February 22, 2008
Backyard tip of the week:Watch for robins and red-winged blackbirds to return to your yard someday soon. Though the weather these days is cool, its surprising how early in the year they tend to arrive. A sure reminder of the imminent return of spring, robins and red-winged blackbirds are most often seen feeding on the ground.
You can welcome these, and all of our avian friends, to your yard this spring by holding off on using any chemical treatments or pesticides on your lawn, or find natural alternatives which do not harm the ecosystem. This simple step can make your yard a much friendlier place for wildlife. Either way, the birds are sure to love it!
Backyard sightings for last week:
Including northern cardinals and dark-eyed juncos, Carolina wrens, white-throated sparrows, eastern goldfinches, house finches and purple finches. Red-bellied woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, blue-jays, the occasional pair of crows, just a couple of grey squirrels, the neighborhood skunk, a pair of European Starlings, and plenty of mourning doves.
Cool sighting of the week:
Happened on Wednesday evening when the cloudy skies dissipated and the total lunar eclipse was seen. Our moon appeared with a particularly strange red glow, due to atmospheric dust or something like that, as it passed through the Earth's shadow.
Also visible were two other significant stars -- or, to be more precise, a star and a planet. Saturn and the bright star Regulus were visible on either side of the full moon. Those lucky enough to view the eclipse through a telescope, could have seen Saturn's rings.
Three celestial objects converging to form a triangle in the sky, served well as visual entertainment on Wednesday evening, and the underlying proof of symmetry and design in this seemingly chaotic world served well as entertainment for the mind while considering the importance of the event. Either way, it was cool!
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