Me, cause I got to watch.) I got an even better view when they came to drink at the frogpond just out back this morning. Jack the Demon Cat, by the way, is a birdwatcher, too. The proof: [read more…]
doodle by andre: (n)ice shoes, really
December 2, 2010 at 12:01 am
LATELY, LIKE THE SOUTH DAKOTA BIRD in Andre Jordan‘s new backyard, I’ve been shopping the Oh-So-Sensible Shoe Department of the local Farm and Feed Store, but I remember days when I wasn’t such a smart old bird. Make mine super-insulated, high-traction clodhoppers, please. No more Jack Frost nipping at these toes.
look what just blew in: the power of the wind
November 29, 2010 at 2:54 pm
SO IF I HAVE NO EASTERN SYCAMORE TREE in my yard, why am I raking up these distinctive-looking leaves? Of course the not-so-mysterious answer is the power of the wind, which carried them from the woods and delivered them at my doorstep down the road. Which got me thinking… [read more…]
