Marcia Bonta

  • Tom’s Finch

    Tom’s Finch

    On the last day of September, our son Mark found the first migrating white-crowned and white-throated sparrows behind the barn and guesthouse. He also pointed out a Lincoln’s sparrow he had discovered at the edge of the hedgerow bordering First Field. I’m not an expert on the “little brown jobs,” as birders refer to the…

  • Audubon’s Pewee

    Audubon’s Pewee

    It’s a day in late May and already the nests of our eastern phoebes are bursting with nestlings preparing to fledge. Over the 47 years we have lived on our mountain, our buildings have hosted many eastern phoebe nests. Some buildings, such as the guesthouse portico and the old outhouse, contained nests for several decades,…

  • Chasing Waterfowl

    Chasing Waterfowl

    Early April is the time to see migrating waterfowl on every pond, lake, and river in our state, and last spring was no exception. On a warm, breezy, April day, led by our birder son, Mark, my husband Bruce and I took an all-day tour in search of ducks, geese, and other assorted waterfowl. Mark…

  • Jaybirds

    Jaybirds

    Every winter my feeder birds are mostly the same, both in species and numbers. But usually there is at least one surprise, even in winters when no northern finch irruptions occur. Last winter was the year of blue jays, often nicknamed “jaybirds” because of their calls. We live tucked away by ourselves atop a mountain…

  • Northern Visitors

    Northern Visitors

    Last winter I spent hours in our Norway spruce grove watching red-breasted nuthatches. I first saw them on October 28 when one foraged on a Norway spruce tree trunk while another rushed around on the ground in search of Norway spruce nuts. I had already learned from Doug Gross, Endangered and Non-game Bird Section Supervisor…

  • Crow Blackbirds

    Crow Blackbirds

    On the last day of October, a flock of blackbirds lands on top of a tree behind me as I sit on Coyote Bench. Later, on the Vernal Pond Bench, I hear and then see an enormous blackbird flock as it alights on nearby oak trees and then erupts overhead in a wheeling flock of…

  • Bird Brains

    Bird Brains

    Don’t call anyone a bird brain unless you are complimenting them. In the last couple decades, researchers worldwide have been discovering how amazing bird brains are. That should not be a surprise since feathered winged animals that fly have been evolving on earth for more than 150 million years, according to recent genetic analyses. Neuroscientists…

  • Thistle-Birds

    Thistle-Birds

    In August our weedy First Field is alive with singing American goldfinches. Although most songbirds are finishing their parental duties by then, American goldfinches have barely begun. Their preference for thistle and other seeds may be one reason they wait until midsummer when the seeds are mature, because they line their nests with thistle, milkweed…

  • Great Crested Flycatchers

    Great Crested Flycatchers

    On a lovely morning in late June, I watched a pair of great crested flycatchers calling back and forth. One was in our side yard and the other in our front yard. Then both of them landed on a black walnut tree beside our driveway and appeared to be interested in a deserted woodpecker hole.…

  • The Gifts of May

    The Gifts of May

    Spring is my favorite season and May my favorite month. To me, beginnings are always more thrilling than endings and comings more wonderful than goings as I experience all the excitement of new and resurrecting life—the returning of birds, the blooming of wildflowers, trees and shrubs, and the newborn fawns, bear cubs, and other mammals.…

  • Earth Day Birding Classic

    Earth Day Birding Classic

    It was the brain child of our youngest son, Mark, who teaches geography and environmental studies at Penn State Altoona and one of his students, Catherine Farr. Laura Jackson, president of our Juniata Valley Audubon Society, quickly signed on to their Earth Day Birding Classic 2016. Patterned after the numerous bird-a-thons, such as the world-renown,…

  • Happy Birthday Project FeederWatch

    Happy Birthday Project FeederWatch

    It’s mid-November and once again I‘m engaged in Project FeederWatch, keeping a record of the number and species of birds visiting my back porch feeder area. As a veteran of this citizen science project started by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, both they and I are celebrating our 30th year engaged in this unique program.…