One of the things I enjoy about birds is watching them, the other is discussing them. Well, I guess I’d better include eating them as well. Before I came down with my present heart condition, my diet was completely different — meat was high on the menu and Col. Sanders’ fried chicken was at the […]
Natural World
Posted inOutside
Winter Nature Nights: Learn About the Natural World from the Comfort of Home
Annual Deschutes Land Trust series kicks off in January
By about the end of January, many Central Oregonians start dreaming about warmer temperatures, longer days and the arrival of spring and more time outdoors. But alas, as most of us know, spring won’t be here until June—OK, maybe May—so we have to dream about spring while making it through the rest of winter that […]
Posted inOutside
Winter Nature Nights: Learn About the Natural World from the Comfort of Home
Annual Deschutes Land Trust series kicks off in January
By about the end of January, many Central Oregonians start dreaming about warmer temperatures, longer days and the arrival of spring and more time outdoors. But alas, as most of us know, spring won’t be here until June—OK, maybe May—so we have to dream about spring while making it through the rest of winter that is still to […]
Posted inOutside
A Deadly Dilemma
A case for removing lead from hunting—whether it’s required by law or not
The negative issues connected to lead used in sport hunting go back to the Year One, and it’s taken over 100 years to really understand what a horrifying impact that stuff has on wildlife resource as well as the world around us. A photo I once took of a lead-filled duck gizzard is just one […]
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A Riot of Robins
Why yes, there is a massive migration of robins—aka Turdus migratorius—going on right now
A rash, a hood, a riot—all collective nouns for a group of robins. And boy, are there ever groups, big groups, of them around central Oregon this fall! Have you seen them, too, as you drive through areas thick with juniper trees? If you, like me, have seen clouds of these beautiful birds dive bombing around […]
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Feeding Our Feathered Friends
What to feed the birds you love seeing at the window
Those Bushtits in Sue’s photo, pigging out at our suet feeder, always bring the thrill of feeding wild birds alive in our souls. Don’t know about you guys, but if you’re having a slow and not-so-fun day, Bushtits will bring joy into your life! Both Elise Wolf (a bird rehabber in Sisters), and my wife […]
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Hummingbirds in Winter—What Do We Do?
Take the feeders in at night when it’s freezing
The topic of a lot of my phone calls, emails and text messages this fall has been about hummingbirds and feeders in winter, and to be perfectly frank about it, it’s a worrisome conundrum. Right off the bat, sugar water is not the only food for hummingbirds; sure, they get an instant shot of energy […]
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Those Glorious Tarzan Days
The ups and downs of swinging from the trees
Hang on, good people, we’re headed back to the days of Johnny Weissmuller, who was a magnificent Tarzan of the ’30s, keeping company with his beautiful film-version mate, Jane, portrayed by Maureen O’Hara as they met in “Tarzan the Ape Man,” filmed in 1932 with a pet chimpanzee named “Cheetah.” In 1932 I was only […]
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Larch Light Up the Forests
Golden needles shout fall and mark the turn of the season
Fall is a fleeting thing in Central Oregon. One minute you are lamenting the loss of summer and then before you know it, winter arrives and you didn’t get a chance to soak in the delights of the season. So, take heed: now is the time to enjoy fall, and one great way to do […]
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Put the Leaves to Work in Your Yard
Fallen leaves provide wildlife habitat and free mulch
Every autumn, in the few months between our short growing season and our long winter, Central Oregonians must contend with another challenge: leaves. So many leaves. Cristy Harvey knows the challenge well. Her small 1920s home sits on an average-sized west-side lot with an outsized backyard. Right now, that yard is layered in leaves and […]