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It is that special time of year when I’m out and about and someone comes up a bit sheepish and says, “You know, you’re going to think I’m crazy but I saw this bird that was red like a cardinal but had a tiny little black head.  It reminded me of a vulture…was that really [...]

Cardinals have built a nest in the forsythia outside my living room window. Watching the female patiently incubate her eggs reminds me of how special mothers of every species are. Happy Mother’s Day!! What, it would kill you to call every once in a while?

The hours are ticking down to Super Bowl XLIII, a hotly anticipated contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. As an avid American football fan, I observe Super Bowl Sunday as religiously as anyone. Plus, every once in a while, my attentiveness to avian athletic mascots comes in handy.  That’s why, without actually evaluating [...]

I finally got back out with my Swarovski digiscoping rig again yesterday now that I have a replacement lens for my camera.  My destination in the morning hours before work?  Forest Park, of course, where I have taken the responsibility of restocking the feeding stations on Thursdays and Fridays.  So when I left my house [...]

In all of North America, only one avian species serves as both the beloved mascot of seven states as well as the totem to two professional sports teams (and an infinity of amateur ones!) Ironically, this feathered figurehead is neither a bird of prey nor particular distinguished athletically. Rather, this icon is extremely adaptable and [...]

Beware, my friend, of crystal brook Or fountain, lest that hideous hook. Thy nose, thou chance to see; Narcissus’ fate would then be thine, And self-detested thou would’st pine, As self-enamored he. – William Cowper, On an Ugly Fellow

When I got home from work today I realized that I needed to brush my cats, especially B.B., the long-haired one.  The male Northern Cardinal who has been ruling my balcony was not pleased with the disruption to his feeding schedule and let me know it by perching in the budding maple tree that has [...]