The Outside Story: When to rescue – or not rescue – a baby bird
This is the time of year when my yard feels bursting with life, as the neighborhood welcomes eastern phoebes, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and broad-winged hawks back from their long migrations.
The Outside Story: Ready to start families, owls choose their nests
Among the very earliest signs of spring are the strange caterwauls of the barred owls that haunt our woods as if to say: “Who cooks for you? who cooks for you all?”
The Outside Story: Pigeons in love
Humans often ascribe traits that we admire to other animals.
The Outside Story: Robins in winter are a thing
One January day, my husband and I set off on a walk around our neighborhood. The temperature was a bone-chilling negative 19 degrees, and although we worked to get our blood pumping, our fingers and toes eventually revolted. As we turned back toward the warmth of home, I spotted a flock of birds bouncing through the branches of a sumac.
The Outside Story: Rodenticides solve one problem, create another
Last autumn, around the same time I was laying the winter quilt on our bed, my cat became very interested in the space beneath the kitchen sink. Unsurprisingly, a mouse was huddled down there, seeking shelter in the warmth.