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Entries Tagged as 'birds'

A New Kind of Birdsong

September 16th, 2009 · 5 Comments

We know that attention to the natural world can open our eyes to new ways of seeing.  Have a look at this lovely little one minute video.  The creator, Brazilian artist Jarbas Agnelli, says, “Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to [...]

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Tags: art, birds, urban nature

Mammoth Sunflowers/Homegrown Birdfeeder

September 11th, 2009 · 5 Comments

We planted several Mammoth Sunflowers in our garden this year.  Clearly, they don’t call them “mammoth” for nothin’, though this is the only one that grew to truly mutant proporations.  It’s gorgeous–I want a whole forest of them.  And once again we stand in awe of that perennial gardening miracle: how did such a thing [...]

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Tags: birds, garden

Leucy, A Most Unusual Crow, RIP

August 3rd, 2009 · 9 Comments

My West Seattle neighborhood has been graced, the past few years, by a most unusual crow.  Her actual sex is not definitively known, but those who lived on her street and watched her most closely suggest “she,” so I’ll go with that.  This crow was famous in her small circle, and everyone seemed to have [...]

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Tags: birds, crows, urban nature

Homegrown Hummingbird Feeder

July 26th, 2009 · 4 Comments

I am much too lazy to have a hummingbird feeder.  I never manage to keep enough food made, or to clean the feeder often enough, so instead of bringing me joy, hummingbird feeding has always filled me with guilt.  Plus our deck, where we want the birds to visit, is in full sun, and the [...]

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Tags: birds, urban nature

A Bird in the Hand (Will NOT be Abandoned by its Parents!)

July 12th, 2009 · 6 Comments

The other day Tom pulled down a House Sparrow nest lodged in an outdoor electrical box, assuming the birds were done with it.  But many resident birds, those that don’t migrate, will attempt a second brood of chicks later in the summer.  These birds first nested in a corner of our gutter, but their nest [...]

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Tags: birds, urban nature

Western Tanager and the Morning Cup

June 4th, 2009 · 5 Comments

This morning while I was sipping my morning coffee in the backyard, a Western Tanager dropped from the sky into a corner of our little pond.  No matter how many tanagers I see in my life, I will never cease to be startled by their glowing presence.  Western Tanagers are bright yellow with black wings, [...]

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Tags: birds, urban nature

Quid Pro Crow: Gardening Alongside Wildlife

April 23rd, 2009 · 8 Comments

When I planted our peas in March, I chased the crows out of the cherry tree before I started. I was thinking of all the crows I’d seen watching gray squirrels bury their peanuts.  The squirrels are so busy-busy, patting down the soil over their treasure with those bad little paws.  Then as soon as [...]

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Tags: birds, crows, garden, urban nature

When Good Woodpeckers Go Bad

March 17th, 2009 · 7 Comments

This week I received two e-mails from friends who want to know what they can do about their “nemesis”–the woodpecker that is maniacally drumming their house at all hours. This is a frequent spring complaint about Northern Flickers, the most common urban-suburban woodpecker.  They are beautiful fawn-colored birds with black spots, long-ish bills, and pretty, [...]

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Tags: birds, urban nature