Anthropomorphism, attributing human characteristics of thought, feeling and consciousness to non-humans, was long considered a scientific sin by animal behavior researchers. It still is by some. When considering cartoons or talking dog movies I can’t say I disagree, at least in degree. I don’t think there is any real harm and as a literary device, […]
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Every so often a rare or unusual bird will be sighted and showcased on social media. They become celebrities. Birders will come from far and near to share in the experience. This is especially true of twitchers. What is a twitcher”? A twitcher is a birder who seeks to build their life list with as […]
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Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers get most of their nutrition from sap which they gather in sap wells that they industriously bore and maintain. Perfectly logical to call them sapsuckers in my opinion. And, since they have a yellow belly also logical to name them Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. All in all, a fitting name for a strikingly marked, industrious […]
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Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most abundant bird species in North America. During February it has looked and sounded (sometimes even louder than the leaf blowers) like all of them were in our yard. And, eating every sunflower seed I could put out. Yet, this is only 2/3 as many as in the mid-1960s. […]
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Official spring, and the breeding season for most songbirds, is still a few weeks away, but the ducks at Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve are already romancing. The males are in their finest plumage and are trying out their mating dance. For ducks, it’s girl’s choice for a partner. She gets to pick the drake that […]
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Bluebirds have been symbols of happiness, good health and hope across cultures for ages. Chinese, Europeans, especially the French, Russians, indigenous Americans, and many other peoples have all included bluebirds in uplifting folklore, literature, music and images. Ranging from fairy tales in oral history traditions, to Maurice Maeterlinck’s play “The Bluebird” (one of the works for […]
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Tufted Titmice are yard favorites in our household and I suspect many others. They have expressive faces and polite behavior, though often noisy. They sit on a perch near our feeders until they can take a turn, then fly in, get a nice sunflower seed, and then fly back to a perch to shell the […]
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For ten months, I have been posting pictures to our neighborhood association’s Listserv of resident and migrating birds visiting our yard. My intentions have been fourfold: 1) To do something, hopefully meaningful, with my new-found free time from sheltering-in-place and moving my office to our front porch and avoiding Atlanta commute time. 2) For neighbors […]
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Here are some shots taken in our yard on my first outing with the 150-400F4.5. This was not a test. Or, a review. I’m not qualified to test or review gear and don’t have the inclination. I simply took off my 300F4+1.4 and replaced with the 150-400F4.5. Then walked around our yard taking shots that […]
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I haven’t seen a groundhog in our neighborhood, Glennwood Estates, Decatur, Georgia, but we do have our share of chipmunks. So I thought why not a rodent stand-in today. No shadow this morning so we are in for an early spring. This was confirmed by Georgia’s official groundhog winter forecaster, Beau, down in Jackson GA […]
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