The following article appeared in Discovery News this week. I promise that you will never look at a bird’s nest the same way again. Interesting!
“Urban birds are incorporating cigarette butts into their nests for bug-killing action and for insulation, a new study finds.
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Fall Connection #15 – Fall Ends Soon – Earth and Sky Report
It may not seem like fall is coming to an end weatherwise, especially for those of us living in the southcentral part of the U.S. This week the highs are averaging
in the mid-60s F, well above normal for this time of year. But if anything is certain, it’s that the weather will change. Stay tuned to your local weatherman!
Today’s posting marks the end of the Ecological calendar entries for 2012. Stay tuned for more of these after My Nature Blog enters …
Fall Nature Meditation #11 – Stewardship Part 1
I hope you enjoy reading Monday Meditations as much as I enjoy finding them for you. My hope is you not only read them, you think about them,
and not just for the moment but several times during the day or week.
For the month of December, I’ll focus on Stewardship as the topic of the Monday Meditation, and will offer three to four quotes in each blog. ( I may have used some of these over the past year,
forgive me if I have.) Take time as you read to …
Fall Connection #14 – November Bird Migration
“If it’s November, those must be red-tails.”
So begins the essay, “On a Wing and an Updraft: Hawk Migration, Connecticut” found in A Journey for All Seasons, written by John Kinch and published by The Nature
Conservancy, 2000.
This piece is all about bird migration, an event that takes place every fall and then every spring in the life of many bird species.
The reason we don’t typically see the same birds year round at our homes is …
Fall Connection #13 – Menagerie of Animals
Part 2 of Menagerie features the interesting names given to large groups of animals other than birds. I’m betting you’ll find some words you’ve never heard before in this
bunch, as well as the use of some words that have other meanings in the English language!
C – A Cloud of Grasshoppers. This term is used for many types of insects including grasshoppers. Actually grasshoppers rarely swarm unless disturbed in areas where there are large
numbers.
…
Fall Nature Meditation #10 – Leaves
The leaf pile has been scattered by the wind.
So many leaves
– brown, red, orange, tan, yellow –
Leaves, like the days of my life, flutter around me.
Memories of people, places, pets –
are bittersweet, loving, heartbreaking.
A time of looking back – regretting, laughing, reliving.
A time of feeling cool in the deep shade, warm in the sun, chilled in the north breeze.
…
Fall Nature Experience #4 – Happy Belated Thanksgiving
This blessed Thanksgiving day holiday I am celebrating with family. I hope you are having a wonderful celebration, too.
Whether you are with family or friends, or having a solitary day, I hope that you will take a minute to step outside and celebrate Nature.
Feel the sun and wind upon your face.
Smell the crisp air – and the hint of a wood fire.
See the blue sky and the last colorful leaves fluttering to the earth.
…
Fall Connection #12 – Autumn Menagerie – Birds
Words are fascinating.
Today, take a minute to explore some of the interesting terms used for groups of birds. I’ve found a term for nearly every letter of the alphabet. I’m betting you’ve never heard some of these
before!
Bevy of Quail – first used in 1486, has its roots in bevee – a group of drinking companions (Anglo-French)
Chime of Wrens – gregarious birds with a ringing, cascading song
Dissimulation – …
Fall Meditation #9 – A Walking Mood
“The mood in which you set out on a spring or autumn ramble or a sturdy winter walk, and your greedy feet have to be restrained from devouring the distances too fast, is
the mood in which your best thoughts and impulses come to you, or in which you might embark on any noble and heroic enterprise. Life is sweet in such moods, the universe is complete, and there
is no failure or imperfection anywhere.”
– John …
Fall Nature Experience #3 – Shelter
When the leaves fall from the trees, something is often left behind on tree branches. Now is the time of year when we begin to see the places where many creatures
live. It’s a great time of the year to point these animals shelters out to young nature lovers while you are walking with them on beautiful fall afternoons.
Since the leaves have gone into full drop mode, I’ve noticed bird nests at all heights in trees and bushes around our property. Some birds …
Mary Coley Writes 