by don | Dec 30, 2010
This year is winding up just like last year began – cold and snowy. An early Naturalist’s Corner from last January was “Birrrrrding the big chill.” “The annual Balsam Christmas Bird Count was scheduled for last Saturday (Jan. 2). However, scary weather conditions —...
by don | Dec 22, 2010
Don’t worry PUFIs won’t harm you. They won’t even take you up to the mothership to probe and prod you and send you home with nothing but a vague recollection of bluish lights and otherworldly mutterings. PUFI is simply bird-nerd speak for purple finch. This “sparrow...
by don | Dec 14, 2010
I received an email last week from Ida Phillips, communications director for Audubon North Carolina, announcing that Lea Island, a barrier island in Pender County was close to being permanently protected: “One of the last undeveloped barrier islands in North Carolina...
by don | Dec 14, 2010
A spin around Lake Junaluska the other day (12/2) turned up another unusual winter visitor plus highlighted the foibles and frustrations sometimes associated with birding. I had finished a quick check of the new wetlands and was headed back to my truck when I noticed...
by don | Dec 4, 2010
A goose I first thought to be a Ross’s goose because of its small stature seems to fit better (because of head and bill pattern) as a lesser snow goose. This bird is hanging with a bunch of domestic greylags – behemoths, which made it look so diminutive...
by don | Dec 2, 2010
I mean, where would you hang a tire swing if there were no trees? How could you lay back and watch the sky rock back and forth filling the jigsaw spaces between the leaves with ever-changing bits of sky and cloud? Or, how could you reach that cool deep hole in the...
