The canary yellow of goldfinches in summer may be more eye-catching, but the male Indigo Bunting is an attention grabber, far more than the female who might pass as a brown sparrow unless you noticed her white throat. It takes
I might live to see gators from North Carolina colonize our local swamps and creeks. Warmer winters from climate change will entice them and torrid summers push them north. Or maybe not. After recovering from overhunting for making leather handbags,
I often look up to check for a flash of white on the head or tail of a large bird soaring overhead or ascending a thermal. Not so many years ago, it was a red-letter day to see a Bald
I had first sight of Jane Goodall decades ago at Edinburgh University where an excited audience gathered for her seminar. Looking like a slim owl in brown plumage, she wore a signature ponytail even then, though not yet grey. She
I love the thrush family. Friends of gardeners, they are wonderful songsters too. Many family members have bold spots on their breasts to help identification, along with a rufous tail in the Hermit Thrush. Like last week’s kinglets, this bird
Early this morning, January 1, 2021, three minutes after midnight, the last human being to be born on earth was killed … Thus begins Children of Men, a dystopian novel by P.D. James (1992). A sudden and unexplained loss of
These tiny birds look like cute Christmas tree decorations. Inge photographed this male and female who probably arrived recently in Virginia as winter residents or transients. Ruby-crowned Kinglets breed in the north and west where they announce their territory with
My great grandma bought this watercolor by a minor artist of an Isle of Wight scene a century ago. It has hung in our family homes ever since. A housemaid carrying a basket is walking up a winding lane scoured
As I resume posts after an absence, I chose Inge’s picture of a Cedar Waxwing. Not an uncommon bird in Virginia and seen here any month of the year, but a sighting always draws a long look. They look cocksure
I can’t resist posting this image, although Frogmouths are native to Australia. Inge took this picture of a captive bird exhibited at a Williamsburg Bird Club meeting. If you think birds are universally beautiful, consider this face. I’d say it’s
A perky little warbler of mixed woodlands that migrates through Tidewater Virginia. A few remain here to breed. It creeps along branches and up and down tree trunks looking for insects in the same manner as nuthatches and creepers. A
You may have to travel a long way to see this species. Inge saw it in south Texas, at the northern limit of its range. A tiny owl with a longish tail, it is no bigger than an Eastern Bluebird.