A blend of simmered, sauteed & sometimes stewed commentary about the Kersteins' daily lives and thoughts.
Jun 24 2010
I haven’t been helping birds or wildlife in the Gulf region, but I did my small share for birds yesterday by saving a Black-capped Chickadee from the clutches of the nasty cat that lives across the street. At about 6:30 a.m., I looked out my office window and noticed the neighbor’s black and white cat [...]
May 26 2010
There’s a pleasant House Finch couple that have become regulars at our backyard feeders. They can be seen in the mornings and evenings eating sunflower seed. I started noticing the male finch about three weeks ago. Since then, he and his mate have been visiting almost daily. Year-round residents, the House Finch [...]
May 20 2010
I finally had a chance to hang my two hummingbird feeders late this April to attract some hummingbirds this season. And filling them with a homemade sugar and water solution was easy. (See recipe below) My efforts at refreshing the sugar/water solution every week paid off last week. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird visited our window feeder [...]
May 05 2010
Researchers from Tufts University will be spending their third year of a study on grassland birds at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA, this summer, the Newburyport Daily News reports. The research will include casting nets to tag and draw blood from birds, as well as figure out why species such as the Bobolink and Eastern [...]
Jun 30 2009
Here’s an amusing spoof of a 1970s birds documentary, taken from the “Look Around You” series, a parody of the old British school science programs. (Thanks to the Birdchick blog for pointing this one out.)
May 03 2009
This has been a good week for new birds at our feeders. This morning, I saw another new visitor, a Gray Catbird. A year-round resident, it’s the first time this bird has been seen in our yard. The Gray Catbird is mostly slate gray with a small black cap on its head and a black [...]
May 03 2009
Randye gets a big rousing golf clap for sighting and identifying a new bird visitor to our backyard feeders, an Eastern Towhee. A male bird (see picture below) started visiting in the mornings about two days ago, and has been somewhat regular to our backyard since. He mostly forages on the ground for seed and [...]
Feb 04 2009
Brace yourselves for birdwatching excitement and drama! (OK, so allow me to be a little hyperbolical) We’re just over a week away from the Great Backyard Bird Count, and this household is primed with plenty of bird food, ‘bins’ (cool bird watcher slang for binoculars), and not one, but two bird identification books. And heck, [...]
Feb 03 2009
Human hunting and fishing practices are forcing an evolutionary shrinkage of prey species, reports the Wired Science blog. Kind of a no-brainer. Throughout time, life has adapted to its environment, as well as to avoid becoming tonight’s dinner. Now that humanity has such a massive impact on the Earth, “forced” adaptations will likely increase more [...]
Jan 28 2009
Our peanut feeder had a visit from a Red-Bellied Woodpecker for the first time this morning. At first, we thought it was the chipper Downy Woodpecker that likes to drop in from time to time for peanuts, but the red nape that extends from its shoulders to its beak was unmistakable. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker’s bill [...]
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Dec | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | |||
