Sometimes on nature walks I will confess that, until I am able to confidently see and identify a vireo, I don't consider myself a "real" birder. That day has still not come. You see, I was walking around Scarboro Pond with my boss, performing part of the Franklin Park Biodiversity Summer 2021 survey, when I heard a persistent and unfamiliar ( Read more... )

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As we walked the dogs around our neighborhood this sultry September evening, we were serenaded by singing insects.  We heard the temperature-measuring cheep cheep cheep cheep of the snowy tree cricket, the excitable clock tick tick tick tick tickticktickticktick of the greater angle-winged katydid  and the "cricket. crickeket." of the true katydid. ( Read more... )

Warm day today, nearly 80 in the Boston area. On our evening dog walk it had cooled down a bit, and the Riverway was thick with birds. We saw a half dozen catbirds, three groups of Canada geese with goslings, and a few unidentifiable warblers. And then on the way back I heard my favorite bird song. It was right by the path, so we stopped for a ( Read more... )

Over last weekend I saw my first turkey vulture of the year, and on Monday one flew over the zoo low enough for me to see the pink skin on its head. Also on the weekend, we were trying to pick out an unfamiliar bird song from a cacophony, but lost it in the cardinals, robins, titmice, chickadees, mourning doves, and blue jays that were all calling ( Read more... )

Not to give anyone any ideas, but in the United States, it's legal to own a European Starling as a pet (or pretty much do anything you want to them, as long as you don't run afoul of animal cruelty lawas). Here's someone in (apparently) South Carolina who has one, and has taught it a few phrases to speak. It's interesting how the quality of its ( Read more... )