Icy!

Who goes there?

Ever wonder if waterbirds get cold feet?

It was 12 degrees today and the lake was frozen!  It had all sorts of neat little treasures captured in the ice.  Here are some walnuts. 

Almost grown-ups in no time!

June 9, 2013

Chickadee Nestlings...

Chickadee Eggs...

Chickadee Nest...

Heron... see?

Tracks

Birdie Tracks

Christmas Bird Count

The 113th Christmas Bird Count will take place from December 14, 2012 through January 5, 2013.

Participate.

Pink Mushrooms

With tiny wren feather.

York, PA

Mile-a-Minute Berries

Mile-a-Minute is a non-native invasive plant in PA originating from India, China, Japan and other parts of Asia.  Mile-a-Minute was introduced from a York County, PA nursery when a seed accidentally shipped with holly seeds from Japan in the 1930's.  Since then, the vine has spread over 300 miles.  

The stems and leaves of Mile-a-Minute vine are covered in recurved barbs, making them physically harmful to humans and wildlife.  As the vine quickly grows, it easily covers understory plant life stealing sunlight and other resources from native plants (environmentally harmful).  The blue berries are eaten and dispersed by birds, ants, chipmunks, squirrels and deer.  

The light green triangular shaped leaves, bright blue berries, and recurved barbs make it easy to identify.  Remove Mile-a-Minute when you see it in your community!  

Read more about Mile-a-Minute: Here

Virginia Creeper Fall Colors

Virginia Creeper has five palmate leaflets which turn beautiful colors and fall off in autumn.  Beautiful blue berries grow in clusters where flowers once bloomed.  Berries are a winter food source for wildlife like overwintering birds.  

Black-Crowned Night Heron

York, PA

Doug Tallamy June 19th!

Come hear Doug Tallamy on June 19th in York!  Get tickets and learn more: here.

Portrait of a Tree Trunk- Day 21

Evergreen

Shelter me in the winter

Provide me with oxygen to breathe deeply

Hold the Earth in its place

Blanket my path in a carpet of needles

Raise the birds that sing me to sleep

Green Heron

Stalking crayfish on the edge of the lake.

Getting a closer look at me.

Lake Redman, York, PA.

Fledglings

The house wrens almost ready to leave the nest.  Once the young leave the nest, the parents continue to feed them for about two weeks.  Then the female will leave to start another brood, while the male continues to feed them.  

Mamma house wren yelling at me for getting to close.

Baby mockingbirds almost ready to leave their nest.

Baby House Wrens

Green Heron

My favorite heron, the smallest one, fishing at Pickering Creek.

Photo taken from a kayak by Kim Frey

(Click photo to view larger image)

Bird Nests

Lots of new life this spring and summer.. here's a few I got to see up close.

Red-winged blackbird on the edge of the creek in the marsh grasses.

Carolina Wren nest in a little hole on the top of a storage tank in the backyard. The nest is made with oak tree flowers, fine twigs, and leaves.

Northern Cardinal nest in a very young tree.

Wood duck nest on wood chips covered in down feathers in a wood duck box (substitute for a natural tree cavity) near a wetland.

Barn Swallow nest made of mud under the dock.

Eastern Pheobe nest on a ledge made of mud and moss.

Grasshopper Sparrow

Talbot County, MD