Birds Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Heartland Safari

Turkey Day

Updated November 24, 2022

One day while we were driving along a county road, a wild turkey shot out of the ditch just in time to collide with the mirror on the car. Needless to say, that was the turkey’s last flight. Instantly, it seemed, a buzzard dropped out of the sky to claim his thanksgiving dinner. Nature’s efficiency […]

Birds

A flock of dozens of black, robin-size birds in flight against a blue autumn sky

A Plague of Visitors

Updated November 3, 2022

It’s a sunny day in late October. There’s no breeze to speak of, and most of the leaves have fallen from the trees. A flock of several hundred black birds have landed in the trees in the woods on Owl Acres, and are chattering in a cacophony of sounds. They’re working on the bare twigs, […]

Birds

O Sweet Canada

Updated October 17, 2022

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) It was an unusually cold, wet spring last May when the white-throated sparrows sailed through on their way to the Canadian woods. The clear whistled song calling “O sweet Canada Canada Canada” if you’re Canadian, or “Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody” if you’re not, rang through the trees, announcing their visit. They […]

Birds

An iridescent green hummingbird flies away from the hummingbird feeder. The feeder looks like an upside down red medicine bottle with five little red flowers around the base.

Tiny Warriors

Updated September 22, 2022

We are having a party, barbecuing in the yard, using the open garage as a staging area for the food and utensils. Suddenly something whizzes past into the garage, startling Bryan, a giant insect? No, it’s a hummingbird come to inspect the bright red handle on the rope that allows you to raise and lower […]

Birds

Barred owl sitting on a tree branch at the edge of the woods on Owl Acres. The bird is looking directly at the viewer.

Who Cooks for You?

Updated September 17, 2022

The barred owl is one of my favorites. I love to hear its easily recognizable call and its mate’s response. This year we’ve had at least one pair calling in the afternoons and evenings. They call and respond, and once in a while they have a more heated conversation and even a bit of squawking. […]

Birds

Songbird with dark grey, almost black body and folded wings, prominent red-orange breast, yellow beak and black eye thinly outlined with white, stands in a patch of green grass dotted with yellow and pale purple flowers.

Cheerily Cheerily Get Up Get Up

Updated August 2, 2022

American Robins Photo credit: Richard Wilson I am trying to sleep in. It’s the third day of my retirement, and I don’t want to get out of bed. But the robin outside my window has other ideas. He sings his cheery song loud and clear. Some people think of it as “cheerily, cheerily cheer up […]

Birds