Goodbye Winter
This sunset from earlier in the week felt like a mix of the winter and spring seasons. As our calendars have turned to March we have entered meteorological spring. As the sun rises higher and higher and these sunsets get later and later our buds and blooms starting to pop. Next week will feature some very warm conditions for early March with birds heading north and flowers emerging from the earth. Get outdoors this weekend to enjoy the early signs of spring!
Read MoreDaffodil Buds
I snapped this photo of daffodils emerging in the leaf litter in Connecticut on February 25 as I have seen them coming up in several areas at multiple locations. I recalled that I took a similar photo last year and wondered when, knowing this season’s warmth and last February’s historic cold likely meant it was a couple weeks later. Surprisingly it was a full month later on March 25! If the date wasn’t enough of a shock there was also still snow surrounding them then which is very late indeed for Connecticut. We had a taste of winter recently along with a couple of strong...
Read MoreCinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila)
As a part of Nicoya Peninsula Avian Research Station in Costa Rica, RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser and his colleagues band hummingbirds on a large scale to look at longevity and site fidelity. With nine species being caught on a regular basis there is quite the variety of subjects to photograph. Here we have the delightfully named Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila), a specialist of dry forests that encompass the northwest corner of Costa Rica. It is a lovely looking species with a striking cinnamon underwash and red bill. It is also one of the easier birds to spot from afar with its...
Read MoreDecember Sky
This December sky came at sunset on yet another warm and almost balmy evening…what a time to be alive! Our world is changing all around us as even buds and flowers have started to bloom in these unbelievable weather conditions. Yes, this is El Niño, but it is an El Niño in a period of intense global warming and climate change…all of which will cause possibly more frequent and more severe events going forward. The rate of this temperature change is unprecedented, and if it feels strange to us then imagine how the wildlife and plants throughout our world are feeling. I will be...
Read MoreMuch Milkweed
It is becoming more and more apparent that what pollinators need are more of their plants, and without chemicals! The Monarch butterfly needs milkweed like this in fields and grasslands across America. If you have open space like this please try to do your best to keep them unmowed, unpolluted and full of milkweed plants next year. Manicured and toxic lawns are wastelands for our insects.
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