A little more than a year ago I saw my first Louisiana waterthrush. It was grooming its feathers on a branch, easily identifiable with binoculars and almost beyond reach of the camera lens I was using at the time. I felt lucky to get any kind of usable image. Louisiana... Continue reading

Louisiana waterthrush, June 28, 2022. [Cathie Bird] Louisiana waterthrush, June 28, 2022. [Cathie Bird] Louisiana waterthrush with an insect from my planter garden, June 29, 2022. [Cathie Bird] Continue reading

Recently, I started bringing suet feeders into the house at night because they were being emptied, and probably not by birds. Most of the seed feeders had been showing signs of night raiders as well, but a few adjustments seemed to work to protect those feeders from take downs. Adjusting... Continue reading

Today I saw a juvenile downy woodpecker with her mom at the suet feeder. Hairy woodpecker young have been flying around the holler since May 28th. A recently fledged hairy woodpecker gets some suet from his dad, June 2, 2022. [Photo: Cathie Bird] A young hairy woodpecker near the suet... Continue reading

In the past few weeks I've observed courtship behavior in several bird species, including Carolina wrens, mourning doves, northern cardinals, chickadees and titmice. Yesterday a female cowbird showed up with one of two male cowbirds that have been around for a couple of days: Before long, a second male came... Continue reading

Yesterday while getting in some porch time, I got this photo of a male downy woodpecker sitting on a white oak branch. I saw at least four more downys and one male hairy woodpecker while I was out there, and heard some of their calls. Earlier in the day --... Continue reading

Chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) on April 13, 2022 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) on a white oak tree branch. April 14, 2022 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) on April 14, 2022 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

Scarlet Tanager male (Piranga olivacea), April 13, 2022 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), April 13, 2022 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Scarlet Tanager at suet feeder, April 13, 2022 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

Last week I signed up for a webinar on "shared death experiences" sponsored by the Institute of Noetic Sciences and presented by William J. Peters, a licensed psychotherapist and founder of the Shared Crossing Project. Having had these kinds of experiences myself -- involving both people and animals -- I loved William's sharing of current research and the work and resources of the Shared Crossings programs and website. The webinar invoked a brief review of my experiences and how my relationship to death has been shaped by them. The Shared Crossings website includes a space where anybody can share their... Continue reading

Last year around this time, preparations for new fiber optic internet service in this area led to a significant removal of trees near power lines, and I've been concerned about how that has or will affect birds and other wildlife in the holler. On a snowy day, not long after... Continue reading

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), December 21, 2021. [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) on November 29, 2021. [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

Brown creeper eating suet crumbs on my porch rail on November 29, 2021. [Photo: Cathie Bird] I saw my first brown creeper back in the early 2000's -- not long after I moved to Tennessee -- and hadn't seen another one until November 3rd this year when one showed up... Continue reading

If you recently subscribed to one of my blogs via follow.it and got to this page instead — Some links in follow.it’s initial confirmation email may not take you directly to the blog you subscribed to. You can use the links on this page to get to the blog you... Continue reading

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), October 9, 2021 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

To get new posts by email, go to the blog(s) you're interested in and use the subscription form in the sidebar: Holler Phenology -- tracking cycles of life in headwaters of the Cumberland River, Cumberland Mountains, eastern Tennessee In Hawk Space -- looking at Earth, healing, transformation and the evolution... Continue reading

Most of yesterday I was online for a webinar and took a couple of breaks to squeeze in bird counts for eBird's October Big Day. I hadn't seen any phoebes in the holler for awhile. They aren't the flashiest birds around, but they have a quiet, elegant presence that never... Continue reading

Today I saw my first ever American redstart female and got my first photo of this species as well. Here she is: American redstart (female) on May 12, 2021. [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

I have seen scarlet tanagers in this general area occasionally, but not close to my house. Today a male tanager visited a suet feeder: Scarlet Tanager (male), April 26, 2021 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Scarlet Tanager (male), 4/26/21 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Scarlet Tanager and Downy Woodpecker, 4/26/21 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading

I observed courtship among holler birds beginning in mid-February this year -- first with northern cardinals, then doves and Carolina wrens -- but activity has intensified over the past few weeks. My observations of breeding behavior among birds had been comparatively limited before I started maintaining feeders -- mainly songs,... Continue reading

Watching for migrating birds in the spring (and fall!) is such fun. In my last post I featured the first returnee to the holler, a pine warbler. This morning another migrator flew in: a male purple finch! Continue reading

Pine Warbler on March 2, 2021. [Photo: Cathie Bird] I had just started today's eBird checklist when I saw a really yellow bird among the American gold finches. He found a few seeds on the ground under the feeders, and flew in and out of my view-shed at least twice,... Continue reading

White-throated Sparrow on January 9, 2021 [Photo: Cathie Bird] Continue reading