May
16
2015
In the week I was gone my goldfinch stopped coming to my feeders. That happens every year. The goldfinch come in a steady stream to my feeders in the early spring. Then they stop. I sometimes wonder what they feed on later on but, obviously, it is something other the sunflower seed I put out for them. It is always a mystery to me.
May
9
2015
I saw a new bird today. Chuck spotted it at one of his feeders. He thought, at first, it was an albino (of a pigeon or mourning dove but then he brought out his bird book. It was a type of dove he had never seen before. It was white and had a ring around its neck. I will give you its precise name when I look it up in my bird book. It is always exciting when you see a new species of bird. I might try to photograph the red headed woodpecker for my wife later. It is a common species here but not so in Pennsylvania.
Jan
7
2015
The birds are finally coming to my suet cage. I did move it further from the trunk of the white pine. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. Maybe. I briefly had two Carolina wrens and a downy woodpecker on it. I, also, saw my first red bellied woodpecker feed on the suet. It came twice. I just got tired of sharing my suet with the squirrels. I would go through one suet cake a day sometimes. The suet cage was an unexpected Christmas gift from my wife. And she gave it early to me. I am delighted the birds are coming inside it to feed.
Nov
17
2014
I have been putting out birdseed again for several months. I had stopped for a few months. We had several visits from a bear who was tearing down all the bird feeders helping himself. The last week was the first time I saw a red bellied woodpecker (several times) and a Carolina wren. I could have sworn I saw a brown creeper and the first flock of slate covered juncos feeding on the ground. These were all first sighting of these birds since I put back the feeders.
Jun
2
2014
Hopefully the black bear will stay away. He visited us twice and wrecked our gate to get over our five foot fence. Then he tore down all our bird feeders and got into the container of sunflower seed. My wife actually saw him. I am guessing his sex. I never did find the bird feeder we kept sunflower seed in. I bought another inexpensive one. The birds are slowly coming back. It had been a few days we had no feed for them. My wife was sound asleep in the living room which has a large front window. He came to our property at night. It just so happened I was away when this occurred. Yesterday a carpenter built us a sturdy gate. Let us see if that keeps the bear from entering our property. My wife is terrified of the bear and stopped sleeping in the living room. She wants nothing to do with this “critter”. This is the first time we had a bear on our property since we built a fence around part of it.
Jul
3
2012
I never paid any attention to it. The big trees in our yard are all white pines. The one in front of our window we hang bird feeders from and see a constant parade of visitors. But that is not the tree I am going to talk about. There is a gigantic white pine outside our large wooden fence. Lately I would occasionally stare at it realize (???) it could be over an hundred years old. It is massive, easily the oldest tree on our property. I have lived here ten years and never paid much attention to it. It is massive and might have seen the beginning of the twentieth century. It is definitely older than me. I could only guess at its age. It is a treasure on our property and all I can do is occasionally walk back there and open my mouth in awe and stare at it and peer at all its gnarled branches and imagine its age.
Jun
6
2012
A Carolina wren must have a nest nearby. I have seen it repeatedly hop on the posts of our fence and sing out from my front door. It has a beautiful voice I was not familiar with it (???). As far as wrens go it is big. Now I am looking out for it and trying to discover its nest which is probably in the adjacent gigantic bush. Catbirds have nested there before. Last year a Carolina wren had a nest in a flower pot hanging from the garage door. Carolina wrens are birds I have fallen in love with. It was one I was unfamiliar with until I started putting up bird feeders.
Jul
29
2011
We have been home (from the Jersey Shore) less than 24 hours and what I most appreciate is the quiet here. All I hear here is the ?crickets or is it the ?cicadas. And the occasional “whoosh” of a car passing nearby.
The bed and breakfast we stayed at for three nights was on a busy road. It was very difficult to make a left hand turn. It was only a block away from the ocean. New Jersey just had too many people.
For some reason I become very unsettled in crowded areas. It is not my fault. I just do. I will appreciate my house better. It is not on a main fare. I watch the birds come to and fro my feeders all day. Especially the hummingbirds who never fail to delight me.
There is a reason mental hospitals always were situated in the country. They used to be called rest homes. Many years ago the array of medications to treat mental illness did not exist.
People who had nervous breakdowns were sent to hospitals in the countryside to recuperate and recover. There is nothing like the calm found in nature to do so.
I will appreciate my home better. It is just a relief to be here. My trip to the Jersey shore reminded me how fortunate I am to be on the edge of country.
Mar
8
2011
It must almost be spring. Today I saw a robin near our feeders. I ran out into the yard to make sure I was not mistaken and saw a pair of them hip hopping in the snow across the street. A little later both of them lit on our front white pine tree: I guess they could not find any food in the snow. I was thrilled. And brought them to my (???) attention of my wife. It was my first sighting of a robin this year. Both of them were pretty fat so they had no shortage of food. It was March 8 less than two weeks from spring.
Jan
1
2011
“501 Must Visit Natural Wonders Of The World,” is a book I have that has extraordinary accompanying photos on glossy paper. I think this book was a Christmas present to my wife. I am sure I bought it in the discount bin of a big book store.
Every once in a while I open it up and view one amazingly beautiful photo after another. Travelling is not an option for me. It is not that I would not mind.
If you can’t view the beauty right in front of you, a trip to one of these spots would be a waste of time and money. I do not feel impoverished. I am still thrilled every spring when life awakens.
For that matter, winter has its own beauty. The Susquehanna River viewed from the top of the valley still takes my breath away. Snowfalls isolate the street I live on and all the trees that are covered with white. This only happens a few times a year.
I still love watching the birds come to and fro my feeders I view out side our large living room window. It was not that long ago that the slate covered juncos came back. I have a friend that calls them ‘snow birds’.
I have no need to go far to see beauty. You first have to see what is in front of you before you travel at great expense to see the foreign and the exotic. I will leaf through this book but I will not lust after these places depicted in glossy photographs.
I know there is much to see in my own backyard so I don’t have to go far to see beauty. I just have to open my eyes and pay closer attention. Wonders are all around.
Nov
17
2010
I have always lived at the edge of country. Of course, some people are more divorced from it if they are surrounded by concrete but it is always there you just have to look a little harder.
Growing up I watched my mother plant vegetables and flowers and other things. We had a mulberry and fig and apricot tree and some of the biggest blackberries I have ever seen.
It was a small plot of land but she tilled it well. We had fresh string beans and tomatoes. She loved roses. The garden was a place she could disappear in. And she often did for hours.
We lived in a bustling little city but that garden we had was an introduction to many things. I learned to love deep red stemmed roses.
On weekends my father brought us into the country, mountains and shore but most of my life I lived in the edge of country. I learned to appreciate what came my way.
Today I still love birds. I have several bird feeders that I can view from our large living room windows and watch a steady parade of chickadees and titmouse and woodpeckers just to name a few.
It all started in Mom’s garden and the weekend trips we took as a family. I learned to love the mountains and trees and lakes and and so many other things.
Feb
13
2010
There were certain birds I never saw before I started feeding them. A red bellied woodpecker was one. I never saw a Carolina wren before. Those are two birds that quickly come to mind.
There are others like a white breasted nuthatch who likes feeding on the suet I put out for the woodpeckers. I never had a large living room window facing the yard before from where I can watch the birds come to and fro several bird feeders.
Our window faces a large white pine and there are bushes on the edge of the porch. When the frost is ended I will put out sugar water and watch the daily parade and antics of the ruby throated hummingbirds feeding on them.
I consider myself lucky to have this situation. I have always loved birds and I get a lot of pleasure of watching the steady stream of them.
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