Winter is considered a time of quiet and hibernation, and often we wait until spring to think about viewing birds and other creatures. But the cold of winter increases the energetic need of wild animals, sending them out to seek food at all hours of the day. It’s one of the best times to watch [...]
Entries Tagged as 'birds'
Leave the Leaves (for the Thrushes!)
November 30th, 2011 · 3 Comments
Three years ago, I spotted the first Hermit Thrush I’d ever seen in my backyard. She was standing on our concrete patio, poking her bill beneath the scattered autumn leaves and nibbling the worms and other tasty invertebrates found there. Since then, we stopped sweeping the leaves off of our patio, and we never rake [...]
Tags: birds, urban nature
The Roofer’s Birdhouse
August 14th, 2011 · 24 Comments
A few weeks ago we had a new roof put on (alas–now we are on a serious fiscal austerity program!). Our roof is complicated, and the job took several days to complete. One day while the roofers were here and I was out walking to escape the noise, I discovered a voice message on my [...]
Tags: birds, urban nature
“Crow Divebombing Help” – A crow aggression primer for desperate web searchers
June 8th, 2010 · 8 Comments
My husband Tom, who manages the technical side of this blog, has been watching the search terms that bring traffic to the site. While the random one-off searches can make for interesting reading (today someone found the Tangled Nest by searching for “the world is our tool for love”–I guess that’s good!), certain terms come [...]
Tags: birds, crows, urban nature
Baby Bushtits and Late Spring Birdlife
May 30th, 2010 · 6 Comments
Yesterday my friend Kathryn emailed a few photos of the freshly-fledged Bushtits in her plum tree. That same day, I heard adult Bushtits chirping in our yard, and followed them to the lilac tree and our own little cluster of newly emerged Bushtits. I love how they huddle, all smooshed together in a little group. [...]
Tags: birds, seasons, urban nature
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Tags: birds, crows, urban nature
Homegrown Hummingbird Feeder
July 26th, 2009 · 6 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 [...]
Tags: birds, urban nature
A Bird in the Hand (Will NOT be Abandoned by its Parents!)
July 12th, 2009 · 7 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 [...]
Tags: birds, urban nature
