Those who love and appreciate nature do not always act to protect it. An astounding statistic in the Fall 2024 Audubon Magazine article Birds of a Feather Vote Together quantified this disconnect: “8 million is the estimated number of environmentalists who did not vote in the 2020 election.” The 2020 […]
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We had never seen a bird in the honeyeater family until we went to Australia last month. Our first was a New Holland Honeyeater – a handsome black and white streaked bird with a distinctive yellow wing patch. It possessed a certain boldness and aggressiveness – typical honeyeater behavior – […]
It is amazing that Coyotes still exist – even thrive – despite centuries of human efforts to exterminate them. Dan Flores’ masterful book Coyote America deserves the accolades and awards it has received. Not only does it thoroughly cover the natural history of Coyotes, but it provides quotes and documents […]
“…we humans have disrupted natural habitats in so many ways and in so many places that the future of our nation’s biodiversity is dim unless we start to share the places in which we live –our cities and, to an even greater extent, our suburbs — with the plants and […]
It started with a search for an uncommon bird at Union Bay Natural Area. Located behind the University of Washington, my search took me by the Conibear Shellhouse. There, I sorted through multiple Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting through the trees, hoping to find a Say’s Phoebe. Just then, a woman walked […]
At 3:45 AM on April 14th, a quiet, amiable group gathered in the cold and dark outside their Hay’s, Kansas hotel. Why at this crazy hour? Because Lesser Prairie-Chickens start their spectacular mating dance at their lek at dawn. We were about to depart to witness this event. A neon […]
Why Texas as a birding destination? Due to its large size, varied topography, vegetation and climate, its Gulf coast and geographic shape, it serves as a funnel for migrations to and from central America. At 674 species, Texas has the second most bird species of any state in the U.S. […]
A flash of brilliant yellow with black accents cuts through the gloom of the darkest time of the year. These dramatic colors belong to the Townsend’ Warbler that just landed on our feeder. We acknowledged the arrival of this charismatic bird to our yard by adding its name and the […]
There is trash talk… and there is literal trash talk. While I am not known for the former, I have been known to discuss the latter. What got me started? The desecration of our beloved Seattle Parks by trash, drug paraphernalia and grafitti. Fed up with the parks’ demise, I […]
It seemed like a recipe for failure: birding on the shortest, darkest day of the year in the rainy Pacific Northwest. If you were looking for […]