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Blue Canaries
On an early May morning, I step outside and hear a warble of clear, bright, musical notes. The indigo buntings have returned. Also known as “blue canaries” because of their color and song, I’ve never been able to describe indigo bunting song to others except to say that I know it when I hear it.
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Elk Country Outing
As soon as we saw a sign telling us we were in Elk Country, five pairs of eyes scanned the landscape for a glimpse of the elusive elk.
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The Waterfowl Itch
When I hear and see flocks of tundra swans flying northwest in early March, I get what I call the “waterfowl itch.” I want to visit as many lakes as possible to feast my winter-weary eyes on brightly-colored migrating waterfowl.
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Winter Porkies
While I may puzzle over some tracks, there is no mistaking those of porcupines. They plow through the snow on their naked, flat, pigeon-toed feet like miniature bulldozers, and when the tracks freeze, deer, opossums and foxes use them as winter highways.
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Midwinter Cranes
I never thought I would see sandhill cranes less than 20 miles from my home in central Pennsylvania. Yet there I was last January, sitting in our car with my husband Bruce, watching five sandhill cranes through our scope as they foraged in a small wetland near State College. When the word went out on
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The 114th Christmas Bird Count
The annual Christmas Bird Count is livened up by some extra counters, but inclement weather makes for a very challenging count.
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White-footed Mice
“I think mice are rather nice.” So began the children’s poem by Rose Amy Fyleman that I read to my three sons when they were young. Fyleman was an English writer who lived in earlier times (1877-1957) and her mice were not the primary hosts for the larvae and nymphs of black-legged (Lyme disease) ticks
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Bridge Swallows
Cliff swallows are amazingly adaptable birds. Unlike most species, they seem to thrive because of human-designed structures.
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Cavity-Nesting Birds
I’ve never thought of myself as a female Dr. Doolittle, but last June a bird “talked” to me and I understood her.
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Marcia Bonta 