Harlequin Duck – a Rare Visitor

by | Mar 13, 2023 | Birds, Environment

We have had an unexpected avian visitor this winter in our Audubon chapter area.  A female Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) is wintering on the St. Croix River below the Highway 8 bridge that connects Taylors Falls, Minnesota with St. Croix Falls,...

Chickadee Chatter

by | Jan 6, 2023 | Birds

The sharp-eyed chickadees in our yard have something to say when I come out to fill our bird feeders. “Dee-dee-dee!” they call. “Dee-dee-dee-! Dee-dee-dee!” as they land on a branch directly over my head. As it happens, they are most likely speaking in “Chickadese”, a...

We are Family!

by | Jan 6, 2023 | Birds, Environment

One beautiful spring evening a pair of sandhill cranes waltzed through our yard with what appeared to be two baby sandhills. Gary snapped a quick photograph of the sandhill family of four as we were sitting down to dinner on our deck. We couldn’t believe our eyes when...

Red-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta Canadensis

by | Dec 4, 2022 | Birds

A pair of diminutive red-breasted nuthatches has been frequenting our bird feeders in the past several weeks. Smaller and more colorful than their cousins, the white-breasted nuthatch, our pair cut a fine figure with their gray backs and rosy breasts, and jaunty black...

Gray Catbird,  Dumetella carolinensis

by | Sep 18, 2022 | Birds

The summer is rapidly drawing to a close. The chorus of birds that I could hear from my bed at 5:00 a.m. in June has dwindled to almost nothing and mornings are silent. We have not been entirely deserted, however. The gray catbird which nested in our yard this summer...