In Flight

Previous Columns

• Banquet of cones for the crossbills - 4/5/2013

  Conifer diversity is great in our region, and I'll bet many of you have stopped along the highway to gather foot-long sugar pine cones.

  
• Wood ducks content to spend the night - 3/1/2013

  The light was fading fast on a winter-shortened day, and the frost that never quite melted was already repairing its losses.

  
• Lessons learned from the top of a ladder - 2/1/2013

  In January, it was time to drag out the ladder and prune the apple trees. It may have been cold, but the chore has its rewards.

  
• Thrushes are given away by their song - 1/18/2013

  Golden-crowned sparrows arrive in my yard each year on Sept. 18 plus or minus two days. I buy my black oil sunflower seeds the week before in anticipation of their arrival, and they never disappoint.

• Birds can do things that we can't imagine - 12/21/2012

  Have you ever wished you had special powers, say the ability to leap tall buildings or X-ray vision? Most of us have had such daydreams, but this only happens in comic books. Right?

• Head for the snow to see rosy finches - 11/30/2012

  Snow is beautiful, if you don't have to drive. Snow is beautiful, if you are inside a warm, cozy house looking out.

  
• Chickadees pick their favorites among trees - 10/5/2012

  A Douglas fir grows in my yard. It's one I planted soon after moving to the property years ago. Now it's more than 30 feet tall and doing quite well.

  
• Here's an unwanted autograph from a roosting intruder - 8/24/2012

  I like birds. This is no surprise to anyone who knows me. There are limits, however.

  
• Biologists are a little different - 7/27/2012

  First, you have to understand that I am a biologist. Biologists see the world through a slightly different lens.

  
• Learning bird calls takes time in the field - 6/29/2012

  The forest is alive with song for a few more weeks, and the diversity of song can be overwhelming, just ask my students. I ask them to learn more than 50 species by call.

  
• Birdathon turns friends into competitors - 5/25/2012

  One of the more unusual activities that takes place in the Rogue Valley each year is a fundraiser sponsored by the Rogue Valley Audubon Society, the Birdathon.